Passed my test & bought my first car, But!

[Tomm06 12]

Insurance companies can and will rip you off. When I was younger an had to get first car insurance the absolute cheapest was £2.500 albeit in a high crime area... however the car wasn't worth that much but hey ho. Even then I lied on the insurance. Unfortunately if they're going to take me for the tune of £250/month at the age of 19 then you have to find ways of making it work.

 

I'm aware the claims will be invalid etc etc but personally since my excess was £600 if the car was stolen or I wrote it off, I would have just cancelled the insurance as it was cheaper. The only gamble was that in the event I hit someone it would be awkward, but it never happened.

 

My point being is they charge silly amounts of money because we HAVE to pay it, so it's inevitable some people will put in false information if they can save hundreds/month (Literally in my case)

[Cyclone 10]

I think you're probably entirely missing the point of insurance. It's little to do with the value of the car, and mostly to do with the cost of the damage you could do to a 3rd party, which could easily be millions with ongoing medical care, and even in a small bump it's likely to cost them a lot more than your old banger is worth.

Honestly, if you lie to get insurance, I hope you get caught, because you're really putting all the 3rd parties at risk.

[Puggie 10]

I don't think I've stayed with the same insurer for more than one year at a time in 30 years.

 

Well done! That's exactly what everyone should be doing and it shouldn't just stop at car insurance either.

 

Collectively as a country we chuck billions of pounds worth of our income down the drain by remaining on autopilot when it comes to our household bills.

 

We've only just introduced personal finance into the national curriculum over the last few years, so hopefully children who are just coming of age today will be better placed to understand budgeting and navigating the world of finance.

[Tomm06 12]

I think you're probably entirely missing the point of insurance. It's little to do with the value of the car, and mostly to do with the cost of the damage you could do to a 3rd party, which could easily be millions with ongoing medical care, and even in a small bump it's likely to cost them a lot more than your old banger is worth.

Honestly, if you lie to get insurance, I hope you get caught, because you're really putting all the 3rd parties at risk.

 

The cars value isn't much to do with the insurance but consider the event of it stolen or written off by driver which is two thirds of the likely possible outcomes it should play more part than it does.

 

Believe me, people wouldn't lie on insurance if it was fairly priced. But it isn't. Tell me how many young drivers can afford literally thousands/year for insurance. I can agree they can be more at risk of being involved in an accident but there is playing fair and being just ridiculous.

[Phili Buster 10]

One other thing you will find about the algorithms that they use is if, for example, your car is parked and someone runs into it, admits it is their fault and their insurance stumps up for all the costs so your insurance company is not out of pocket in any way.

 

At next renewal, your no claims will not have reduced at all but the premium will have gone up. The reason is that having been involved in an accident you are statistically more likely to be involved in another one even though you were in no way at fault.

 

And don't forget, you must inform the insurance company that you have been involved in an accident even though you were no way to blame. Failure to inform them may well invalidate your insurance.

[Cyclone 10]

The cars value isn't much to do with the insurance but consider the event of it stolen or written off by driver which is two thirds of the likely possible outcomes it should play more part than it does.

No, it really shouldn't. The cost of paying out £500 for your banger is irrelevant when compared to the millions you could cost the insurance company for medical expenses of an injured 3rd party.

 

Believe me, people wouldn't lie on insurance if it was fairly priced. But it isn't. Tell me how many young drivers can afford literally thousands/year for insurance. I can agree they can be more at risk of being involved in an accident but there is playing fair and being just ridiculous.

 

What does "fair" mean? You've arbitrarily decided that it's unfair, but what you really mean is that it's not cheap. Insurance companies aren't making loads of money, they struggle to turn a profit in fact, so they're clearly not pricing things unfairly.