I insure two cars. They are old - one 10 years, the other 14 years. I am a cheapskate when it comes to cars. My guess is in aggregate their market value is $5000-$6000. The insurance premium I have been paying each year for both is around $750 per car and there is an excess on claims of $650 on each. I pay $750 annually to insure a car whose replacement value net of excess I would have to pay of about $2100 plus, to be fair, I get comprehensive cover if I damage another car. The value of the comprehensive cover is about $250 per car (I priced this as a stand-alone policy) so that for the actual cover on each vehicle costs me $500 for a value of a written-off vehicle of excess of $2100. This charge seemed outrageous to me and I even felt foolish for allowing this situation to develop.
I have been insured with the firm for 25 years and have never made a claim - all the costs above are discounted to reflect this. After a long discussion with one of the insurer's representatives I found that about $150 of this charge was connected to the fact that one of the cars had initially been purchased with "finance". This adds a $300 premium to the total bill. I had failed to notify the insurer that the financing had ended 9 years ago and a finger was wagged at me for my failure! I had no idea I was being levied a surcharge for this.
Eventually I did the obvious thing and took out a policy giving me comprehensive insurance cover only. If either car is damaged beyond repair or stolen I will write it off. My premium total dropped from $1500 to $550 a saving of $950 annually. For this I gave up cover on the two vehicles insured of $4200. Happy with that exchange.
My lifetime experience of insurance companies has been unfavourable. On this occasion I have to say my own stupidity in not demanding a detailed accounting of costs in years past irritates almost as much as the over-charging.
I have been insured with the firm for 25 years and have never made a claim - all the costs above are discounted to reflect this. After a long discussion with one of the insurer's representatives I found that about $150 of this charge was connected to the fact that one of the cars had initially been purchased with "finance". This adds a $300 premium to the total bill. I had failed to notify the insurer that the financing had ended 9 years ago and a finger was wagged at me for my failure! I had no idea I was being levied a surcharge for this.
Eventually I did the obvious thing and took out a policy giving me comprehensive insurance cover only. If either car is damaged beyond repair or stolen I will write it off. My premium total dropped from $1500 to $550 a saving of $950 annually. For this I gave up cover on the two vehicles insured of $4200. Happy with that exchange.
My lifetime experience of insurance companies has been unfavourable. On this occasion I have to say my own stupidity in not demanding a detailed accounting of costs in years past irritates almost as much as the over-charging.