More car insurance wokery.

Got my monthly newsletter from moneysupermarket.com a few days ago.  Top of the agenda was “How parking affects insurance premiums.”  Among the “excuses” were:

“Garages don’t guarantee lower premiums as bumps and scrapes might occur as you drive in or out.   If you keep tools or sharp objects in your garage, they can cause damage to your car.”   I have never seen a proposal form that allows you to clarify any risks - e.g., some garages are wide with very wide access doors, and some owners have tool sheds quite separate from the garage.  Naturally insurers prefer to assume the worst scenario.

“If someone breaks into your home, they might then have free access to your garage AND your car.  If your garage is separate from your home” (most common arrangement), “you might not hear someone breaking into it.”   Again, conveniently ignored by insurers, neither the home owners nor the car will be on the property in the majority of cases.

“It is often said that the best place for your car, day and night, is a carport. As you might expect, this is because your car will be off the road, likely on your own property, and in a reasonably open space compared to alternative car parking definitions.”     I have tall, locked gates between my house and garage.  At one time, I had a carport placed here, but in the past storm force gales demolished the carport.  GThankfully, at the time, my car was parked IN THE GARAGE!

One thing the insurers have conveniently assumed, is that we are all careless muppets who cannot look after our property.  This careless abandom does not appear to stretch to how we take care of our homes.  Do the insurers think we are idiots, who cannot recognise when we are being screwed?

13 minutes ago, Haliotis said:

 Among the “excuses” were:

🤣  I like it.   I'm sure the so called experts simply make stuff up as they go along. I'd like to se them back this up with stats, but then again can you trust their stats? Absolutely not.

34 minutes ago, Haliotis said:

Do the insurers think we are idiots, who cannot recognise when we are being screwed?

Unfortunately it doesn't matter to them what we recognise - they have carte blanch as they all know they can all put their prices up and none of the insurers lose out - only the paying customer does...so there are no downsides for the insurers.  

Topic moved to Insurance Discussions

2 hours ago, DAF XF said:

Unfortunately it doesn't matter to them what we recognise - they have carte blanch as they all know they can all put their prices up and none of the insurers lose out - only the paying customer does...so there are no downsides for the insurers.  

So true, but I wonder why the government have allowed things to continue like this.  Regardless of any arguments about climate change and car emissions, the government have held back on fuel cost increases.  This isn’t out of the goodness of their hearts - they are fully aware that the motorcar is a prime mover in the economy.  Businesses and private motorists are extremely reliant on their vehicles for their ability to function.  The virtual cartel behaviour by car insurers will eventually impact on the economy (drivers cannot absorb the grossly unfair rises in premiums indefinitely) and, sooner or later, the government will have to step in and curb their [the insurers] greed.

11 minutes ago, Haliotis said:

So true, but I wonder why the government have allowed things to continue like this.  Regardless of any arguments about climate change and car emissions, the government have held back on fuel cost increases.  This isn’t out of the goodness of their hearts - they are fully aware that the motorcar is a prime mover in the economy.

Dare I say government focus purely on short term vote winners...no fuel duty increases or it remaining frozen on your weekly trip to the forecourt means less damage at the polling station.  But they know the insurance industry is detached enough to allow them to do what they want.  Insurance only comes once per year and isn't as likely to be as fresh in the mind at the voting booth when you only filled up the day before!