Why Do We Bother?

Okay, time for a rant. Haven't had one for a while, so here we go.

Car Insurance. It really is the work of the devil, isn't it?
I though it used to be straight forward. You started out with your first car. You got insurance - generally TPF&T, as that was all you could afford, and your first car was never worth that much anyway. Barring any claims, your insurance was pretty high and stayed static allegedly until you were 21 when it was rumoured to go down (don't remember that happening) and then down again at 30 (don't remember that happening either).
Statistics dictate that the older you get, the less accidents you have, so naturally it should be cheaper to insure.

Anyway... my renewal has come up. I have been with the same broker for many years and they've normally given me a good deal. So I phoned them up and asked what the renewal was. "Ah, Mr Brown, that will be about £50 more than you paid last year". Erm, hello? How can this be? I haven't claimed, my circumstances haven't changed. I am one year older, therefore less likely to have an accident. "Well, that's just the renewal rate" I'm told when I query the increase!

Now the thing with a really annoying advert is that, despite the annoyance, you do tend to remember the product. I'll not totally give it away, but make a well known comparison website out of these words..... "Compare Go". So I did. Within seconds I was delivered a page full of quotes ranging from half my renewal rate right up to £3.5K (I kid you not).

So today I phoned the broker again and told them my good fortune. "Well Mr Brown, let's see what I can do with your renewal rate to try and keep your custom". What? So the price that you originally quoted me wasn't the best one? You just thought that you'd try it on and see if I coughed up? "Oh no Mr Brown. You misunderstand. The renewal rate is the same, I will just apply an increased discount for you. Now, can you just tell me how much you've been quoted?". Yeah, right. How's about you give me the best price you can. And she did. And it was still nearly £150 more than one I'd found myself. So that's who I'm going with. She even took a "tone" with me when I said I wouldn't be renewing with them. Tee hee.

Rant over. For now.