A-Plan Insurance - not as competitive any more !?

[M@H]

So there was a big push on here two or three years ago by A-Plan in the performance car market and we ended up with four of ours insured with them as they seemed to offer a very good deal, but in the last 18 months we have ended up going elsewhere with all but one as they just don't seem to be competitive any more (and the other one I expect to move at next renewal).

The latest on this list was the Aston as the A-plan immediate renewal price last month was a hefty £1080 for myself and the good lady wife; on phoning up to see what could be done I also disclosed my first ever speeding points (gained on the motorway for exceeding 70) and the premium was hiked by a further £180 for that to £1260.

I would not mind so much if this was not so way off the rest of the Market however I re-insured with Admiral instead on exactly the same basis but for £706 so saving over five hundred and fifty quid! Admiral were amidst a clutch of insurers at similar prices too.

Has anyone else had similar experience of late?

Cheers,
Matt.

[worsy]

Mixed. Was the best for my S4, but the wife's Cooper S was cheaper via one of the pink girly insurer.

[redtwin]

I found them to be much higher as well. They were unbeatable about 4 years ago, I put a few family and friends onto them again, but lately the online comparison sites have been turning up much cheaper quotes. My last call to them I asked the rep to fiddle the excess and coverage to get close to the £414 online lowest and he just said it wasn't even worth it as he was coming in well over £600.

I don't discount the possibility of the online boys quoting in the weeds to get new custom in then hope to make it back up with monster renewals premiums hoping that most people won't bother shopping around.

Insurance on the whole has taken a massive hit though. I thought of getting another LS 400, but the cheapest quote I could find was £1100ish when only last year I had one covered for £380. No points or claims in that time either.

Madness.

[Carrot]

I think they also change by which risk demographic they wish to follow in that particular year also.

[Roberty]

I recently sold my modified VX220 and bought a completely standard Boxster S.

The VX, all mods fully declared cost me £480 fully comp, rang up A-plan to let them know I'd changed cars and with less than 6 months left on the policy I expected a £50 admin fee at most.

Nope, not even close, £280 to change the policy! And was told that come renewel time in Feb the policy will be £1,000!

No it won't, I've already rung round and had quotes for as low as £550 from reputable insuresr like Aviva and Adrian Flux.

Have already swapped the misses across from A-plan to Diamond.

Admittedly the Diamond policy isn't as good but she drives a 9yr old Celica so does it really matter if they put there cars back together using second hand parts, it's a very second hand car!

[magpie215]

My experience with A-Plan this year sounds similar.

last year premium £389 ish

renewal....£821!!!!! rang them with a tone of displeasure they managed to "do me a favor" and knock off one or 2 "charges" to bring it down to £741.


err no thanks

Shopped around but most insurers are coming back at around the £600 mark even though I am aged 38 9+years NCD car garaged overnight big excess and GF on as named driver.



Way too much money for me for an occasional use car and one of the reasons it is in the PH classifieds right now.

[M@H]

Carrot said:

I think they also change by which risk demographic they wish to follow in that particular year also.

True however they lost two of our cars whilst we were still in the "angelic" category..!?

[worsy]

I should add I've been stung twice by Aplan when changing cars, finding that the incumbent insurer would not cover the new car. Once going from S3 to S4 due to value, and once with the wife, 207 GT to MCS.

Aplan were cheaper on a new policy due to the refund of premium but I would have lost it if not renewed through them due to "admin" charges.

[Hollywood Wheels]

The Hilux renewel arrived yesterday.......up nearly £300!!!! I've been with them for about 7 years with a variety of cars and they've always been great. I won't be renewing with them.

[Carrot]

M@H said:

Carrot said:

I think they also change by which risk demographic they wish to follow in that particular year also.

True however they lost two of our cars whilst we were still in the "angelic" category..!?

I remember when I had the Mondeo, Swiftcover was excellent from when I was 23-25 (no changes, no claims etc), then all of a sudden quoted me £300 more than the best quote. They just told me it was due to the fact they couldn't offer "my age group" a good deal. So a 25 year old was more of a risk than a 23 year old

I don't think, even from them, you will ever get a straight answer. Some bean counter in the back has it all figured out using a mystical formula that us mortals will never know...

[Roo]

Renewed two of my cars with them last month as no one else could get anywhere near close.

[ZOLLAR]

As somebody said a few posts above they may be moving out of a certain market area or have been writing premiums that are too low and now they need to either remove the risk from their books or increase the premiums.
You may find in a few years Op that they are competative for you again.

[M@H]

ZOLLAR said:

You may find in a few years Op that they are competative for you again.

Quite possibly.. sadly there is no value given for loyalty any more lol.

[Carrot]

M@H said:

ZOLLAR said:

You may find in a few years Op that they are competative for you again.

Quite possibly.. sadly there is no value given for loyalty any more lol.

I don't think any medium or above sized company rewards loyalty these days - everyone is just a number, and that number gets the best quote dependant on a computer based system. Sad really

[ZOLLAR]

M@H said:

ZOLLAR said:

You may find in a few years Op that they are competative for you again.

Quite possibly.. sadly there is no value given for loyalty any more lol.

It depends on what you mean by loyalty, if its money wise then unfortunately in many cases the increase in costs to the insurer for certain policys mean that although they would like to keep you with them they can't, but there are other forms of loyalty.
If you have been a customer for a long time then in certain situations i.e. temporary cover on another car, waiving admin costs etc being a long term customer is certaintly taken into account and a greater amount of "flexibility" is given to the policy.

Edited by ZOLLAR on Tuesday 9th November 15:34

[GestapoWatch]

Carrot said:

M@H said:

ZOLLAR said:

You may find in a few years Op that they are competative for you again.

Quite possibly.. sadly there is no value given for loyalty any more lol.

I don't think any medium or above sized company rewards loyalty these days - everyone is just a number, and that number gets the best quote dependant on a computer based system. Sad really

Plus if you believe the conspiracy theories, big competitors in an arena such as car insurance, mobile phones etc collude with each other to 'offer' the best deal in turn, knowing full well that each company will see a decent share of the market.

Don't know how true or accurate it is but it would explain how there's always a different credit card company offering 0% on balance transfers for xx million years every five minutes!!

[ZOLLAR]

GestapoWatch said:

Carrot said:

M@H said:

ZOLLAR said:

You may find in a few years Op that they are competative for you again.

Quite possibly.. sadly there is no value given for loyalty any more lol.

I don't think any medium or above sized company rewards loyalty these days - everyone is just a number, and that number gets the best quote dependant on a computer based system. Sad really

Plus if you believe the conspiracy theories, big competitors in an arena such as car insurance, mobile phones etc collude with each other to 'offer' the best deal in turn, knowing full well that each company will see a decent share of the market.

Don't know how true or accurate it is but it would explain how there's always a different credit card company offering 0% on balance transfers for xx million years every five minutes!!

This is something i've discussed recently on here i can't speak for other industries but if this was happening in insurance literally Tens of thousands of people would have to be involved all towing the party line eventually somebody would whistleblow and considering the car insurance industry has been around for decades it would have come to light.
Sometimes coincidences are actually coincidences and not conspiracy

[GestapoWatch]

ZOLLAR said:

GestapoWatch said:

Carrot said:

M@H said:

ZOLLAR said:

You may find in a few years Op that they are competative for you again.

Quite possibly.. sadly there is no value given for loyalty any more lol.

I don't think any medium or above sized company rewards loyalty these days - everyone is just a number, and that number gets the best quote dependant on a computer based system. Sad really

Plus if you believe the conspiracy theories, big competitors in an arena such as car insurance, mobile phones etc collude with each other to 'offer' the best deal in turn, knowing full well that each company will see a decent share of the market.

Don't know how true or accurate it is but it would explain how there's always a different credit card company offering 0% on balance transfers for xx million years every five minutes!!

This is something i've discussed recently on here i can't speak for other industries but if this was happening in insurance literally Tens of thousands of people would have to be involved all towing the party line eventually somebody would whistleblow and considering the car insurance industry has been around for decades it would have come to light.
Sometimes coincidences are actually coincidences and not conspiracy

I tend to agree though just to keep the fires of mystery alive - is it not feasible that only those at top of the tree (a handful per company at most) could perpetuate this whilst the rest of their employees carry out their 'dirty work' none the wiser?

I suppose I'm thinking in similar terms of how a company like KFC can employ millions of people, yet only a select few supposedly know the 'secret recipe'. I realise its not a direct comparison but an example of how things like this can work

[AF1]

They've been the most competitive for me for the last 3 years, and the permium has dropped slightly each year. This year Keith Michaels were 15 quid cheaper but i didn't see much point in changing for such a small differernce.

[ZOLLAR]

GestapoWatch said:

ZOLLAR said:

GestapoWatch said:

Carrot said:

M@H said:

ZOLLAR said:

You may find in a few years Op that they are competative for you again.

Quite possibly.. sadly there is no value given for loyalty any more lol.

I don't think any medium or above sized company rewards loyalty these days - everyone is just a number, and that number gets the best quote dependant on a computer based system. Sad really

Plus if you believe the conspiracy theories, big competitors in an arena such as car insurance, mobile phones etc collude with each other to 'offer' the best deal in turn, knowing full well that each company will see a decent share of the market.

Don't know how true or accurate it is but it would explain how there's always a different credit card company offering 0% on balance transfers for xx million years every five minutes!!

This is something i've discussed recently on here i can't speak for other industries but if this was happening in insurance literally Tens of thousands of people would have to be involved all towing the party line eventually somebody would whistleblow and considering the car insurance industry has been around for decades it would have come to light.
Sometimes coincidences are actually coincidences and not conspiracy

I tend to agree though just to keep the fires of mystery alive - is it not feasible that only those at top of the tree (a handful per company at most) could perpetuate this whilst the rest of their employees carry out their 'dirty work' none the wiser?

I suppose I'm thinking in similar terms of how a company like KFC can employ millions of people, yet only a select few supposedly know the 'secret recipe'. I realise its not a direct comparison but an example of how things like this can work

Ah yes but KFC can have say 10 directors at the top in on the secret but for all the insurance companies in the UK to all be colluding together so that includes small time brokers it would be thousands even if it was just the company directors but you must remember it isn't the company directors that set the price its the underwrites and actuaries etc so they would need to be involved in it too, so i doubt it would happen well nobody has told me about it at least .

But for the Fires of mystery i'll stay hush