Admiral Insurance - Am I being conned???

[regal_ronnie]

Hi,

 

I'm looking for a bit of advice regarding my car inssurance renewal.

 

My sister and I have a joint policy as its cheaper, my sister is the main driver and I am a named driver.

 

The 1st car can be driven by my sister and the other car, my sister is the main driver and I am the named driver.

 

Last year the premium was as follows:

 

Car 1 = £420 (only my sister drives)

Car 2 = £324 (my sister main driver, me named driver)

Total = £744

 

There was one incident last year, where I was driving car 2 and a guy clipped my wing mirror and broke the casing. I have always been told to report any incidents to the insurance company incase the other party makes a claim.

 

I spoke to the people at Admiral and they told me I would need to complete a form outlining what happened, along with diagrams.

 

I told them I was not making a claim, meerly letting them know, keeping them in the loop so to speak, they said thats fine.

 

I told them I bought an identical cover from the dealership for £6.99 and that I wasn't making a claim, they replied, via an emailed letter that they are closing this incident file, because no third party will be making a claim and I wasn't making a claim, so this incident will have no bearing on the premium when it comes up for renewal.

 

This year's renewal (which they have already taken from my credit card), is as follows:

 

Car 1 = £418

Car 2 = £434

Total = £852

 

So we have an increase of £110 for car 2!

 

I rang Admiral and spoke to 2 different people and both told me that the increase is due to 'changes and fluctuations in insurance rates' and also because of the incident which I reported!

 

Basically they said that even though no claim had been made, the fact that an incident took place, even though I was NOT at fault, it has an impact on the premium....so they are effectively penalising me to the tune of £110 for reporting the incident!

 

I find that hard to believe...somehow it feel like I am being taken on a ride by Admiral and they are trying to extract as much money from me as possible!

 

Is there anything I can do, apart from changing insurers? Somebody I could complain to...for I am being penalised for something that hasn't even cost them anything!

 

I was told changing insurers (i.e. cancelling the policy) will mean a percentage of the premium will be taken as 'administration fee' so that will leave me out of pocket too.

 

Thanks.

[kwaks]

I suspect from what you have written, and possibly Admiral do as well, that you could be the main driver of car 2, seeing as your sister has access to car one solely. If so they may be simply basing the price as such.

 

However there is a lot more variables to consider, the vehicle type in question may have had a particularly poor claims record since the initial policy, the demographics of their insurered vehicles/persons may have shifted etc etc. Not nearly enough info to come to a definate conclusion.

 

Only way to find out if its a rip off is to get comparible prices. It is not uncommon for a price to rise at renewal, especially if you got some sort of intro bonus last year.

[regal_ronnie]

Thanks Kwaks

 

My sister is the main driver on both cars, I am named driver (i.e. 2nd driver) on car 2 only.

 

There was no intro bonus last year as we have been with admiral for around 5 years...

 

Nothing has changed from last year, we are both still in the same jobs we had last year, still at the same address, no criminal convictions, no points etc...which is why I find this increase all the more difficult to comprehend!

[kwaks]

This would be the point that Admiral will be unsure of. If your sister is main driver on both vehicles, but solely insured on only one of them, with you named on second policy, the suspicion is that YOU are the main driver of the vehicle.

 

If you have both been insured on vehicle 2 for 5 years and thus have NCB available for it you can try some prices elsewhere.

 

Alternatively I believe Admiral will award NCB to named drivers if you move the policy into your name, you might even find this cheaper, do some online quotes to see.

 

BTW, I assume that the vehicle is not used by you to commute

[Mossycat]

This would be the point that Admiral will be unsure of. If your sister is main driver on both vehicles, but solely insured on only one of them, with you named on second policy, the suspicion is that YOU are the main driver of the vehicle.

 

 

Yep that would look like a 'fronted' policy to me

 

Mossy

[Endymion]

Hmm, I have a few clients who would be making a lot of investigations into any claim made in regards to the 2nd car before they paid out......