Auto Express – July 30, 2019

58 SpecialIssue http://www.autoexpress.co.uk

THEINSURERS

ULTIMATE GUIDETO

BUYINGACAR

USER GUIDE: MAKINGSENSE OF THEDATA

INSURANCEINNUMBERS

1. INSURER RANKING

Onceagain, this number is the cover

provider’s position in the top25of

the Driver Power 2019 insurers’ chart.

3. OVERALL SCORE
   This overall percentage is calculated
   from an average of the ratingsinour
   seven insurancejudging categories.

2. OVERVIEW

Herewespell out how readers

told us each firm performed, listing

itsstrengths and weaknesses.

4. CATEGORIES
   Again, each categoryscore is
   represented by abar graph; the
   longer the bar,the betterthe score.

1

2

3 4

50 1st Central

49 Academy

48 Asda

47 One Call

46 2gether

45 Esure

44 Bank of Scotland

43 Elephant

42 AA

41 A-Plan

40 MoreThan

39 Saga

38 Allianz

37 Admiral

36 ABC

35 M&S Bank

34 Adrian Flux

33 Hastings Direct

32 Diamond

31 LloydsBank

30 Budget

29 Churchill

28 Co-Op Insurance

27 RAC

26 Swiftcover

INSURERS 50-26

INSURANCEmaynotbethefirstthing

youthinkofwhencar-hunting(although

checkingpremiumsbeforeshoppingfora

newsetofwheelsiswise),but,asalegally

mandatedfinancialproduct,everyoneisglad

tohavecover,shouldtheworsthappen.

Yetchoosingtherightcompanyto

insureyourcarcanbeaminefield.Failing

toshoparoundcomerenewaltimecan

costafairamountofmoneybecause,for

example,so-called‘loyalty’pricingoften

meansexistingcustomersarefacedwith

automaticallyrenewingpremiumsthat

costmorethanthepreviousyear’scover.

Researchintotheeffectsofloyalty

pricingbytheFinancialConductAuthority

maycurbsomeoftheworstexcesses

ofthispractice,butkeepinganeye

ontheinsurancemarketisstillwise.

Someinsurershaveabetterreputation

thanothersforofferingahassle-free

experience,takingcareofyouwhenthe

timecomestomakeaclaim,forexample,

aswellasofferinghelpfulservicessuch

ascourtesycars,legalcoverandeasily

accessibleclaimslines.

OurDriverPowerrankingsforthebest

insurersshouldbeyourfirstportofcall

whendecidingwhichcompanytochoose.

Overthenexteightpagesyou’llfind25

firmsrankedandratedinclosedetail,with

sevencategoryscorestakingintoaccount

everythingfromhoweasycoveristobuy,

tohowquickfirmsaretopayupforclaims.

Addingcolourtothesestatisticsare

real-lifecommentsfromcustomersabout

theirexperiencewiththecompaniesin

question,andapercentagescoreforthe

proportionofpeoplewhowouldrenew

theirpolicywiththesameinsurer.

Yourbest carinsurers

Car insuranceisanecessity,but can be pricey.Focus just on costs and youmay

getwhatyou payfor.Our results reveal the firms thatbest blend serviceand value

Howdidyouacquire

yourinsurance?

■ Allonline 64%

■Overthephone 20%

■Online,butwithphonehelp 16%

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Howlonghaveyoubeenwith

yourcurrentprovider?

■1yearto2years33%

■Lessthan1year29%

■3yearsto4years 21%

■5yearsto6years 7%

■7yearsto8years 3%

■9yearsto10years1%

■Morethan10years 5%

LOYALTYissomethingtoberewardedand

admiredgenerally,butwhenitcomesto

insurance,stickingwithyourcompany

couldhityouhardinyourwallet.That’s

becausemany(althoughnotall)firms

workontheprincipleofloyalty(orinertia)

pricing,automaticallyincreasingyour

premiumseachyearinthehopeyou

willjustrenewyourpolicyanyway.

Onein20ofourrespondentssaidthey

hadbeenwiththeircurrentproviderfor

morethanadecade,butthefact62per

centhaveonlybeenwiththeirinsurance

firmfortwoyearsorlessindicatesmost

driversarewisetothemeritsofswitching

providers,shoppingaroundfairly

regularlytosecurethebestdeal.

Whenyouconsiderthat62percentof

readersreportthatpremiumshaveeither

stayedthesameorincreasedcompared

withthepreviousyear,it’sclearthatwhile

insurancefirmsmaybegoodatattracting

newcustomers,retainingexistingones

isn’tatthetopoftheirlistofpriorities.

WHILEcardealerships,despiteafew

notableexceptions,arefirmlyrootedin

the‘bricksandmortar’businessmodel,

theinsuranceindustryhasembracedthe

Internettogreateffect,with80percent

ofyoubuyingcoveronline,andmostdoing

sowithoutcallingthefirms’helplines.

Price-comparisonsitesarepartofthis

picture,butnotallproviders’productsare

onthesesites.It’salsoworthnotingthat

somecomparisonsitesareownedby

insurancefirms,soshoppingaroundis

advisable,evenwhenusinganaggregator.

Butnoteverythinghappensonline:one

infiveofyouarrangescarcoveroverthe

phone,socompaniesofferingthisservice

tobuyersarestillcateringforameaningful

proportionofthemarket.

Interestingly,while43percentofdrivers

buycoverthroughprice-comparisonsites,

51percentgodirectlytotheinsureroruse

abroker,withtheremainingcustomers

gettingfreecoverwithacompanycar,a

new-carpurchase,orviasomeothermeans.

Wasyourpayoutmore/less

orasyouexpected?

■WhatIexpected 55%

■Muchless16%

■Abitless14%

■Abitmore9%

■Muchmore6%

THEUK’sgeneralinsuranceindustryis

wortharound£90billion,andmakesup

morethanonepercentofthecountry’s

GDP.Insurancefirmspaidout£1.2bfor

carclaimsinthefirstquarterof2019.

Withsuchvastquantitiesofmoney

sloshingaround,it’sgoodtoreportthat

themajorityofyoureceivedasmuchas

ormorethanyouexpectedfromyour

insurerwhenmakingaclaim.That’snot

tosaythesystemisperfect:almostathird

ofdriversreceivedlessthantheythought

theywould,andthosewhofeltunder-

compensatedweremorelikelytosay

theyshouldhavegotalotmoremoney

thantheydid,ratherthanabitextra.

Whenitcomestohowlongtheclaims

processtook,47percentofpolicyholders

gottheirmoneywithinamonth,witha

furtherthirdwaitingbetweenoneand

threemonths.Butforthe12percent

whosaidtheyhadtowaitbetweenfour

andsixmonthstoreceivepayment,

thingscouldcertainlymovemorequickly.

Hugo Griffiths

[email protected]

@hugo_griffiths