Is it just me, or has car insurance got reeeeeally expensive recently?

[maniac]

Last years premium = £280
This years renewal = £480

Even when ringing them, the best they could do was £420, and when shopping around the best I can find is £340 for the same level of cover. That's over a 20% increase from last year, and if I continued with the same insurer that's about a 50% increase!

Never mind such is life I suppose, prices will rise, but over 20% in a year!! I suppose it's a knock on effect of the banks screwing everything up.

Mike.

[Gatt]

It's probably due to an increase in Volcanic Ash from Iceland

[BatchFile]

Time to compare meerkats. Simples

Edit:
Seriously, Direct Line doubled my OH's premium after she had an accident - CTM got it back to pre-accident levels. Also try Go Compaaaaaare, Go Compaaaare

[maniac]

Question, which is the higher risk car:

A 1995 Vauxhall cavalier 1.6i
A 1983 VW Golf Cabriolet 1.8 GTi

Amazingly the golf is a full £40 a year CHEAPER to insure with the same company than the Cavalier, madness! Shame the Golf isn't actually on the road at the moment, although it's given me some motivation to do so now!

[CHR1S]

Ive just changed my car, to one which is almost 3 full groups less than the old one and yet its £150 more to insure! Go figure

[Sarconia]

You definitely have to shop around. I wasn't particularly impressed when my renewal which was £20 more than the previous year came through... despite having gained another years worth of no claims. I shopped around on various price comparison websites and managed to chop £50 off the price of the renewal, down £30 from the previous year, nice

[witch]

It has definitely got much more expensive wherever you go. We have had to do a lot of searching around lately for my sons, who are 21 with 4 years clean and 19 with 2, and the costs have ROCKETED from last year. We tried all the comparison websites as well as Admiral (who mrwITch and I are with) and Direct Line. For the 21 year old the price has gone up by over a third, and for the 19 year old, almost twice as much as last year

[srochford]

Weirdly, I've paid marginally less every year for the past few years. Admittedly, I spend ages trying every web site I can find to get quotes and I drive an old and cheap car (51 reg Daewoo Matiz). I'd guess I get my cheap insurance because everyone else is paying more so I suppose I should just say "Thank you Edugeekers for making my insurance so cheap :-)"

[tech_guy]

I've just had to put my 17 year old daughter on the policy as she's just passed her test (first time as well, bless her) - imagine the premium I'm now facing!

[leco]

Could be worse - you could have a 17 year son on your insurance - imagine the cost of that

[witch]

Could be worse - you could have a 17 year son on your insurance - imagine the cost of that

Yes, been there, done that....it WAS about £600 per son, goodness knows what it would be now!

[fafster]

My brother got his first car at 17, and went on his own insurance. Cost £1500.
When I got my first car at 21, it cost me £825. It would have been £826, but adding my mother as a second driver chopped a pound off...

[alan-d]

One excuse I often hear from the Insurance company is 'It's down to the postcode you live in' I tried telling them it is the same one as last year but they didn't want to know

£600 to add your son - Bah!! Peanuts! £4K to add our son and he's been driving for 3 years! The ridiculous thing is that he can get fully comp for less than a grand to drive his Seat Leon FR which is more sporty than our other cars. Still trying to work that one out

[crc-ict]

£600 to add your son - Bah!! Peanuts! £4K to add our son and he's been driving for 3 years! The ridiculous thing is that he can get fully comp for less than a grand to drive his Seat Leon FR which is more sporty than our other cars. Still trying to work that one out

It's all down to the insurer - presumably the less than £1k for his own insurance is with a company that is less worried about insuring young male drivers. I'd guess your own insurance company is one that is highly against insuring young males.

[sidewinder]

Renewals are ALWAYS more, they always have been for me anyway, often double. Apart from last year when it did amazingly come out slightly cheaper, I've had to change insurers every single year - it seems they arent bothered about keeping custokmers unless those customers are lazy and cant be bothered to change