BS: anyone understand UK insurance risk?

Subject: BS: anyone understand insurance risk?
From: Mr Red
Date: 06 Nov 17 - 05:26 AM

My car insurance came in at 218 GBP but they hinted I could haggle.
So I pointed out the increase was over 20% when the the government figures were for average of 10%. Partly due to a tax hike. I haggles down to 209.

So I said - what if I took the second driver off? "251 sir" (but haggled down to 241!). One driver is more of a risk than 2. They offered the explanation that a shared drive is less risk, this was against an unrelated second driver who doesn't live with me. And, not that they know, would only drive if I was in a separate vehicle also driving (me insured by they).

So I said what about if I put the girlfriend on instead, again not living with, & actually a "younger than" person. "we can get that down with special discounts to 221".

So the cheapest way to insure is having a second named driver who will almost certainly never drive the car.

Go figure! Big data is an ass!

Subject: RE: BS: anyone understand insurance risk?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Nov 17 - 10:39 AM

Sounds like you need a different insurance company. NFU Mutual are a breath of fresh air. I have no connection.

Subject: RE: BS: anyone understand insurance risk?
From: DMcG
Date: 06 Nov 17 - 12:44 PM

Off topic, but vaguely related. My wife is in need of a hip replacement so can no longer climb stairs easily. So I got in touch with VirginMedia to find out how much extra it would be to put a second box in a more accessible room. "It is ?10 cheaper to have two". So could I have one for ?10 less? No, that is the price.

Subject: RE: BS: anyone understand insurance risk?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Nov 17 - 01:22 PM

When I see a buy one get one free offer in the supermarket, I pick up just the one and tell the cashier that it's the free one. They never believe me. It's not fair.

Subject: RE: BS: anyone understand insurance risk?
From: robomatic
Date: 06 Nov 17 - 01:29 PM

Nice try, Steve. At some stores the "buy one, get one free" means you pay full price if you just buy one. At others they perceive it as a half-price offer even if you just get one. I've tried the same words you have with the same result. Sometimes I don't even get a smile.

Subject: RE: BS: anyone understand insurance risk?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Nov 17 - 02:01 PM

Cashiers have such a boring job in quite a noisy environment and they often tell me about surly or just downright unpleasant customers. Could be that Bude is a smaller and more intimate place than most but I think it's devilishly important to have a good laugh at the till, even if it's at my expense. I do it every time and Mrs Steve thinks I'm mad.

Sorry, this must be the most premature total thread drift of all time. Right, insurance...

Subject: RE: BS: anyone understand insurance risk?
From: Nick
Date: 06 Nov 17 - 05:27 PM

Steve what you need is a friend.. They can buy one and you can have the free one. AND NO ONE IS WORSE OFF... Win win situation.

P.S. It helps if they are stupid.

Subject: RE: BS: anyone understand insurance risk?
From: Nick
Date: 06 Nov 17 - 05:31 PM

Thinking about this is there a business opportunity of being a professional named second driver with no intention whatsoever of going near the car. In fact the more cars that I become the named second driver of, the less chance there is of me having an accident in any specific car. So the premium should continue to go down.

I can't see any flaw and will be launching it tomorrow

Subject: RE: BS: anyone understand insurance risk?
From: Donuel
Date: 06 Nov 17 - 07:46 PM

You shoulda kept quiet. Now your post is proof of insurance fraud.

I know when the risk goes up so do premiums / payments.
In fact flood claims are going up due to climate changes so much that reinsurance Companies are going under. Reinsurance companies are the ones who insure Insurance companies. Many people think they are insured against the number 1 disaster, flooding, but they are not.

Subject: RE: BS: anyone understand insurance risk?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Nov 17 - 07:48 PM

The wise man built his house upon a grassy knoll.

Subject: RE: BS: anyone understand insurance risk?
From: Mr Red
Date: 07 Nov 17 - 03:17 AM

My named second driver (we all go to dances together often).

She was trying to insure her house and they claimed her post code was in a flood risk area. And upped her premium.

Now it just so happens that her house is easily 12 feet off the road, which itself is waaaaaaay more than 50 feet from the main road and her road is quite steep. The main road is still 20-30 feet from the stream. They want to build an Aldi on the industrial estate that sits in that 20-30 feet. What do you think she did next?

Now that was totally stupid of the insurers, they have flood/contour maps and very specific post codes/house numbers to inform them, even if the loss of sales doesn't. While they are arguing with the customer the same time taken would tell them precisely! But they still use "1/4 mile from a watercourse" - I told them my house was not, though I reckon my crow would go round the road and I got fed up of the imprecise rules. I chose my house because (among other attractions) it is 6 feet above most neighbours. And in inexperience of prediction I still reckon the piddling "watercourse" would not be a problem even when it got blocked with detritus. And in 20 years I have been proven more than right (if that is possible!).

Subject: RE: BS: anyone understand insurance risk?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Nov 17 - 05:31 AM

My house is half a mile from the sea, not near a watercourse, built on ground raised well above the surrounding farmland and is just over 100 feet above sea level. I reckon I'm flood- and tsunami-proof. I achieved all this by complete accident.

Subject: RE: BS: anyone understand insurance risk?
From: Mr Red
Date: 07 Nov 17 - 02:09 PM

Fire risk?
Any trees in the garden?

Subject: RE: BS: anyone understand insurance risk?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Nov 17 - 06:57 PM

Yebbut they're all alive and sappy, none of them are eucalypts and it pisses down every day.

Subject: RE: BS: anyone understand UK insurance risk?
From: Rusty Dobro
Date: 10 Nov 17 - 03:49 AM

I wanted to add my son-in-law as an extra driver for a two-week trip to France, but the company told me it would be much cheaper to add him as a (third) named driver for the year, including unlimited continental cover. Weird.

Subject: RE: BS: anyone understand UK insurance risk?
From: Raedwulf
Date: 10 Nov 17 - 04:20 PM

You've missed the point of big data, Red. Insurance is a calculated risk (gamble, if you prefer). Your PERSONAL circumstances are irrelevant. Insurance, like bookies & the roulette wheel, is an over-round book. It doesn't matter that the bet is nonsensical, either way, on an individual basis. It matters that the bookie / casino / insurance company walks away with a profit.

You are one odd-shaped grain in a silo full of grains. To offer you x or y rate makes sound financial sense. They may win from you personally; they may lose from you personally. But in the long run, from everyone, the insurance companies win i.e. make a profit.