EU Insurance Ruling

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Also male drivers on average tend to do twice the mileage of a comparable female driver, and at different times of day, usually when the roads are busier.
There's a strong correlation between the amount you drive and the amount of accidents you have.

I suspect there will be increased focus on the amount of miles you do and more measures to enforce mileage restrictions.

Whenever you do a quote for insurance you are asked about your annual mileage, and I have noticed it can significantly increase the costs of my quotes.

[Mark]

Whenever you do a quote for insurance you are asked about your annual mileage, and I have noticed it can significantly increase the costs of my quotes.

Indeed, but I believe that at the moment insurance companies can't really check what mileage you are actually doing. I expect given this ruling they will look at ways of more strictly enforcing this.

Even then it's a blunt measure. I do a lot of miles but mostly on the motorway - the safest place to be! Much safer than someone doing the same number of miles in a city centre for example.

[MrJan]

I've always felt a bit jipped that my penis and testicles cost me hundreds of pounds each year. When I was 19 I looked at prices for me to insure a 1l FIAT Uno on TPF&T. As a bloke it was £750 but as a woman it was around £400 and something. I understand that as a young bloke I was supposedly more dangerous but that's just too much of a difference IMO. Incidentally I'm now 25 and, touch wood, accident free. Shame that my insurance still doesn't really recognise that and continues to charge silly money.

Also a shame that this ruling won't see my premium drop, just the premiums of women rise.

[Daniel]

Indeed, but I believe that at the moment insurance companies can't really check what mileage you are actually doing. I expect given this ruling they will look at ways of more strictly enforcing this.

Even then it's a blunt measure. I do a lot of miles but mostly on the motorway - the safest place to be! Much safer than someone doing the same number of miles in a city centre for example.

Whilst there is no system in place for them to check what mileage you're doing, I very much suspect that in the event of a claim they could ask you to prove your mileage. Your mileage is noted on MOT's and if they want to make it so you have to prove your yearly mileage then you'll have to comply.

[GridGirl]

I asked the insurance firm that I renewed with some questions about mileage the other day. I was getting quotes based upon 8000 miles per annum. The kind person on the telephone said I could reduce my premium if I said I'd only be doing 7500 miles per annum. I soon changed that.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Whenever I try and negotiate with insurers over the phone all I ever get in reply is 'computer says no'.

[Daniel]

I asked the insurance firm that I renewed with some questions about mileage the other day. I was getting quotes based upon 8000 miles per annum. The kind person on the telephone said I could reduce my premium if I said I'd only be doing 7500 miles per annum. I soon changed that.

I can't imagine they'd quibble too much over 500 miles difference, but if it were 5000? Perhaps they would.

[Daniel]

Whenever I try and negotiate with insurers over the phone all I ever get in reply is 'computer says no'.

We've got a Mulitcar ([parrot voice]multicar! multicar![/parrot voice]) with Admiral and they break the price in the policy down for the individual cars and I said "well we've been quoted x amount by another insurer for the Fiat, what can you do?" and they matched it.

I would reccomend going through a cashback site like http://www.topcashback.co.uk/ or http://www.quidco.com/ as you'll get paid cashback which is more or less what the insurer would have paid to the comparison site for bringing your business in. As a non insurance based example, we recently changed our gas and electric over to EDF and got exactly the same price as we would have through a comparison site, but we got £50 cashback In total with the cashback and lower cost it amounts to a saving of about 25% on what we were paying before!

[Eki]

I wonder if they some day will forbid the insurance companies from discriminating based on employer and rumors. After Nokia and Microsoft recently announced their cooperation there have been rumors about huge lay-offs at Nokia. Because of the rumors, Genworth Financial stopped insuring Nokia employees' loans against unemployment and compared Nokia employees to smoldering houses, saying they don't insure smoldering houses against fire either.

[Daniel]

I wonder if they some day will forbid the insurance companies from discriminating based on employer and rumors. After Nokia and Microsoft recently announced their cooperation there have been rumors about huge lay-offs at Nokia. Because of the rumors, Genworth Financial stopped insuring Nokia employees' loans against unemployment and compared Nokia employees to smoldering houses, saying they don't insure smoldering houses against fire either.

Well I think if someone has been told that there is consultation with regards to redundancies then it's only right that they shouldn't be insured for unemployment but if all there is to go on are rumours then that's not on.....

What does the law say about it there Eki?