Insurance rip-off

[Tenko]

Just a quick one to show what a mug I am and to (hopefully) prevent others making the same mistake.

For the last couple of years I have been using Bennetts. I received my renewal quote 3 weeks ago and thought nothing of it - didn't even open the envelope as I have two old bikes (91 & 96) on TPF&T and pay about £150 tops.

Imagine my suprise when my new docs came through today to find that my premium had gone up to £262.20, and that I was to make a monthly payment of £29.66 for the next 12, leading to a total price for the year of £355.92.

Following a look on the internet this afternoon I rang Bennetts to complain that they were effectively charging me 3 times the amount that another company wanted for the same product. Carole Nash could do the same cover for £123.18!!!!! I asked if a Broker was supposed to act in my interests by finding the best product at the best price, to be told by a nice lady that Bennetts are not actually 'Brokers' in legal terms but were intermediaries between insurance companies and the public. No duty to the customer and all that....

The lesson learned - read your renewal quote in good time and don't trust Bennetts to act in your best interests. Carole Nash now has my money and other than me deciding whether to pay Bennetts their £30 cancellation fee all is sweet again.

[headlamp]

One of the hassles of renewing insurance and shopping around is once you've moved companies they want proof of no-claims, documents etc. One way round this is to say that you've had a quote from another company and see if they'll match it!

Swintons quoted me £330 & after I said I had had a lower quote of £250 elswhere they brought it down to £280 & threw in insurance that pays my excess.

The intermediaries would rather keep you and earn their £30-40 rather than £0!!
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Using a mobile phone while driving a car should be made a capital offence!