Not aiming this at Chris Knott, as their hands are tied by the policies that they can sell as brokers. But the insurance industry really needs a shake-up in the way they target their policies and whom they punish.
I've not had my renewal yet this year, but its due soon. Looks like this year my insurance will rise way above what I paid for insurance on my first ever car back in 1991. For no fault of my own, I wouldn't be surprised if it doubles, and for the actual few miles that I do each year its probably going to spell the end of the line for my Cupra ownership as the cost to insure is getting preposterous.
Appears that of late SK 1-14 postcodes have seemingly been black-listed by most providers and they either refuse to quote or they quote clearly ridiculous premiums.
I think the black listing stems to a rise in criminal cases where there had been a high number of frauds, or these crash claim scams in some areas around Stockport. I believe that the scam was investigated and people were prosecuted and jailed for the offences.
I can understand that the insurance industry are nervous when they have to pay out large sums on fraudulent claims, but if thats the reason it highlights a fundamental failure of their policies, their incident checks and the police and legal system to deal with the underlying issue.
So rather than dealing with the issue, they simple punish anyone in the catchment area with outrageous premiums or refuse to even quote. Bearing in mind Stockport and its surrounding catchment is a massive area with a huge population taking in areas close to Gtr Manchester and others closer to Cheshire and Derbyshire they have all been tarred with the same brush.
In effect my view of the industry is unchanged that I believe it to be legalised robbery.
It must be frustrating for brokers who know they have a safe customer, but can't make a competitive offer due to the constraints put on them by the underwriters.
It will come to a head in the longterm, and only forces more people to go without insurance, ultimately pushing up premiums.
People who have good insurance records shouldn't be punished, due to the actions of a minority.
Rather than looking at just postcode data, insurers should look at individual records, and they might find they actually profit more.