It really depends on the state of their claim books.They'll make up any excuse to increase or decrease their premiums.
I've never has a claim against me in the taxi but AXA still try to milk me annually for more money.I think it's called price walking and it's gonna be outlawed soon by the insurance regulator.
https://www.ft.com/content/854502fd-c2db-447d-bfd4-9aa17809b8b7Loyal insurance customers being ripped off by ‘dual pricing’ that means new buyers get a better deal
A Central Bank interim report showed the majority of insurance providers in Ireland charge higher prices to existing customers who are less likely to switch
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Sinn Fein Finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty TD (Image: Collins Photo Agency)
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Loyal insurance customers are being ripped off by ‘dual pricing’ that means new buyers get a better deal, a report has found.
A Central Bank interim report showed the majority of insurance providers in Ireland charge higher prices to existing customers who are less likely to switch.
The study found some policyholders were being overcharged by as much as 35%, with 2.5 million paying a total of €187 million more than the actual cost of their policies.
This “perverse” ‘loyalty penalty’ was yesterday (MON) blasted as “systematic and widespread exploitation”.
Sinn Fein spokesperson on finance Pearse Doherty also described it as a “damning indictment of the insurance industry” and said his party will be publishing legislation to ban its practice in the coming days.
Sinn Fein Finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty TD (Image: Collins Photo Agency)
Deputy Doherty, who went viral in a video laying into insurance companies last year, added: “Dual pricing involves insurers using big data and complex pricing practices to target customers who are less likely to shop around, before charging them artificially high premiums at renewal.
“In motor insurance, customers are being overcharged by as much as 25% a year, while in home insurance customers are being overcharged by as much as 35%.
“The average motor insurance customer who has been with their provider for five years will have been overcharged €362 by their insurer.
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“The Central Bank has also found that this disproportionately impacts older and more vulnerable customers.
“This has to stop. Dual pricing discriminates, it overcharges customers and distorts the market.”
Labour Party TD Ged Nash at Leinster House on Kildare Street, Dublin (Image: Gareth Chaney/Collins)
Labour TD and party finance spokesperson Ged Nash said there was an urgent need for action as Labour also plans to publish a consumer protection bill that would ban the practice today (TUES).
Deputy Nash added: “Today’s finding... is truly shocking, if unfortunately not surprising given the repeated revelations about how the sector operates in Ireland.
“It shows that this is not a one-off problem, but points to systematic and widespread exploitation of customer loyalty.
“It shows that sales practices in the insurance market mean customers with a similar risk and cost of service are paying different prices, principally because of their loyalty rather than their risk profile, and that most providers apply some form of differential pricing.
“The ‘loyalty penalty’ is particularly galling as it punishes those ordinary customers, many of whom are older people and other vulnerable groups who may not keep up to date with every changing market product and various complex offers.
“What we now know from the Central Bank report is that renewing customers are paying significantly more than the expected cost of the policy, but that new customers are paying marginally less than the expected cost.
“That means the longer a customer remains with their insurer, the more they can expect to pay.
https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2021-02-17/2/?highlight%5B0%5D=consumer&highlight%5B1%5D=protection&highlight%5B2%5D=bill&highlight%5B3%5D=loyalty&highlight%5B4%5D=penalty&highlight%5B5%5D=customers&highlight%5B6%5D=consumer&highlight%5B7%5D=protection&highlight%5B8%5D=consumer&highlight%5B9%5D=protection&highlight%5B10%5D=loyalty&highlight%5B11%5D=penalty&highlight%5B12%5D=customer&highlight%5B13%5D=complaints&highlight%5B14%5D=bill
