Hello,
A necessary evil. I wonder why they offer a discount to join, then next year the price goes up. It would be cheaper to keep switching. Has to cost them more in Admin also. On-Line discount ? It would cost far less to pay an operator. What do you think ?
Most people are too lazy to switch. So the idea is to get you signed up and hope you don't bother checking.
People don't go hunting around for best offer every 12 months right?
In the case of my health insurance, the loyalty bonus increases the claim limit slightly to keep you from switching.
It is a marketing ploy and, as kcnan says, they depend on peoples' inertia to keep the new customers they obtain.
It is not just insurance companies that do this -common tactic with credit cards, internet providers, phone companies and all sorts of subscription services.
What annoys me is where existing customers are not offered the best deals (that are reserved for new customers only). Some examples;
•My internet provider offers new customers much better download limits than I have at a much cheaper price. I enquired and was told they would offer the same deal to me but only if I bundled my phones with it. That means I would end up paying more overall.
•I changed my internet security service (after recommendations from forum members) to get a much better deal elsewhere. First, I contacted my old provider to see if they would maybe natch the price and pointed out that it would still be higher than what they charge US customers for the same service. Now, months later, I am still being inundated with emails offering special deals to change back -and they will not desist from sending them. As far as I am concerned they had their chance and can now shove their special offers where the sun doesn't shine.
•Foxtel recently introduced a new, $25 per month price for new subscribers to the basic package; less than half the previous price. Of course existing customers are not eligible for the new, lower rate -however, they have been given a few extra channels of rubbish as recompense. I am not, and never have been a Foxtel/Austar subscriber but I do have plenty of customers who are rather pissed off with the situation.
Apparently Foxtel is trying to grab as many new customers as possible, before the raft of new, very cheap online services grab too many customers. Presumably they have figured that they will lose less existing customers to the new services than new customers they will gain.
At least many insurance companies offer no claim bonus/loyalty discounts for long term customers.
It does pay to check with your existing provider before switching to a better deal elsewhere. Often they will come to the party -Telstra is known for doing that. Makes one wonder how much they have been ripping you off if, just by asking the right question, you can get a better price -they are not going to cut prices if it means losing money; they still budget for a nice, fat profit each year.
The Checkout ABC The Lazy Tax Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDpJ3S8z0I0)
I switched my telephone service once and was instantly inundated with offers and incentives to return. When someone called me about it, I pointed out that I had had their service for over 20 years and had never received any of the offers, etc., and if I had, I might still be with them. The representative told me she understood that and heard it a lot.
I eventually went back to them anyway because the new service didn't live up to their agreement.
Unfortunately most companies today are too focused on gaining market share against their rivals than they are about maintaining their loyal customer base.
Hello,
I rang a Company that has been doing a bit of advertising, no estimate but a quote. Was a little pushy, so they must be on commission. He agreed with everything I said, and the special price was not all that cheap. Then he wanted to sell me house insurance !
I rang youi last year after getting my car insurance renewal and wanted to compare to see that my renewal price was reasonable. After all I had seen their TV advertising and they were keen to suggest that I'd save hundreds off my insurance cost with an example of the exact same vehicle! On the phone they mentioned over and over they were a "premium insurer" which I figured later that was buttering me up for a nasty price gouge. They also refused to tell me what value they'd insure my vehicle for, instead saying it would be decided by the assessor if the need arised. Needless to say the quote was for double what I'm paying now so I didn't change my insurance!
I changed my Car insurance last year from Aami after 10 years and as a rating 1 customer after
getting a quote for the same service from Progressive .Needless to say I went from paying $480 per
year down to $260 so it was a considerable saving
I hardly ever drive my own vehicle and it is just an old Nissan 4WD anyway so I don't bother with insurance.
My company vehicle is insured by my Boss anyway :dance2::yahoo::)
:laugh2: ...... I tried YOUI for a house insurance quote to be told I live in a flood prone area ...... pffft ..... if my house even got wet most of the Mid North Coast would be GONE and under 50m of water! So I tried API and they don't know of the town ....... so that was a show stopper from the start.
I hjave been to many insurance companies for all types of insurances and the worst is car insurance.
I am currently with @#$% and went to get a quote from BUDGET and the premium they quoted was well above what I am paying at present and then they turned around and said "it was for market value". Thanks but no thanks.
Before my present car I owned a Pajero with quite a few essential add ons like bull bar, long range driving lights, cd stacker and audio player, two portable GPS systems, dash mat - Excuse me sir we can't insure you. Why not I asked. You have too many extras in your car.
They call them extras which are now standard in any vehicle.
House Insurance I don't shop around as I have found that Defence Service Homes can never been beaten on price. I have shopped around and nobody has beaten the re newal price.
Like wise, health insurance. DEFHEALTH is hated by the majority of other health insurers because they can't match there rates or limits on claim amounts. That is from experience and again shopping around. I have top hospital cover and top extras.
House hold contents insurance. What a joke. The vast majority of insurers want bars on windows dead locks on all external doors, back to base security alarms, etc etc etc. Hello Defence Service Homes again.
I still phone around for car insurance but nothing at all has matched ALLIANCE as I can insure for a fixed price and that's what I want.
we used to go with alliance for our cars
they were quite OK, no hassles when we had the odd claim