New Car Insurance Quote versus Renewal

Question

First of all forgive me if this is the incorrect section for this question, it seemed this section or the legal section was the most appropriate to me but please correct me if I'm wrong

The situation: My current car insurance policy is expiring soon and the renewal quote says it will cost me €2000 to renew. Now, if I go onto the same insurers website and go through the 'Get a quote' process I'm quoted €1700. Whats more is that breakdown of the online quote gives my base premium as €2500 whereas the breakdown of the renewal quote sets my base premium at €2750 even though I have another year on No-Claims-Bonus to my name.

(For those wondering about the extortionate prices... that's car insurance in Ireland for you as a young driver...)

So my question is: Why shouldn't I just let my current policy expire and take out a brand new one with the same insurer? Are there some sort of rules against doing something like this?

Thanks in advance for any help or insight!

Note: I spoke to my mother about it and she says that whenever she is quoted for her renewal she always rings them up and asks them is it the best they can do, and they usually bring it down... Would it be a good idea to ring them up and ask them why there is such a difference between renewing my current policy and taking out a new one, maybe ask them to lower the renewal to what I'm being quoted for a new policy?

Update: I spoke to the insurance company and they said that different systems are used to calculate renewal premiums and new policy premiums. Thankfully they also said that that will match my renewal premium to the cheaper new policy premium I was quoted online so long as all the details are the same.

Answer 1

[Note: I have no sources to cite to prove this. This is from personal and friends experience over many years and multiple insurances]

From my experience, most car insurance companies offer low rates when you are considering becoming a customer, and then raise them every year steeply (10-20%). As a result, after two or three years, you overpay significantly (and that is not the end).
You can call them and whine and discuss, and they give you some rebate, but it rarely gets you back to the level you start at as a new customer.

If you want low rates, you need to go through the pain of changing insurance every two or three years, otherwise they bleed you for being stupid enough to stay with them. Basically, you get punished for staying with one company - because they know that most people just forget about the topic until it becomes unbearable.

Just bite the bullet and compare three others, and switch. Or overpay, if you prefer.

Answer 2

I am in the UK. The basic rule that I have is to never accept a renewal quote for house or car. I can always save an appreciable amount by switching insurers each year. I often just swap between two companies taking the new customer discount each time. This website shows how to get cheap insurance in the UK but the methods will probably work in other countries.

There has also been some research done on insurance quotes that indicates that you will get the best deal around 21 days before renewal