Do insurance firms rip off loyal customers?

HAVING been with Hastings Direct for three years, paying £224 last year for fully comprehensive car insurance, I was dumbfounded to receive a renewal quote for £370. I rang up and the agent said he would check, coming back with a premium of £309, which I rejected. He then pulled a rabbit out of the hat and quoted £258, which he said was the deal for new customers. But when I checked a comparison website, I discovered that new customers are being offered £245 with a much lower excess. The moral is to never accept a renewal premium at face value and always check price comparison websites.

TERRY MULLARD, Dymchurch, Kent. I MADE no claims in 20 years and last year paid £356.52 for car cover. So imagine my surprise when this year’s renewal quote was £648.73.

r. PAPE, Carlisle.

I HAVE no sympathy for Saga, whose shares have crashed. I was one of their loyal car insurance customers for years, with maximum no claims bonus. My renewal quote was £711 for a Honda CRV. When I checked online, Direct Line was quoting £247. I gave Saga several chances to offer me a new, lower quote, but they were happy to lose my custom.

JOHN FLETCHER, Hereford.

MY CAR insurer, Aviva, advertises itself as ‘Quote Me Happy’. That was not what I felt when my renewal rose from £1,330 to £1,970. I went on to a comparison site and received a quote for £1,270 with AXA. As Aviva says it doesn’t price match, it’s lost me as a customer after five years. I’m 80 next birthday, which seems to have been held against me, plus a no-fault accident that did not cost my insurer a penny because the third-party insurer accepted liability.

KEN WILSON, rochester, Kent.