48 hours of car cover cost me extra £48
P.M. writes: I searched online for car insurance, starting February 7 and Hastings Direct came up cheapest. I told my existing insurer not to renew, but it said they had already taken the premium from my card as cover was due from February 5. This was my error and it is refunding me. I then called Hastings to say cover should begin on February 5. I was told it would close the first policy, refund my £358 premium, and open a new policy costing £406. How can the premium have risen so much? YOU are paying £48 more for just 48 hours of extra insurance. But Hastings Direct has offered an explanation that may surprise you.
The insurer told me: ‘The cost of an insurance premium can move on a daily basis due to a variety of reasons including the start date of the policy.’ So, you were just unlucky in your choice of dates. I then suggested to Hastings Direct that customers might want to request a range of start dates so they could choose the cheapest.
Back came the insurer: ‘We would be careful of advising customers to run multiple quotes as the pricing system could possibly see that as quote manipulation which would also impact the price.’
Well, I would see it as drivers trying to get the best value by leaving their car in the garage for a day or two. After all, nobody pays full price in the shops if a sale starts tomorrow.