A keen eye has alerted us to the fact that insurers may discount your premium depending on who your previous car insurer was. For example, we found Woolworths Everyday and Australian Seniors Insurance will quote you a cheaper premium if your previous insurer was Budget Direct. While GIO will quote you less if your previous insurer was their direct competitor, NRMA. Have you had a similar experience?
5 Likes
Not as asked but doesn’t it seem odd that every insurer asks who your current insurer is as part of the quote process? It is unrelated to the driver or vehicle and everything related to their ‘competition database’ and the sharpness or lack thereof of their quote.
Asking later, eg during the actual purchase of a policy, to keep the punter honest - no problem.
3 Likes
I went with GIO after a number of other insurers… NRMA wasn’t one of them, I was unable to afford it from years ago… So I got to GIO after Allianz, CGU, the one that claims to be better for over 50 and no longer working (forget the name) and Coles. I found the GIO quote to be less than all those and it has remained competitive for me, ever since. And WAY less than NRMA which I check every year.
4 Likes
APIA or Seniors Insurance?
1 Like
Thats the one!!! They could never get it right. Insurance was all over the place and they were unable to explain increases of up to $50 at a time. They most certainly were not the best option for someone not working.
4 Likes
APIA were/are part of the Suncorp insurance stable, now owned by ANZ perhaps, though some of the insurance business was sold off to other providers e.g., Real Insurance.
3 Likes
AAI, a Suncorp brand
ANZ bought the Suncorp Bank, not Suncorp insurance.
3 Likes
Whe getting quotes I always use a VPN service, change my IP address for every quote and enquire not with my real name or real address (e.g. neighbours address). That seems to get the best results, although the real quote may be slightly different based on your insurance / claim history.
It’s really sickening though that we have to resort to ‘tricks’ in order to get a fair quote!
3 Likes
They always want your current insurer so they know what your current premium quote will be.
My question is won’t giving false details invalidate your quote?
you are correct. By insisting who is your current insurer they know what their quote will be and we are not getting genuine competition.
I dumped APIA many years ago having had my car and house with them.I live close to a tidal lake and so have no cover for inundation from the sea, but the chance of me claiming for flood is zero unless a watermain bursts alongside the house.Because of widespread floods at the time some genius decided they would not cover anyone within 500 meters of a flood zone no matter the height above sea level so they just dumped me. Will not be forgotten.
2 Likes
I always shop around but I have noticed that if I’m with AAMI and the premium renewal is high and I switch to another insurer they are cheaper the next year. I have also found if I get a new quote from my same insurer it is usually cheaper than the renewal sent.
I recently changed an elderly friends insurance from Apia as he was just accepting there premium and had it on auto renew. I got him quotes from other companies and cut his premium nearly in half and got more things insured that he couldn’t afford to add to his Apia policy.
1 Like
