Bingle - car insurance cost went up nearly 40%...

User102430 on 04/07/2018 - 22:50

Hi all,
just like that, renewal quote from Bingle went up from $617 I paid last year - to $853 this year (comprehensive car insurance).

It wouldn't be that strange however everything else stays equal - I drive the same car, live in the same house and garage, same annual mileage, private usage, etc. No claims last year, no incidents, absolutely nothing has changed… One thing I've noticed Suncorp logo appeared on their website - would that be the reason, I wonder? Anyone experienced something similar recently with Bingle?

I've been with them for the last 7 years, and they've been cheapest for me but now, I can get better deal everywhere else.

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Comments

  • Cheeper on 04/07/2018 - 23:10
    +1

    Have you tried an online quote from bingle?

    • User102430 on 05/07/2018 - 18:27

      yeah I did, to my uttermost surprise it was even higher - $992…

  • bereta91 on 04/07/2018 - 23:33
    +2

    Yeah, my dad had the same experience with them this year.

    His premium went up by 30% with no claims last 4 years he was with them, it was bizarre.

    Just moved to different insurance.

  • Chewiebacca on 05/07/2018 - 00:56
    +2

    Bingle has always been a subsidy of Suncorp group so that wouldn't be the reason. Shop around/get another quote.

  • bobbified on 05/07/2018 - 07:08
    +11

    Insurers often jack up the price at renewel time expecting some people to just pay without doing further research.

    A lot of the times if you do a brand new quote with the same answers to their questions, the new quote would come out significantly lower than the amount on the renewal notice.

    Customer loyalty means jack all.

    • pegaxs on 05/07/2018 - 08:13
      +7

      Exactly this.

      Youi did this to me. They were the cheapest in the market when I signed up with them. The next year, my premium almost doubled. They had me on direct debit and just took the money out where at no time did I authorise direct debit. When I called them, they put it down to operational costs. I pressed for a better deal and they wouldn’t budge. Got a full refund and closed my account.

      I went back a week later and did their online quote, and it was about half what my renewal was. I am now convinced that they sucker you in with a really good price and then just jack it the next year in the hope hat you will just auto pay it. I don’t get why they wouldn’t want to retain customers. One of their first questions is “how long have you been with your previous insurer?” I say “1 year, and if you try to f#@k me over, you’ll last just as long…”

      • bobbified on 05/07/2018 - 08:19
        +3

        I say “1 year, and if you try to f#@k me over, you’ll last just as long…”

        LOL!

      • TheBilly on 05/07/2018 - 17:50
        +1

        Its almost money for nothing though, right? so they probably couldn't care less as its just a numbers game. Lets say 100,000 policies at $700 each. Thats $70 million. How many accidents can that one insurer have to pay out on, surely. Lets say 1,000 accidents happen which is a major overstatement and all of them are write offs at $30,000 market value per vehicle another overstatement - thats still only $30 million paid out. Most of their operating costs are palmed off overseas so its cheap. Theyre making good cashish I reckon.

        • HighAndDry on 05/07/2018 - 17:58

          What you tried to summarize into one paragraph, is literally the entire (very complex, hard to enter, and highly paid) field of Actuarial Science. Safe to say, it's no where near that easy to calculate.

        • User102430 on 05/07/2018 - 18:32

          @HighAndDry:
          All true, but it's also safe to say, they do make money on it - insurance companies are usually very profitable businesses

    • cloudy on 05/07/2018 - 09:45

      This is absolutely true!

      Surprisingly though my dads wooworths car insurance is not the case. Last two years I’ve tried to find better after every renewal and haven’t found anything better, even through their own website it gave a similar price at a lower market value. So haven’t needed to change. So I’d highly recommend them.

      My advice is continue to shop around, and be very very careful when comparing quotes that the market value and excess is the same. Coles constantly gives a lower price but gave my dads 12k car a 6k value. To save 100 in premiums, what a joke.

    • HighAndDry on 05/07/2018 - 10:03

      Yup. You call up and generally the go back to a moderate (or even no) increase almost automatically. You don't even need to say more than "Hey, my premiums went up by 40%, it shouldn't because nothing changed."

    • User102430 on 05/07/2018 - 18:30

      Well, it wasn't always like that - I've had two different cars with them, and pretty much except the situation where I changed car for a newer/better and obviously the price went up, the quotes I used to get were always lower than before…

      The new quote (used different computer, IP, etc) - $992… definitely moving away, shame they don't offer any customer support phone, no one to discuss the price with… :/

  • fantombloo on 05/07/2018 - 07:28
    +1

    Who else immediately thinks "Lara" when they see Bingle?

    • Gandalf the Thrifty on 05/07/2018 - 08:26
      +5

      No I just see minor car crash… possibly the same as her career though

  • kolorijo on 05/07/2018 - 09:00
    +1

    Always shop around comes insurance renewal time. Better money in my pocket than in theirs.

  • ryantaylor56781 on 05/07/2018 - 10:02

    So I just checked my premium for a 2016 model Subaru (comprehensive insurance). Thought for sure they would have raised my premium from 2016/17. Well, turns out it dropped from $601 to $487. Was very surprised.

  • onetwothreefour on 05/07/2018 - 10:28
    +2

    Shop around every time you need to renew any insurance, they don't reward you for loyalty so why should you be loyal?

    • User102430 on 05/07/2018 - 18:31

      Agreed - this what I always do, Bingle has always been cheapest, but not anymore. Goodbye, folks

  • chichi on 06/07/2018 - 17:22

    Our previous premium had an excess of $625. Our renewal has an excess of $700 and the premium has increased.
    When we asked why we were told that they no longer have the $625 excess and there is now no option between $300 and $700. The best they could do for us was reduce the premium by $23. We have been with them for years and have other insurance with them - plus the car is financed through them. No reward for loyalty it seems.

    Currently shopping around and have found that most are more but there were a few that were cheaper. I had an email from Coles offering 10,000 points but they weren't very competitive. Spoke to live chat to see if they would beat other insurers and was told they don't do that anymore.

  • spoonmugen on 12/07/2018 - 12:17

    my racv premium went up $200…

    from $650ish to ~860
    (I have a large excess as yoy I rather pay lower premium - so far no claim in 10+ yrs so if I do need to claim the lower premium has already saved me)

    budget direct sent me an email - as I was shopping around last year…
    for same comparable quote $560…

    ill call racv to see what they can offer - but basically
    shop around.

    system would automatically jack up pricing yoy.

  • Mrgreenz on 15/07/2018 - 17:11

    I think this may be the standard nowadays. Happened to me with coles.

    The justificatin was allong the lines of it being a bad year with hailstorms and flooding etc.

  • Architectonic on 20/07/2018 - 01:56

    It means the underwriters have changed the risk model and your car and or driver history is now considered higher risk (or cynically, more able to pay more money!)

    As all the others have said, shop around!

  • KingNgope on 21/08/2018 - 17:26

    Have to agree with the shop around. Just got mine.
    Last year we were looking at just under $700 for comprehensive. Now $1190.
    Was Coles Car Insurance as well. Threw in a quote with woolies and it spat out $670.

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