I’ve been an LV= car insurance customer for the past few years. It wasn’t perfect but seemed good value and relatively easy to deal with. Your article of 25 January prepared me for bad news, but I was still a bit shocked when my renewal came – an increase of 17.5% for the same car without any explanation at all.
Like many people, I have driven very little in the past 18 months. Thankfully, there are other insurers, so I switched to one of them and saved myself £65. I, too, wonder how much of this is down to the new ownership by Allianz.
FB, by email
We have had a few of these letters and it’s hard not to conclude that LV=’s new owner is using the crisis to drive up margins.
Comparethemarket reported this week that average car premiums fell £74 to a six-year low in the spring of 2021. LeaseLoco said in May that car accidents were down between 30% and 45% during lockdown. And almost everyone has seen their mileage drop in the last year.
If anything, the company should be giving people rebates.
An LV= spokesperson said: “We’re sorry our customer was unhappy with the price they received for their renewal with us. We always aim to offer the most competitive price we can to our customers.
“As a result of cars being driven less because of the various lockdowns, we have been passing on savings to customers through their renewal premiums but unfortunately there are other factors that have resulted in prices needing to increase. For example, claims inflation continues to be high and the cost of repairs has been increasing too and these are factors that we need to take into consideration when calculating our premiums.”
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