BrendanS
Well-known member
<font color=blue>OK Q&S's. I'm not in the insurance market, so I'm not an expert, I just read a great deal, so take my answers in that light</font color=blue>
>>I appreciate that any business dependant upon the stock market will have had a rough time recently, but I do not remember a corresponding reductions in premiums when the stock market was soaring.<<
<font color=blue>The reductions were there, you just didn't see them. As I've said before, the premiums being charged, particularly in the areas like motor insurance were below sustainable levels</font color=blue>
I am not surprised that there are only two contributors to the forum who understand the insurance situation. It would be one sad yachting forum if we were all insurance experts.
<font color=blue>if people make no effort to understand what they are buying, they are going to suffer. How much effort do you put into buying a boat or car. I'd bet, if you are a fairly typical consumer, you research in depth. If you stand to lose the whole value of your boat or car if you have the wrong policy, which doesn't cover you for you typical use, do you go to the same effort to research the insurance you are buying, or just go for the cheapest</font color=blue>
As a consumer I do not wish to have a detailed knowledge of the financial structures in the insurance industry. I just want a policy that provides the cover I need at a fair and stable price.
<font color=blue> you shouldn't have to have a detailed knowledge, but it helps to explain why premiums are going up. People keep complaining about 15% to 130% premium increases on these forums, so I thought it might help to understand why they are increasing. The prices companies are charging might be fair. As to stable, that depends on the markets, and until someone comes up with a better system it's always going to vary according to the market.</font color=blue>
If my insurance company slapped a 40% premium increase on me without any attempt to explain it I would feel quite entitled to take it as an personal insult.
<font color=blue> how should they explain the increase. It's not easy to explain this market to people who understand it. Explaining the true details would be so complicated that few would understand it. Putting it into simple terms, as some have done, lays them open to further misunderstanding.</font color=blue>
Being collectively one of the largest holdings of shares, with automatic sell triggers etc. the insurance industry is perhaps as responsible for the current stock market falls as anyone. Partly creating their current financial problems as a result.
<font color=blue> the selling 'triggers' are not of the insurance companies making. The FSA (an independent regulatory body) introduced these measures to protect consumers so that insurance companies were seen to hold sufficient assets to cover their liabilities. What the FSA didn't foresee was the stock market dropping so low that most if not all companies would be affected to a greater or lesser extent, and the spiral of sell and market drop this would instigate. This is why the FSA are relaxing controls to stop this situation.</font color=blue>
Are the days of shopping around really over? Each year (including this year) I make a couple of enquiries with other companies and there is always a 20% to 25% difference between the lowest and highest quote for the same cover.
<font color=blue> of course not, if you look at one of my previous posts this evening, I explained that there are always situtations in which one particular broker or insurance company will give an individual a better deal </font color=blue>
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>>I appreciate that any business dependant upon the stock market will have had a rough time recently, but I do not remember a corresponding reductions in premiums when the stock market was soaring.<<
<font color=blue>The reductions were there, you just didn't see them. As I've said before, the premiums being charged, particularly in the areas like motor insurance were below sustainable levels</font color=blue>
I am not surprised that there are only two contributors to the forum who understand the insurance situation. It would be one sad yachting forum if we were all insurance experts.
<font color=blue>if people make no effort to understand what they are buying, they are going to suffer. How much effort do you put into buying a boat or car. I'd bet, if you are a fairly typical consumer, you research in depth. If you stand to lose the whole value of your boat or car if you have the wrong policy, which doesn't cover you for you typical use, do you go to the same effort to research the insurance you are buying, or just go for the cheapest</font color=blue>
As a consumer I do not wish to have a detailed knowledge of the financial structures in the insurance industry. I just want a policy that provides the cover I need at a fair and stable price.
<font color=blue> you shouldn't have to have a detailed knowledge, but it helps to explain why premiums are going up. People keep complaining about 15% to 130% premium increases on these forums, so I thought it might help to understand why they are increasing. The prices companies are charging might be fair. As to stable, that depends on the markets, and until someone comes up with a better system it's always going to vary according to the market.</font color=blue>
If my insurance company slapped a 40% premium increase on me without any attempt to explain it I would feel quite entitled to take it as an personal insult.
<font color=blue> how should they explain the increase. It's not easy to explain this market to people who understand it. Explaining the true details would be so complicated that few would understand it. Putting it into simple terms, as some have done, lays them open to further misunderstanding.</font color=blue>
Being collectively one of the largest holdings of shares, with automatic sell triggers etc. the insurance industry is perhaps as responsible for the current stock market falls as anyone. Partly creating their current financial problems as a result.
<font color=blue> the selling 'triggers' are not of the insurance companies making. The FSA (an independent regulatory body) introduced these measures to protect consumers so that insurance companies were seen to hold sufficient assets to cover their liabilities. What the FSA didn't foresee was the stock market dropping so low that most if not all companies would be affected to a greater or lesser extent, and the spiral of sell and market drop this would instigate. This is why the FSA are relaxing controls to stop this situation.</font color=blue>
Are the days of shopping around really over? Each year (including this year) I make a couple of enquiries with other companies and there is always a 20% to 25% difference between the lowest and highest quote for the same cover.
<font color=blue> of course not, if you look at one of my previous posts this evening, I explained that there are always situtations in which one particular broker or insurance company will give an individual a better deal </font color=blue>
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