Anyone aged over 50 has probably heard of Saga. As the leading specialist insurance provider for the over 50s we have a range of insurance products to meet your needs, its website states. ‘Award winning’ car insurance and special online discounts. Sounds good. The reality is quite different though.
When it came to renewing my mum’s car insurance, Saga quoted over £1200. Granted she’s 85 but the car’s a low-powered family hatchback and she has full no claims. Courtesy of the opera-singing comparison website, I found a slew of cheaper quotes from reputable companies including Liverpool & Victoria, Nationwide, Admiral and the AA. With the same terms, I saved her over £450.
Last week my parents received the renewal notice for their home insurance. Also with Saga, the cost weighed in at a hefty £1020, up some 15 per cent from the previous year. Last year my parents just paid the renewal; this year they gave me the letter.
A trip to a meerkat-infested comparison website resulted in what I expected: quotes around the £250-300 mark with identical cover. But what did surprise me was the quote from Saga itself: £335. The cover was identical aside from ‘garden cover’ on the renewal which my parents don’t need. Remove this and the renewal reduces to £924 – almost £600 more expensive than the website quote. Even I found this difficult to believe so I went onto Saga’s website and double-checked the cover. Identical.
On the email I received with the new quote it states: The above premium includes an introductory and online discount. Fair enough – but £600?? And again, I could move their home insurance to a number of reputable companies including the AA, AXA and Liverpool & Victoria and make even more savings.
I called Saga’s customer services and spoke to John. Honest John. He seemed surprised at the disparity or at least put on an air of surprise. He must field calls like these all the time given my experience. I made him an offer: give my parents their home insurance for free this year to make up for ripping them off last year. He said he’d put the idea to the complaints department who would call me back. Should be sometime today. I won’t hold my breath.
Saga has a nicely designed new leaflet. Apparently, nine out of 10 people:
•Rated the adviser they spoke to ‘good’ to ‘excellent.
•Felt the adviser was polite and courteous.
•Felt they were given enough time and not made to feel rushed.
All commendable comments – but no mention of competitive prices.
On the back of this leaflet there are three quotes:
•I was surprised and pleased at how quickly my recent claim on buildings insurance was dealt with over the phone.
•I am very satisfied with all the insurance I have with Saga – home, car and pet. I always receive help and clarity over the phone and communications by letter are understandable. I have trust and confidence in your services.
•Always nice people to deal with on the phone, very friendly one to one service.
And that’s what customers should feel about any reputable insurance company – but still no mention of competitive cost.
When I turned 50 I also got a quote for my car insurance from Saga and discovered immediately that this company wasn’t competitive. But my experiences with my parents’ insurances go much further than not being competitive. Given the disparity between the online quotes and the renewals it’s almost as if Saga preys on older people. I’d love to see the demographics of its client base.
The renewal letter states the following:
Some people claim they give the lowest home insurance prices. At Saga we guarantee it. We are so confident your policy offers the best value for money that if you receive a lower quote for the same cover as your Saga policy, we’ll beat that price.
Given that Saga’s unique selling point (USP) is that it’s for the over-50s, how many people aged, say, 70+ will use comparison websites or go elsewhere for quotes? Some will; many will simply trust Saga. And that trust appears to be ill founded.
I’m not saying that Saga is the only insurance company that behaves this way. It clearly isn’t. But its USP, reinforced by over 20 years of marketing, is incredibly powerful. The only other company with such a strong USP that comes to mind is Sheilas’ Wheels but even this will have to curb its ‘women only’ stance after the European Court of Justice ruling regarding the EU Gender Directive 2005 and gender pricing in insurance which becomes law in the UK from 21 December 2012.
While comparison websites now provide a level of transparency that the old insurance brokers didn’t, they have also signalled the demise of the latter. At least with a broker you knew what you were getting: someone who, because they wanted to keep your business, had your best interests at heart even if their prices were slightly inflated.
My son has accused me of using my blog as a platform for ranting. This may be partly true but too many people adopt a ‘put up with’ attitude. I can’t and won’t do this. Perhaps having more time on my hands makes me fight injustice more than I used to – and I’m more than happy to pass on the results.
By the way, the number of letters from Barclays regarding my PPI complaints have now risen to 29…