Follow this topic
Q&A » Buying insurance
Sainsbury (amongst others) refuse to quote me online for car insurance on the basis I am currently unemployed, I have many years no claims no claims fines or convictions in last 5 years etc. Note however that they are happy for me to shop in their stores and save with their bank.
Report
32Looking at the small print of the Sainsbury leaflet it's not really Sainsbury it's esure so I'm not so surprised.
Posted on 10 August 2009 |
Love 0 loves
Report
66I think you will find there is a fine line between discriminating against the umemployed and the insurers argument that 'these are the conditions placed by their underwriter'
Sadly the commercial facts as far as "sainsbury" or any other insurer are concerned is that the employed are more 'valuable' customers than the unemployed. Not sure how you can 'make' them give an online quote, even if they did this now, would you want to pay them your hard earned money? Maybe time to shop elsewhere (for insurance and everything else!)
Posted on 10 August 2009 | Love 0 loves
Report
83There may be some concern that if you are unemployed you won't be able to pay but the fact that despite you're unemployment you are keeping wihtin the law by being insured should be celebrated.
part of the reason is (as far as I'm aware) is that rates change depending on your job. if you have no job they don't know how to rate you.
can you get yourself a job title somehow? are you actually unemployed? not a redundant banker currently on garden leave or similar? or start volunteering at a local charity and get called "charity worker", "shop assistant" and keep them happy?
Posted on 10 August 2009 | Love 0 loves
Report
32I'm actually an IT Project Manager - which is never in the list - I can't remember if it asked for an occupation or an employment status. As far as ability to pay is concerned I always pay my premium up front in one go so if this was a worry the companies could not offer monthly terms to the unemployed as a compromise but still offer insurance. If IT project manager and unemployed was in the list which is correct and would my cover be affected if I chose the wrong one?
Posted on 10 August 2009 | Love 0 loves
Report
14Different insurance brands have different goalposts for the types of customer they're interested in and will accept. These goalposts tend to move around a bit from brand to brand and from month to month. So it may be the underwriter at esure or it may be the marketing person at Sainsbury's who's stopped them quoting on unemployed drivers, but the result is that you will need to find a different brand for the moment.
I just tried getting a quote as 'unemployed 'on the lovemoney.com motor insurance comparison tool. A few quotes were returned but started at about 35% more expensive than the normal quote I get if I was employed.
It might be worth getting some quotes on comparison sites and trying a bespoke broker, like Adrian Flux.
I'm sorry to hear about your job, to make things worse this looks like a double whammy as on first glance insurance seems more expensive the less you have. If you select the wrong job or lie on your application form you could have a claim rejected, so it's worth being truthful.
Posted on 10 August 2009 | Love 0 loves
Report
32I've never suggested lying only asked which would be the correct answer when both my occupation and unemployed appear in the list and I am "between jobs".
I've already been to comparison sites Confused, Comparethemarket and Gocompare and have a quote from Churchill similar to my renewal quote but including free Green Flag breakdown cover.
My existing insurere put up my quote 20% after another years trouble free motoring because I guess I'm not a new customer any more.
Posted on 11 August 2009 | Love 0 loves
Report
14 83Hey Captain
This might help -
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/car-insurance-job-picker/
Posted on 11 August 2009 | Love 0 loves
Report
27your job, or lack of, has a statistical impact on your risk. so yes they are correct. i'd say its pretty fair to say premiums would be higher if a) you are unemmployed or b) part time rather than working full time.. its common sense.. More free time = more time on the road..
the same reason insurance is lower if there is more than one car in the household
Posted on 11 August 2009 | Love 0 loves
Report
32Except that I stated up to 6000 miles a year which is well below average, also that I rarely travel at peak times which probably also reduces risk, never mind 9+years NCD and no convictions/speeding tickets in last 5 years.
Posted on 12 August 2009 | Love 0 loves
Report
14 32Which bearing in mind my track record reinforces my original statement that I'm being discriminated against because I'm currently unemployed. I wonder as the level of unemployment rises (another 200k+ announced today) if we will get to a position where the insurance companies will realise how big a slice of the market they are refusing to quote for.
Posted on 12 August 2009 | Love 0 loves
Report
Sign in or register to post an answer.
Register with lovemoney.com to start asking and answering questions on Q&A.
Get started nowRegistered already? Great! You can just sign in to ask and answer questions.
Sign in
Retweet
Comments (
Facebook