Car insurance premiums sometimes up unreasonably

Over the past year, auto insurance premiums have risen sharply. In some cases, the increases are unreasonable. What do you do about it?

Auto insurance is an important policy for insurers to retain individuals. In recent years, a price war raged among insurers. Car insurance premiums were kept artificially low to keep policyholders hooked. Insurers no longer do that. Premiums are now being raised sharply to at least break even again.

Also, claims costs are getting higher

There is another reason that is forcing insurers to adjust premiums: rising claims costs. In fact, the cost per claim repair is getting higher and higher. This is not surprising when you see what technology is incorporated in cars today. Cameras, sensors and computer-controlled parts are expensive. Often these techniques mean that damage to a bumper or a simple paint job is not the end of the story. In 2010, the average damage charge was 1,360 euros. By 2015, the charges had risen to 1,900 euros.

It may turn out to be unreasonable

A premium increase of a few percent is tolerable, but what if it's dozens of percent? Insurers, for example, are raising car insurance premiums by 10 percent. These are averages. It may be worse for some groups of policyholders. For example, an insurer may decide to give policyholders from a certain region an additional increase. Raising premiums is also a way for insurers to adjust their portfolio. For example, have young drivers up to age 24 caused more claims? Then this group gets an extra increase and drivers between 24 and 65 years of age, for example, get a smaller increase.

Switching pays off

All insurers are increasing car insurance premiums. So does switching to another insurer make sense? Yes, it makes sense. This is because the differences between insurers are very large. Before the increases, the difference was already large and now they are implementing several increases as well. For a third party motor insurance it can save you hundreds of euros on an annual basis. So it pays to compare your car insurance.

Young drivers are especially affected

Especially for young drivers (up to 24 years old), third-party car insurance has become more expensive. On average, they have received a premium increase of 34 percent. Before the premium increases, it was already difficult for this group to insure the car at a reasonable premium. This group now has to pay even more with the sharp increase in car insurance premiums.