One of the worst habits of the trillion-pound general insurance industry will be brought to an end in April next year.
Even to a cynic, the willingness of many large general insurers to prey on the blind faith of loyal customers is thoroughly distasteful.
Each year, they write with their renewal notices, thanking us for our business and saying there is no need to do anything if the policy still meets our needs.
‘This is an automatic renewal,’ they say. ‘We look forward to providing another 12 months of cover.’
How convenient, thinks the time-poor customer, trusting that the insurer which looks his home and car will have his best interests in mind. Not so, as many of us have discovered to our cost as insurers sneak through exorbitant double-digit increases for no apparent reason other than greed.
It is estimated that the omission of the previous year’s premium in renewal notices costs consumers up to £100 million a year.
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