Thought this had been banned but wonder if there's a loophole being exploited by insurers - I know, who'd have thought it!

My ins renewal came through recently and it includes breakdown recovery.

I then went to a comparison website as a new customer and got same combined cover for £48 less with the same insurer.  The car Ins premium was indeed £16 more (so far so good in terms of no loyalty penalty) but the breakdown cover as a 'new customer' was £64 LESS which I thought wasn't allowed.

I don't have the mental energy to pursue a complaint, but it seems that:

1. The big insurance companies are still playing fast and loose with the spirit of the law

2. It still pays to shop around on comparison sites.

1 hour ago, alanfp said:

who'd have thought it!

🤣🤣🤣

Insurance companies / politicians / estate agents, a common theme here ?

Al, I know it involves extra work etc but really you should send your example findings etc to the Insurance Ombudsman

i got £20 loyalty discount on my renewal via AA, and they were still cheaper than any of the quotes i'd had.

The OP was referring to the fact the insurer had bumped up the breakdown cover compared to what they would be charging a new customer

11 hours ago, TrevorB said:

The OP was referring to the fact the insurer had bumped up the breakdown cover compared to what they would be charging a new customer

Fully aware of what the OP was on about, just relaying my experience

42 minutes ago, JImpster said:

Fully aware of what the OP was on about, just relaying my experience

Did you sign up to AA breakdown cover with their insurance at the same time?

I don't think breakdown cover is included in that new law, even if buying as part of an insurance package?

Just had my insurance renewal through, £40 cheaper than last year!

2 hours ago, williamweb said:

Did you sign up to AA breakdown cover with their insurance at the same time?

No no mention of breakdown cover, although last year they did offer it after i'd bought the insurance for a stupid price, hoping they do so again this year i may sign although i dont do that much mileage

1 hour ago, JImpster said:

No no mention of breakdown cover, although last year they did offer it after i'd bought the insurance for a stupid price, hoping they do so again this year i may sign although i dont do that much mileage

Ok the reason I ask is because when I took out AA insurance recently they offered breakdown cover for £14 excluding home visit with just 1 annual call out.I’ve got AA cover excluding home visit for £59.69p unlimited call outs.My car is that unreliable ha ha (joking)

TBF from memory i seem to remember £16.00 for the year, but then allegedly they bump it up massively on year 2

Hi All.

I've done a little bit of Googling now and it seems that the loyalty penalty ban does indeed only relate to car and home insurance (as TomsFocus above knew!!!) . So to maximise my savings I should have taken my insurer's renewal quote but told them I didn't want breakdown cover for £150, and then gone direct to Green Flag and got it as a new customer for £75, which is what I paid as part of the package that I went for in the end.

So they haven't broken the law (which would have surprised me TBH) but managed to offer a cheaper premium FOR THE PACKAGE as a new customer.  Still, going through Confused.com has saved me money compared to my overall renewal price, plus I get 12 x £7 car washes over the next year.