Why have insurance premiums increased?

19 December 2018

There are many reasons insurance premiums increase. For anyone living under a rock, there have been several major “insurance events” over the past decade, including natural disasters here and abroad. This has meant insurance companies have been hit with huge payouts. When many claims in the thousands come at once, it makes a big impact on how insurers cope with planning for future payouts of this magnitude.

Other things include, ironically, the cost of technology that is included in many vehicles. This tech is not only more sophisticated, but it’s expensive to replace.

With growing populations, you have more vehicles on the roads, so the frequency of claims increases too, because more collisions happen. Bigger events and populations and more claims and higher repair costs equals greater costs across the board.

We know that nobody likes paying more for anything that seems the same as what they’ve always had. Luckily we don’t take a cookie cutter approach with our customers.

At Star Insurance Specialists, we think of all of our customers as unique individuals with individual needs. We ask the right questions so that we can provide the right insurance policy that covers everything you need. And we don’t charge you for what you don’t need. Good, right?

By removing much of the automation that is so common in the insurance business, we transport you from “faceless, generic customer” to a unique individual with a tailored insurance policy and premium. We also look at your needs each year to ensure that you continue to pay for what you need and make any adjustments where necessary. You can also contact us anytime to change anything in your policy.

If you don’t like cost increases, we can help manage this by offering you a higher base excess in exchange for a lower insurance premium. This is a good option if you think having an accident or experiencing a theft is a low risk.

We recommend that you also review your motorbike insurance policy when it comes up for renewal. Ask yourself these questions, the answers to which could improve your finances:

• Has my motorcycle’s value decreased?
• Am I happy to receive a lower payout figure if I experience a total write-off?
• Have I modified my motorcycle or removed any modifications?
• Is my motorcycle now just a weekend rider?
• Have I received a speeding ticket or a Police conviction in the past 12-months?
• Have my speeding demerit points been removed?
• Would I rather have a higher excess in exchange for a lower premium?
• Have I had any other significant changes in the past 12-months?

Being upfront with us is always a good policy to follow. By being transparent you’re protecting your future interests.

Insurance premiums go up for a number of reasons, but we do everything we can to limit their impact on you. We have exactly these same policies for our own motorcycles and vehicles, so we treat you exactly how we want to be treated. Fairly.