Hi,
I was just checking through some of my current insurances and for some odd reason I went online and got a quote from the company I'm already with (REAL Insurance) for the same insurance as I have (Comprehensive Motor Vehicle). Oddly enough, the online quote was considerably cheaper than what I'm actually paying!!
I rang REAL to inquire about this and long & short of it is this is normal…Something about them having to charge processing costs when they charge me, and quotes online don't need this. My insurance had gone up each year for the last 3 years with them & I'd checked it against other providers but not them because I figured they were giving me their best price - and they were still the cheapest. So much for recognition of ongoing insurance with them?!?!?
The operator told me he couldn't do anything about it - and that he couldn't stop me cancelling my policy & taking out a new one.
So, I cancelled my insurance with them (no fee as I'm paying by the month - otherwise it would have been $30) and in the next moment took out a new policy with them, saving over $50/year AND reducing my excess from what it had been (had I kept my excess the same, I would have saved over $100/yr!!)
If I'd gone to Coles' little red quote then I guess I could have saved even more as a price match/beat but couldn't be bothered going to the extra effort involved.
Pretty standard business practice to offer better deals for those who are not current clients, they make more money this way.
It sucks but the only way to deal with it is to be constantly reviewing all on going services.