I am writing to you regarding the naive and disciminatory way in which motor insurance services are handled in this country.
I have just received a renewal for my motor insurance this year, which has increased by 25%.
I have had no claims for six years and no details have changed since last year, except that the selection of underwriters picked by my brokers (whose customer service I am quite happy with) has changed.
When I shop around for a better quote I find that I am consistently discriminated against because I am a composer.
In reality this means that I work from home, driving less than 6,000 miles a year in a family car which is worth less than £2,000.
Yet virtually all insurers put me in the arts/entertainment category, which of course means I drive heavy equipment and celebrities, late at night after a cocktail of alcohol and drugs.
There are many like me who are forced to pay over the odds for car insurance, because it's illegal not to have it.
My guess is that most falsley state their occupations, but surely what should be done is that insurers either widen their criteria, or somehow take personal circumstances into account.
Composer doesn't even appear on many firms' lists, so one would have to 'change' his job anyway, giving insurers every opportunity to reject a claim.
I have tried to contact my previous insurer - Aioi - direct to see if it can take me on again through another broker, but I have been unable to source details.
My only other option would be to reduce my cover to third party insurance, as paying upwards of £400 to insure my £2,000 car for one year seems to me both obscene and unjust.
It's time this short-sighted system was updated for the real world.
If there is anyone else I should be contacting about this (or anyone I can sue) do let me know.
Colin Willsher
Email:
cwillsher@ntlworld.com
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