A frugal life is an easy life!

In pre price comparison website times (ie, run by journalists posing as "experts") - as with most other industries today - the car insurance industry was run, where the customer was king.
The prices charged for your car insurance policy were based on a few factors;

* Engine size
* Modifications
* Crime levels in your immediate area (Usually postcode related)
* Your personal car insurance record

The price comparison websites decended upon us all and the world of information analysis and sharing (read: selling on for profits) was now in full swing. Customers now became just a number, prices across the car insurance industry became much of the same as all companies now knew what other companies were charging. Minor savings on price could be obtained, but for the majority that didn't "compare" we were penalised by paying the top whack. Customer loyalty had gone out of the window.
With this, came the bane of all customers, pricing by demographic.

New catagories sprang up, to decide the cost of your car insurance policy for the year;

* Your job - A company director pays less than a manual worker
* How many cars in your household

Car insurance companies added on costs, for paying commissions to affiliates and price comparison websites, for getting you to sign up, currently running at around £60 per sign up, the cost of which is factored into all their car insurance policies.

In the early 2000s I was told by staff of a direct car insurance company that there were 147 catagory/different criteria for calculating a car insurance price for the year!

The progression of all this has lead to one of the worst positions for customers today, with car insurance prices being at record levels.
Are we insuring ourselves or is our vehicle being insured?

The Financial services authority (FSA) do not know - I have asked them.
The government of the day do not know - their policy on insuring cars demands that each car has an insurance policy taken out on it, yet when car insurance is requested, the price is calculated on the personal data of the driver.
The insurance companies don't know - they produce differing responses, depending on the questioning of the individual.

When I asked how much it would be to insure me on a second vehicle I was thinking of buying, the result was mind blowing.
I could insure the new vehicle (a cheap used car with a tiny engine size) but...

* I couldn't use my 17 years no claims discount against the policy - apparently, you can now only use it against one vehicle. I have yet to develop my skills in driving more than one vehicle at any one time, the policy would insure myself the person, not a vehicle.
I asked why I could drive any other vehicle under my comprehensive policy, yet if I wanted to own a cheap little run around, I was required to pay full price for an insurance policy?
"Every other company on the market does this now" - that makes it alright then does it?
* My new policy was more expensive than the sprog's who has only been driving for 2 years - I was told that if I owned this car I was "more likely" to have an accident that needed a claim.
I can only drive one car at a time, the sprog has less driving experience than I and would be paying less for his insurance than I would - it fell on deaf ears, no reply. (I had visions of the advisor sat there with gob open catching flies)

To summarise, unless I took out a brand spanking new insurance policy with no, no claims discount, I could not insure the car, as this is what's required to put road fund license on the car.

Those in charge do not know what's going on - the regulator shows no interest in doing anything whatsoever - car insurance companies are ripping customers off - with the added bonus, that we are all paying prices set by demographic.
When prices are by demographic, we have little or no control over our actual costs to the company and all businesses within the industry charge roughly the same prices, killing competition.

For all those people whom public transport is simply not a practical or financial option for working, the insurance companies have got you by the proverbial balls!

New vehicle insurance law (from June 2011)

direct.gov.uk/en/motoring