Insurance Pricing & Renewal

Insurers must treat vulnerable customers fairly and take their support needs into account when providing service.

Insurers must provide clear, fair and not misleading information about renewal terms, including what constitutes a change that could affect the renewal price.

A supplier of goods under a hire purchase agreement must ensure goods are of satisfactory quality, including durability, appearance and finish, as required by the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

An insurer has no obligation to renew a policy, but must not provide false reasons for non-renewal.

Insurance pricing is a commercial judgment for insurers to make; the FOS cannot determine fair prices but can check if customers have been treated fairly and consistently.

An insurer that is signed up to the Claims and Underwriting Exchange (CUE) must record any incidents reported by policyholders, and must make this clear to consumers before they submit a claim.

An insurer can settle claims as it sees fit under policy terms permitting it to defend or settle, provided the decision is made reasonably based on appropriate investigation.

An insurer is entitled to set premiums based on its own assessment of risk, provided the pricing is applied consistently and in line with regulatory requirements.

An intermediary is not responsible for underwriter pricing decisions, but must provide accurate information about how incidents affect renewal premiums in a timely manner.

Insurers have commercial discretion to price policies as they wish, provided they do not treat customers differently, and compensation for inconvenience caused by administrative errors should be reasonable in the circumstances.

Each insurer is entitled to take its own view of risk and set pricing accordingly, provided pricing complies with relevant rules and like-for-like comparisons are made.

A hire agreement does not confer a contractual right to purchase the vehicle at the end of the term unless explicitly stated in the terms and conditions.

An insurer may reasonably take previous claims into account when pricing renewal premiums, but must provide accurate information when specifically asked about financial implications of making a claim.

An insurer may recalculate a renewal premium when a customer reduces coverage mid-term to reflect changes in risk rating, including loss of multi-vehicle discounts, and the ombudsman cannot interfere with how an insurer applies its risk rat

Under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, a consumer must take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation when renewing an insurance policy, and an insurer can avoid the policy if the misrepresentation is

Policy terms clearly specify that cover changes can only be made at renewal and are subject to underwriting criteria and medical restrictions.

An insurer is not responsible for a third-party insurer's premium pricing decisions, even where the insurer provided incorrect information on a non-binding summary screen.

Insurers may adjust renewal premiums based on claims inflation and refreshed pricing models without treating consumers unfairly, even when individual risk profiles remain unchanged.

Insurers have commercial discretion to assess risk and set premiums based on their own underwriting methodology, and they are not required to disclose commercially sensitive pricing models.

Insurers may adjust premiums based on legitimate underwriting factors including age, claims inflation, and veterinary cost increases, provided pricing is applied consistently and consumers are informed of potential increases.

Insurers may charge different premiums for different policy types (continuing cover vs moratorium policies) provided they treat existing policyholders consistently with their internal guidelines and do not arbitrarily single out individuals

Insurers have commercial discretion in pricing decisions, and the ombudsman can only assess whether a consumer was treated fairly or less favourably than others, not whether the price itself is reasonable.

Insurers have discretion to set insurance premiums based on their commercial risk assessment, provided they treat all customers in similar circumstances fairly and consistently.