Expensive Saga services

[modeller]

Many of my friends have complained how expensive all Saga services have become and in the past month my house and car insurances ( both with Saga ) have come up for renewal at greatly increased premiums. As a result I have changed to the Co-op and RIAS respectively with a combined saving of �260.
Have any of you had similar problems with Saga ?

[Mr Veritas]

This may explain ( a little) why you are encountering thse problems.
This is from the Guardian June 2007.
"
Saga, the over-50s travel and insurance group, has ditched its plans for a stock market flotation and is to be merged with the Automobile Association in a �6.2bn deal orchestrated by three private equity houses.

Saga's 3,900 staff will join the AA's 7,200 employees under the combined ownership of Permira, CVC and Charterhouse. Permira and CVC have owned the AA since 2004. The two firms pushed through about 2,800 job cuts, removing 600 patrols and sparking a national debate about the role of private equity within the UK economy.

The combination of Saga and the AA comes with a refinancing deal that will heap �4.8bn of debt on to the Saga/AA's balance sheet, supplied by Barclays Capital and Japan's Mizuho Bank"


However,(sad to say) due to the present Financial Recession, many(but not all) Insurers are incresing prices dramatically,it really IS a time to be shopping around (if possible)

[modeller]

Thanks you may be right. The AA were always rather dear so any merger with them inevitably would push prices up . I also remember Norwich Union following a merger increased its premiums by 40% and lost thousands of customers as a result. They then spent a lot of money trying to get them back.

[Dee Sa]

we had to change both our house and car insurance away from Saga, they just priced themselves out of our market.
We did give them the other quotes we had and sorry to say their attitude ws "tough".
When they first went into this market they were competitive but niot anymore.

[modeller]

Yes that was also the attitude with NU. However on the bright side it did make us shop around with very beneficial results.

[scraggy55]

I decided against Saga Travel Insurance, Car Insurance and House Insurance as their prices were high compared to many other companies. I got my contents insurance through the AA and they were very reasonable and saved me 50% of the price I was paying another company last year. Would never buy anything from Saga.

[Mailmutt]

Slightly off topic. You say the AA were always dear, and I assume you're talking about insurance (used them once).

However AA membership is also dear, so I reluctantly, having been with them since the 70's off and on, blew them out in favour of my insurers option which was half the price. Thing is, my insurer is Saga, so I have been well happy that when I've needed it, it was the AA showing up.

I'm still happy with my insurance (home and car)

[modeller]

I think the moral is we should shop around every year and not become complacient, which is what institutions rely on.

[Sandy-Wroe]

I've saved �80 a year by switching home insurance from Saga to Nationwide.
As you say, it pays to shop around.