Annual update ****

While this complaint refers specifically to dialdirect, it can be app**** in general to the car insurance industry in South Africa.

Once again, in February, we are subjected to the annual premium update ****, which goes like this. 1. Insurer sends you a notification of premium increase. This increase is usually ridiculous, in my case the average is in excess of 20%. 2. The customer is responsible for checking the amount of the increase, presumably in the hope that a lot will not do so, thereby increasing insurer profits. 3. Those who do check and contact the insurer are then offered a much reduced premium increase. Note that dialdirect even has an increase query as the first choice on its electronic phone menu, if that doesn't tell you something.

If you challenge the reason for the initial increase, you are sold a lot of nonsense like how much repair costs have increased etc. By 20%, really? I appreciate the case for an above average increase in the case of a claim, but not following a claim-free year.

As stated previously, this appears to be common practice across the car insurance industry. It has certainly been my experience going back over a number of companies as far as I can remember. Maybe this is to be expected given the consolidation of insurers in SA.

In my view it is a complete ****, perpetrated by companies with no principles.