http://www.baynews9.com/article/news/2011/september/311333/Angry-homeowners-give-insurance-regulators-an-earful

Getting slightly annoyed at this as of late with what seems like every 3 months insurance companies demanding more money. Thought it seems it's not limited to just insurance companies as utility companies are also raising their rates. Feel sorry for a group here in Fl that has to shell out $500+ for power bills cause of the area they live in. Mine is about 1/2 that but still the company i'm with is wanting to raise rates.

Anyone else here getting worked over by their insurance and/or utility companies for services?

Read that in http://www.statesman.com/news/local/some-pflugerville-residents-facing-steep-water-rate-hikes-1849922.html wants to increase its rates by 32~62% because they upgraded some meters.

I know the local water rates were supposed to go up a bit, not sure how much though (as I don't pay utilities :celebration: ). Power has been getting slightly more expensive too. It doesn't surprise me really, inflation is starting to get up here in the US and overall things are just too unpredictable for anything to be stable right now.

Everything nowadays is increasing in price.

Gas and electricity for the student house I'm living in are going up buy about 30% between the two of them.

Yay for wage slavery?

What really gets me are these absolutely ridiculous amounts that they are asking for. I mean FFS 400% increase in price personally I just want to slap the crap out of the idiot that thought that one up. Tempted to tell my relative to drop citizens and just let me get renters insurance or not go with it at all save the money.

The power company near me is getting bad as well where they claim the rising price of fuel causes the rate increase. I believe only half of that where what the need is 25% is used for fuel then the other 75% covers the cost of the miniature airport + corporate jets for their executives.

Its a conspiracy! (at least it feels like it...) There is no rhyme or reason to the amount they want to increase, even just a %50 increase seems absurd. Gas prices I know are being fixed, there's been investigations into it, and plenty of allegations for it not to be true on some level. I had an article (I can't find now http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/05/24/169354/cftc-charges-oil-traders/) where one of the major oil speculators were fined a large sum of money for being caught artificially inflating the price of gas. There is no crisis, no real shortage (besides the earth's ever nearing limit...), yet the price continues to increase. I should probably stop there before this turns into a political rant.

:thumbsup:

Indeed. I'm expected to work full time, write up evidence of this, put together a portfolio and physically attend an interview twice a month in exchange for ￡7 a day.

We're getting pretty seriously bilked for car insurance which now costs us more than twice what we were paying around five years ago--by which I mean, we've no claims or anything, they're just ripping people off. Apparently the industry as a whole is reported to have increased prices by 40% over the past year. Gas and electricity are little better, the UK's cartel hiking prices way above inflation every year. We were paying ￡180 a month in energy bills, though they were also overcharging us which didn't help.

Council tax is another one that typically beats inflation year on year; again, that's ￡180 a month for which I get my rubbish taken away once a fortnight.

Still, at least inflation is now being reported using CPI instead of RPI since the latter includes too many pesky increases that spoil the figures. Yay for the feel-good factor at work. :sadvaultboy:

To the extent that insuring a car is out of the reach of most young men.

Remember kids NO politics

I know that in the health insurance industry your premiums have a lot to do with projected liability. In the US the health insurance companies are required to submit to audits to ensure that their income covers their expenses plus projected claims and fraud liability. That income sometimes has to be spread around among plan members...even in cases where the premiums of some members increase whether or not they have personally submitted new claims recently. In other words, when someone defrauds an insurance company and they can't recoup the entire cost legally they might spread that cost to other members to remain solvent in the eyes of a regulator. Those types of things are invisible to members that don't understand why their premiums have increased, but it's a reality of a business like an insurance company.

I'm not saying that these price hikes are justified...just saying that there can sometimes be reasons for them that the customer isn't privy to.

I've been shocked at what some people are being quoted: several thousand pounds for a basic policy is ridiculous. Financially it probably makes sense to risk getting fined instead of having insurance since it's likely to be a lot cheaper. Although getting sued in the event of an accident makes it less of a cunning idea.

Tell me about it. Half the time the insurance is more than the value of the car.

Being forced to purchase and maintain car insurance is inherently degrading.

What truly svcks is when you have to pay a bigger premium for insurance due to the car you drive + your age. If you are a single male under the age of 26 then you can expect to pay higher premium than a person who is married and like 42. Not sure, but I also think the color of the car has to do with it to where if you have a red car you get extra costs as well.

I live in Florida, and have experienced hikes in home insurance, vehicle insurance, health insurance, electricity, sewer, water, local stormwater fees, local waste management fees, higher millage on school taxes, and additonal taxes on our home because it's value has not decreased significantly.
We have filed no home or car insurance claims, nor have had cause to. The utilities company has raised rates four times in the last year. Our meter was upgraded three years ago. My utilities bill went from $260 last year, same month to $500 this year, ame month. We are up to our ass ends paying medical bills,even with health insurance. Which went up in cost, and down in benefits. The cost of groceries has gone through the roof. The area in which I reside has 14% unemployment, and crime rates continue to rise. Very depressing. Then I hear politcal diatribe spewing forth from every news outlet and communications device. Blame the unemployed, blame the elderly, blame this or that class of worker, blame unions, blame, blame, blame, and very little actual constructive ideas.
Just thankful to have a roof over my head and food in the pantry.
Everday I refer advlts at the private school I work for, to health, food, and housing outreach programs. Most of the families there are not rich, and struggle to pay tuition. We have actually taken pay cuts, lost faculty, benefits, cost of living raises, bonuses, and incentive raises. Publ schools are worse, they have cut art, music, pe, academics, sports programs, busing to schools that offer a specific course of study. Even with millage increases, public schools here are underfunded. The people I refer to outreach programs are not homeless bums, or drug addicts, they are working folk who have fallen on hard times due to layoffs, downsizing, or health issues. It drains you everyday, phyically and emotionally, to see so much despair. This morning, as I was taking my shot, a thought came to me, that I could, just quietly, end it all with another twist of the pen, just depress the plunger.
But then, that would trumatize my family, students, coworkers, and make another mess to clean up. So, instead, I smile, make jokes, we pay what we can, and Itry not to let it get me down.

This. :sadvaultboy:

Being forced to purchase and maintain anything is inherently degrading.


There must be ways around it though. Would it work if I told them I was a teetotal with sharp reflexes and a belief that bad drivers go to hell?

Know what ya mean Mamagato it's rough and just keeps getting rough as things go on. Keeping hearing that same garbage you hear from the political people about taxing the lower class instead of the wealthy *leaving it there*. Sadly it just doesn't seem to stop and these people think it's fine just to hike rates cause they feel like it. Just received my health insurance bill and instead of getting to the point they just go on and on and on about how sorry they are. In the end my rates go up by $50 so now i'm near $600 for 3 months which isn't bad but it's slowly getting there.

Day by Day I feel worse for my relative i'm staying with since she's floating the bill for me. No one around me will hire me due to no documentation on my work experience leaving me in the dog house. Hopefully we both catch a break in our lives along with the rest of the people that really need it out there.