Wife's car insurance is due. Her current insurer (LV) sent the renewal which arrived yesterday, an astonishing 3 weeks before the renewal is due (I had noticed that in previous years that the gap between reminder and renewal was getting shorter and shorter.)
Anyway, I duly set out looking for cheaper quotes online and found the renewal notice matched LV's online quote but it was also the cheapest and I have tried several places including the annoying singing one, the cute mammal one and the talking telephone one!
There are more expensive policies that work out cheaper once cash back sites are included, but as the old saying goes: "A bird in the hand...."
LV's policy is totally unfair as it has taken the fun out of shopping around!
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"A bird in the hand...."
Craps on your suit?
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...Craps on your suit?...
Happened to me while sitting outside a pub in Great Marlborough Street, central London.
I made the mistake of sitting close to the wall of the building.
The pigeons were on a ledge above, and careful study revealed it seemed to be the strain of taking off which made them poo.
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Never look up to study pigeons under the strain of taking off.
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Three weeks is about right as, if one gets a quote for comparison, it is only valid for 4 weeks. I was with LV for years but they priced themselves out of my market. Friends and I have found cheap cover with E sure, Swift cover and Hastings Direct, among others
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>> I was with LV for years but they priced themselves
>> out of my market. Friends and I have found cheap cover with E sure, Swift
>> cover and Hastings Direct, among others
>>
I know we've been through this a million times, but it always anazes me how they vary - you'd think for a given set of circumstances, they'd all be there or thereabouts.
If you're going back a few years, LV did have very broad policy cover - Europe cover was included, no mileage limit, no extra premium for speeding points etc, but that policy did start to get very expensive and they inroduced the more typical one where you have to add on everything bit by bit.
I suggest LV to people and they either get a great quote, or it's miles out. I've certainly tried ESure and Hasting, as well as many otheres, and for me they're dearer (sometimes a lot dearer) than LV.
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I was with LV for 8 years, left for a year, because I got a year's free insurance with a new car. When I tried to return was treated like an unwelcome new applicant. I was quoted more for a Ford Ka than I had been 2 years earlier for a 307 1.6 110 Hdi. I will give them a try when I am up for renewal later this year but I shan't hold my breath.
Does this thing "We aren't on Price Comparison sites" actually mean their premiums will be lower?
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>> Does this thing "We aren't on Price Comparison sites" actually mean their premiums will be
>> lower?
No it means "we appear to be too expensive on price comparison sites"
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>> LV's policy is totally unfair as it has taken the fun out of shopping around!
>>
I just renewed my insurance with LV and the renewal was cheaper than the prices on comparison sites, or for a new quote! All this talk of increasing premiums yet it went down £8 compared to last year - and I'm already on maximum everything, so nothing has changed, other than the value of the car and apparently they don't that into account if it's less than £20K.
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"The fun of shopping around"!!!!! you must be easily pleased. Like my idea of a good day being sorting out my sock drawer! >:)
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>>>> you must be easily pleased. Like my idea of a good day being sorting out my sock drawer! >:)
Nah, I just bonus points for saving her some money!
LV proves cheaper than ESure and Hastings Direct for us, even if by only a few pounds and includes comparable cover.
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AHHH! Bonus points I remember them! well done.
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talking to a 86 year old man this week and his insurance has risen from £400 to £1000 because the company he was with had been taken over and they no longer did insurance. So he had to go on the open market and even though he has an unblemished record since beeing demobbed, it aparently counts for nothing if you change companies at this age.
So be warned
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Just got mt renewal from Sureterm Direct...they seem to be the same as last year, £83 fully comp. I've got the Suzuki with them as well but that's July. I shall ring on Tuesday and see if they can do me all 3 cars , on a multi-car, at the right price.
They may even do the bike as well. We'll see.
Ted
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My renewal came through on Wednesday at pretty much the same as last year's. We renewed the other car's policy with Admiral a few months back, so I'm going to find out about the Multi Car option.
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Well, Multi Car is a joke.
SWMBO paid £310 at last renewal (with Admiral).
My renewal is £304.67 (currently with Bell, who are part of Admiral)
Admiral have just quoted us a staggering £845 for a Multi Car policy.
And it gets better
Just entered my details into Confused.com to check around for a standard single car policy renewal, and Admiral have come up with the lowest quote at £297.00
So Admiral will insure both cars on separate policies for the best part of £250 less than they will insure them on Multi Car. And even if it were competitive, to go Multi Car would involve cancelling SWMBO's policy, getting a refund to put against a new policy, then paying the difference.
No, we won't be bothering with it.
Last edited by: DP on Sun 1 May 11 at 19:27
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>> And even if it were competitive,
>> to go Multi Car would involve cancelling SWMBO's policy, getting a refund to put against
>> a new policy, then paying the difference.
>>
>> No, we won't be bothering with it.
>>
Multicar starts with one car and when 2nd/3rd car renewal is due this is added to the policy - no cancelling/refunds etrc involved as cancelling policy say at 8 months would result in zero refund as short term policies are more expensive than annual premiums.
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The cancellation system is how the Admiral customer service person explained it to us, and re-iterated yesterday.
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>> The cancellation system is how the Admiral customer service person explained it to us, and
>> re-iterated yesterday.
>>
www.admiral.com/multicar/aboutMulticar.php
When you get a quote and tell us about any other cars in your household we’ll give you a price for the additional car(s) which is guaranteed if there are no changes in your circumstances, so the price we quote today will be the price you pay when you add the additional cars once their current cover ends.
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>> www.admiral.com/multicar/aboutMulticar.php
>> When you get a quote and tell us about any other cars in your household
>> we’ll give you a price for the additional car(s) which is guaranteed if there are
>> no changes in your circumstances, so the price we quote today will be the price
>> you pay when you add the additional cars once their current cover ends.
TBH, John H, my comment was more of a sarcastic pop at Admiral than doubting that understanding. It's never a good start to a conversation when they tell you the car they have been covering since January "is uninsured". Cue a mad panic. Then a bit more tapping on the keyboard and "Sorry about that, it's our system playing up."
Confidence not exactly boosted by that one.
Last edited by: DP on Tue 3 May 11 at 16:48
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>> Well, Multi Car is a joke.
>>
I would agree with that!
I went on the usual comparison sites looking for Insurance for my son and Admiral were the cheapest at £845 (he's just coming off a ban).
Phoned Admiral and the salesman said I guarantee to get that reduced if you have another car to add as a multicar quote.
I spent a good 20 minutes giving all the details of my wife's MINI and he came up with a figure of IIRC about £1250 for both cars- my wife's was less than £200 last time (so the Admiral quote doubled it) - I told him multicar was a no, and I'll just buy the one policy at £845.
He then went through the detail and requoted the £845 and came up with over £910 - when I queried the £65 hike he advised that as my son had held a licence for 2yrs 9 months and not the 3 yrs I had entered on the comparison site - this would make a difference. I pointed out that the site only let me enter either 2 or 3 years and 2.75 was nearer to 3 than 2.
I declined Admiral.
I then entered the same details on a different comparison site that requested licence held time in years AND months, and therefore could enter accuartely the 2y 9m.
Admiral again came out at £845 even though the details were now exactly as the £910 telephone requote , but Elephant were the cheapest at £730, bought the Elephant policy and found out when the policy documents came through they are part of Admiral, same address everything.
You couldn't make it up
J
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...You couldn't make it up...
Car insurance prices are all over the place which keeps the punter guessing.
I believe it's what's called a disorderly market.
It might suit some insurance companies, but others may not like it because they cannot predict how much money they will get for their products.
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>> Wife's car insurance is due. Her current insurer (LV) sent the renewal which arrived yesterday,
>> an astonishing 3 weeks before the renewal is due (I had noticed that in previous
>> years that the gap between reminder and renewal was getting shorter and shorter.)
When you have inflation (as we have currently) insurance companies can't afford to tell you this years premium too much in advance.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Tue 3 May 11 at 09:49
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I'm getting quotes for my renewal at the moment, and they're all some way north of where I'd like them to be.
I've noticed the sites that look up the market value of my car are quoting a substantially higher figure than we paid for it - £3550 instead of £2795 - so I'm thinking of going for a high excess (£750) and a high quoted value as it brings the premium down a lot. Is this a good idea?
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What is the renewal premiums/ quotes - it is only worthwhile taking a large excess if the premium comes down by say £100. I offered to take £250 excess rather than £150 but the premium fell by only £6..........so I left the lower excess as it was.
Are you sure you would always have £750 spare if you are in a blame claim of say £1000+.
Apparently the average bash costs around £1000 to fix the car - excludes car hire / personal injury costs.
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>> What is the renewal premiums/ quotes
I was expecting £450ish, but quotes for protected NCB and nil excess range from £700 upwards. I'm about as average as it gets, middle-aged bloke with a diesel hatchback, full NCB and 3 points. The only higher risk factor I can think of is that I'm not married.
>> Are you sure you would always have £750 spare if you are in a blame claim of say £1000+
Um, no...
The last time I had to fill in any insurance claim paperwork was in 2000, and that was for a non-fault bump in a hire lorry. Never claimed on a private car policy, so I don't really know how these things would work. Would the £750 excess apply to the other car's repairs if I hit someone up the backside then? I.e. would I have to stump up hundreds of pounds to their bodyshop?
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi {P} on Tue 3 May 11 at 11:30
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Very impressed with Aviva. We've just bought an mx-5 for summer, and no NCD to put on it. Aviva gave me 5 years NCD for this year on the proviso that I renew with them next year (it drops to 1 year if I don't renew with them and decide to go elsewhere). Very pleased - and a good reward for being a long standing customer.
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>> Would the£750 excess apply to the other car's repairs if I hit someone up the backside
>> then? I.e. would I have to stump up hundreds of pounds to their bodyshop?
>>
Ins Co pay the Bodyshop and they bill you for £750 if you run up the back of a 3rd party.
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>> Ins Co pay the Bodyshop and they bill you for £750 if you run up the back of a 3rd party.
Right. Ouch. Hmmm.
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That's not been my experience - my partner has had a third party only claim on a policy (LV IIRC) and had no excess to pay
Peter
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>> >> Would the£750 excess apply to the other car's repairs if I hit someone up
>> the backside
>> >> then? I.e. would I have to stump up hundreds of pounds to their bodyshop?
>> >>
>> Ins Co pay the Bodyshop and they bill you for £750 if you run up
>> the back of a 3rd party.
>>
Not my understanding. In all my dealings with insurance, the excess has applied only to your own damage - NOT to that of the third party.
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'the excess has applied only to your own damage - NOT to that of the third party."
Third party Insurance must legally not be subject to an excess.
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...Third party Insurance must legally not be subject to an excess...
Which makes sense even in my non-expert view.
The injured/other party must know their damage is fully covered, otherwise there's little point in the at-fault party having insurance.
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That was my understanding CGN.
I've not insured many cars fully comp before, and never claimed on a policy, so the idea that if I damage my car through my own ineptitude someone else will pay towards its repair is a bit alien. Whilst it's prudent to cover myself in case of a total loss, I'd expect to repair any self-inflicted damage (lights, bumpers etc) using bolt-on bits from a scrappy. I'm not planning on bashing it anyway, so it seems the original high excess/ high market value plan could be the way to go.
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi on Tue 3 May 11 at 15:51
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>> seems the original high excess/ high market value plan could be the way to go.
High market value does not mean that is a guaranteed value that a comprehensive policy holder would get back in case of a write-off.
You are planning to apply for a 3rd party only policy, and so I cannot imagine why the value of your matters at all, and intrigued as to why a high value of your car perversely results in a lower 3rd party only premium.
Incidentally, many companies now quote higher premiums for 3rd party only as opposed to comprehensive policies - because they perceive 3rd party policy seekers to be high risk.
Last edited by: Suppose on Tue 3 May 11 at 17:13
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>> You are planning to apply for a 3rd party only policy
No, I'm planning to apply for a fully comprehensive policy - that may not have come across clearly in my post above, sorry. For the first time in several years I'm driving a car worth more than its weight in mixed metals, so it would be sensible to insure it against total loss. I upgraded the TPFT policy on my old car to fully comp on this one in February, and am working out the best way to minimise the imminent renewal cost.
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Very difficult to cause a £1000 3rd party damage and not cause considerable damages to your own car. £750 to "unbend" your motor - not long in being run up - cost of parts/paint and labour charges.
Excesses on 3rd party only policies - 3rd party ran into the back of my motor - their excess on 3rd party claims was £1000 and this was why they blamed a another party. Only changing their mind on the eve of the court claim by my solicitor - Perjury & Sphincter problems are closely related.
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>> Very difficult to cause a £1000 3rd party damage and not cause considerable damages to
>> your own car. £750 to "unbend" your motor - not long in being run up
>> - cost of parts/paint and labour charges.
>>
>> Excesses on 3rd party only policies - 3rd party ran into the back of my
>> motor - their excess on 3rd party claims was £1000 and this was why they
>> blamed a another party. Only changing their mind on the eve of the court claim
>> by my solicitor - Perjury & Sphincter problems are closely related.
>>
Falkirk Bairn, may I suggest that there may be some sort of a misunderstanding somewhere along the line in your case.
As John H and CG Norwich said, the law says you must have 3rd party cover to pay for the 3rd party's damages in full. You cannot reduce your cover by opting for an "excess". The only way you could avoid having 3rd party cover was by depositing a bond at the Treasury and that may still be the case.
Unless of course you know different and can prove us wrong.
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>> Perjury & Sphincter problems are closely related
Before or after incarceration? ;)
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Insurance - BiggerBadderDave
