Topic: Car Insurance

[rob1966]

Missus has been on at me to get a car, she gets worried about me commuting on the bike, so I thought I'd have a look and see what the insurance was like. I'm 48, been driving 30 years, clean licence, no accidents or claims, I  have 9 years NCB on a bike, none on a car as it lapsed when I sold the car in 2009 with 13 years NCB earned, I've been a named driver on the wifes car since 2007 and I can drive and do drive class 1 artics and am ADR qualified to carry fuels, gas, chemicals etc.

Tried the online stuff to get a rough idea, looked at a 2004 X Type diesel and a 2002 mini cooper, fuck me, £2700 for the Jag and £2400 for the mini TPFT, taking the piss that. If I was serious enough I'd contact some companies direct and speak to someone, but I dont actually want a car so I've just told the wife there no chance.

[lauz]

well, in all honesty they thief would have to take out the dashboard to steal it, and wouldnt really get much money for it on the black market. Seems to be a whole waste of time/money for a thief.

[rob1966]

Do car radios still get nicked these days? I remember it being a big thing in the 80's but that was when loads of cars had either no radio or really shit ones.

[L666KOP]

Missus has been on at me to get a car, she gets worried about me commuting on the bike, so I thought I'd have a look and see what the insurance was like. I'm 48, been driving 30 years, clean licence, no accidents or claims, I  have 9 years NCB on a bike, none on a car as it lapsed when I sold the car in 2009 with 13 years NCB earned, I've been a named driver on the wifes car since 2007 and I can drive and do drive class 1 artics and am ADR qualified to carry fuels, gas, chemicals etc.

Tried the online stuff to get a rough idea, looked at a 2004 X Type diesel and a 2002 mini cooper, fuck me, £2700 for the Jag and £2400 for the mini TPFT, taking the piss that. If I was serious enough I'd contact some companies direct and speak to someone, but I dont actually want a car so I've just told the wife there no chance.

I was in the same boat 2 years ago Rob.

Had 12 years on a car, then got a van for work and got 8years on that.

2 Years ago gave up being a Spark and decided to get a car again. My 20 yrs counted for nada, luckily the wife was insured through Privilige and I'd been a named driver on her policy for 9 years. I only bought myself a shitty Meriva diesel for bobbing about in like, but the insurance went from an initial £1200 down to £400 with them.
She was paying £360 on a Grand Cherokee and I was paying 40 quid more on a shitty car, yet I had 12 years more NCB than her, and was driving a car 16 insurance groups below what she was driving, and I wouldn't mind but every time we went out as a family/couple I did all the driving anyway no matter what we went in.
We sold the Jeep and she's taken the Meriva on now, she pays £205 Fully comp, 10 years NCB and she is blue light trained.
I'm paying just over £400 for a V70.
If I left Privilige though it would go up another 350, I'm pretty much tied to them until I get full NCB, luckily they are the cheapest insurer for us anyway.

[DanFromMars]

Looking to grab a sub 1k car, like a 2005/6 Punto, as these seem to be the cars that get me the cheapest quotes. Had my licence for 1 day and got 0 no claims so it's gonna hurt.

Cheapest I've got so far is £1662.23 for a 2005 Punto.

This the right ballpark for new driver quotes? I'm 27.  All other cars, clios, corsas, fiestas are around the £2k+

[El Phes]

In the scheme of things mate, I'd say that's pretty good, but I'm not that experienced with new driver quotes.

[McrRed]

Sorry if it's already been said but follow the moneysavingexpert.com guide to comparison sites and you can't go wrong.

[eAyeAddio]

This the right ballpark for new driver quotes?   

If you want to get the best deal you can, then be prepared to spend many hours Googling the various insurance comparison sites beginning with http://www.confused.com/car-insurance/articles/10-cheaper-car-insurance-tips-for-new-drivers

Then move on to Moneysavingexpert.com and Gocompare.com

All comparison sites have their favorites and you have to utilize all three.

Then try companies like DirectLine, Asda, Tesco and The AA

Finally, when you have all the quotes to hand, the answer will be obvious and you won't need to ask if £XXX is a good deal or not.

Lastly, remember that the insurance game is a pedant's paradise. You aren't a young driver, you are a new driver and there is a big difference, so at least you are ahead of the game age-wise.

And when you finally get sorted out, be advised that you will have to go through it all over again in a year's time to get the best deal with one year's NCB !

Happy hunting.....

[SpartanTree. No deccies or lights.]

Been doing some research on dashcams as I regularly commute up and down the m40 so have to deal with motorists driving like knobs on a regular basis.

It would protect me in the event that I was involved in an accident with one of those idiots but the bonus is that there's a number of dashcams that are recognised by insurers and will qualify for up to 12.5% off your premium.

[El Phes]

Been doing some research on dashcams as I regularly commute up and down the m40 so have to deal with motorists driving like knobs on a regular basis.

Become a copper?

[wampa1]

Got lucky this year.  Just had to move back in with the folks for a few months whilst my new apartment is being finished and for the mortgage to go through and that so by putting my mum's address (which at the time of applying is genuine and legal) my insurance came down from over £400 to just shy of £200 : D

I know I'll have to change it when I move but because it was cheaper I paid it all up front meaning when it does change my monthly DD for the remainder will be next to nothing.

[L666KOP]

Got my renewal through this morning £581.
Thought it was high so went on a price comparison site. Best quote that came up was £231, with the insurer that sent me the renewal !!

Phoned them up and asked why, she said that I'd entered our new address on the quote form, questioned whether that reduced my policy by 350 quid and the line just went silent 

She swapped it over to the lower amount, whilst I was on I swapped Rachel's policy as well, as a result of our new address we got a 42 quid refund, which was nice.

Moral of the story ?

Always check the renewal, cheeky fuckers would have had me over for 350 quid. Funny thing is, if they hadn't have been greedy and quoted me about 400 I probably wouldn't even have questioned it.

[rob1966]

Been doing some research on dashcams as I regularly commute up and down the m40 so have to deal with motorists driving like knobs on a regular basis.

It would protect me in the event that I was involved in an accident with one of those idiots but the bonus is that there's a number of dashcams that are recognised by insurers and will qualify for up to 12.5% off your premium.

Definately get one, the company I drive HGV's for of a weekend has had them fitted to all our trucks - proves when you are not at fault (although as one lad found out, can also prove your guilt).

I'm getting a helmet cam for the bike, had too many near misses with fucking idiot car drivers including the c*nt who pulled out on me tonight. Years of riding experience saved me tonight.

[SpartanTree. No deccies or lights.]

Become a copper?

   Nope - just don't want to have my car written off by some clown and lose my no claims.

I usually have my son in the car outside of my commutes so I'm always wary of my speed etc anyway.

[SpartanTree. No deccies or lights.]

Definately get one, the company I drive HGV's for of a weekend has had them fitted to all our trucks - proves when you are not at fault (although as one lad found out, can also prove your guilt).

I'm getting a helmet cam for the bike, had too many near misses with fucking idiot car drivers including the c*nt who pulled out on me tonight. Years of riding experience saved me tonight.

Someone recently overtook me on the motorway, pulled sharply back in front of me and then slammed on the brakes as they wanted to get off at the upcoming junction.  I had to brake hard to avoid going into the back of them but it would have been recorded as my fault had we collided.  To make it worse the fella behind me was too close and so he almost smashed into me.

After that - the most recent of a few such incidents - I decided to get the dash cam.

Also a girl at my work had 'an accident' which - luckily for her - turned out to be a staged crash.  The other party involved turned out to be fraudsters who specialised in this sort of insurance fraud.

[lauz]

Looking to grab a sub 1k car, like a 2005/6 Punto, as these seem to be the cars that get me the cheapest quotes. Had my licence for 1 day and got 0 no claims so it's gonna hurt.

Cheapest I've got so far is £1662.23 for a 2005 Punto.

This the right ballpark for new driver quotes? I'm 27.  All other cars, clios, corsas, fiestas are around the £2k+

on my first car insurance (I was 25 when i passed) it was £880 with drivelikeagirl, which installed a dashcam.

[DanFromMars]

Drivelikeagirl quote £2035... nothanks.

Cheapest I can get for a 2008 Grande Punto that I'm going to test drive tomorrow is £1394 from FluxDirect.

[rob1966]

Someone recently overtook me on the motorway, pulled sharply back in front of me and then slammed on the brakes as they wanted to get off at the upcoming junction.  I had to brake hard to avoid going into the back of them but it would have been recorded as my fault had we collided.  To make it worse the fella behind me was too close and so he almost smashed into me.

After that - the most recent of a few such incidents - I decided to get the dash cam.

Also a girl at my work had 'an accident' which - luckily for her - turned out to be a staged crash.  The other party involved turned out to be fraudsters who specialised in this sort of insurance fraud.

Idiots risking theirs and other road usets lives to save 5 seconds on a journey. My brother is a full time truck driver and he's witnessed at least two fatals and seen the aftermath of another, where car drivers have cut in front of a truck, been clipped and rolled, one where he could see bodies coming out of a cartwheeling car and in the case of the BMW Z3, ended up with the truck going over the top and stopping with the wheels of the trailer in the car.

["Nookie".]

Drivelikeagirl quote £2035... nothanks.

Cheapest I can get for a 2008 Grande Punto that I'm going to test drive tomorrow is £1394 from FluxDirect.

Flux are shite, have to jump through hoops before they insure you. Can only imagine the hoops youd have to jump through to claim.

[rob1966]

I was in the same boat 2 years ago Rob.

Had 12 years on a car, then got a van for work and got 8years on that.

2 Years ago gave up being a Spark and decided to get a car again. My 20 yrs counted for nada, luckily the wife was insured through Privilige and I'd been a named driver on her policy for 9 years. I only bought myself a shitty Meriva diesel for bobbing about in like, but the insurance went from an initial £1200 down to £400 with them.
She was paying £360 on a Grand Cherokee and I was paying 40 quid more on a shitty car, yet I had 12 years more NCB than her, and was driving a car 16 insurance groups below what she was driving, and I wouldn't mind but every time we went out as a family/couple I did all the driving anyway no matter what we went in.
We sold the Jeep and she's taken the Meriva on now, she pays £205 Fully comp, 10 years NCB and she is blue light trained.
I'm paying just over £400 for a V70.
If I left Privilige though it would go up another 350, I'm pretty much tied to them until I get full NCB, luckily they are the cheapest insurer for us anyway.

Just given priviledge a look, £652 fully comp on the Jag X type. Had a really clsoe call on the bike this week due to some idiot in a car not seeing me, so toying with getting a car for the work run, if I do I'll go with these. I'll look at them too when the wifes insurance comes due this year.

[lauz]

My current car insurers are bonkers.

Quoted me for the new year £730,

1st year driving (with them as my insurances and altogether) £880
2nd year £530
now being quoted £730

[weebroalan]

Renewals are a complete joke and worth challenging all the time.

Elephant sent me a renewal for £311 on a 1yo VRS Octavia - went on the usual comparison sites and was getting quotes around £250. Phoned up elephant and without any questions said we'll do it for £250.

Didn't tell them the other quotes didn't include legal cover or business use - happy days!

[El Phes]

Didn't tell them the other quotes didn't include legal cover or business use - happy days!

  this is weebroalan once he realises Elephant didn't include it either!

[markedasred]

Mines a beaut. Insured by Zenith, paying £580 a year as a 50 yr old with 4 years ncb. The agency sends me a letter saying your renewal is 57.04 per month, and we can offer an alternative of £38.91 from Royal Sun Alliance. Kwikfit rings me and offers £351 a year, and I um and ahh, then guy goes off to see if he can better that and comes back with £221 a year. Who with? Zenith, my current insurer who didn't come down to the £460 per year of RSA. It's all nonsense, but obviously, I am going with the kwikfit offer.

[Spongebob Redpants]

Mines a beaut. Insured by Zenith, paying £580 a year as a 50 yr old with 4 years ncb. The agency sends me a letter saying your renewal is 57.04 per month, and we can offer an alternative of £38.91 from Royal Sun Alliance. Kwikfit rings me and offers £351 a year, and I um and ahh, then guy goes off to see if he can better that and comes back with £221 a year. Who with? Zenith, my current insurer who didn't come down to the £460 per year of RSA. It's all nonsense, but obviously, I am going with the kwikfit offer.

Not sure I follow this ? Kwikfit is £ 351/ yr , you've had an offer of £ 221/ yr with Zenith and you're going with Kwikfit ?

[El Phes]

Looks like Kwik Fit are being an agent and they are selling insurance, but it's not their own.

[Spongebob Redpants]

Looks like Kwik Fit are being an agent and they are selling insurance, but it's not their own.

Ah - if that's the case then fair enough .

I use the comparison sites avery time I renew , and as mentioned above , each do seem to have their own favourites , so always worth checking across the board . Used these last night to renew my wife's iinsurance and there was a £ 40.00 difference between them .

Ended up getting £ 60.00 reduction in premium but sticking with the same insurer ( using the online quote as opposed to their renewal quote ).

Amazing how many people couldn't be bothered getting quotes and sticking with the same insurer .

[AB LFC]

I knowyou have to declare points when taking out insurance but what about any previous bans? My premium has gone absolutely sky high. £3,800 on a little Honda Jazz that's worth £1,000 at the most.

[rob1966]

I knowyou have to declare points when taking out insurance but what about any previous bans? My premium has gone absolutely sky high. £3,800 on a little Honda Jazz that's worth £1,000 at the most.

If they ask have you ever been banned then yes you do have to declare it, but most seem to ask for convictions in the last 5 years - the exception is a drink driving ban which you have to declare for either 10 or 11 years from the ban.

With computerisation I can see it not being too far in the future where you just enter your driving licence number and they pull everything back from the database.

[El Phes]

£3,800 on a little Honda Jazz that's worth £1,000 at the most.

You're looking at it from the wrong angle mate. They are interested in the cars value, but it's what you can do with the car that matters most, ie. potential to kill / disable someone.

[Billy1561]

Sold my car 3 years ago and just cycled to work. Long story short the rep at the insurance advised me to swop my insurance with the wife every 12 months and that way we both kept our no claims discount. So, we've done that annually which has worked a treat as i've just picked up my next car today and the fully comp protected was £237 with us both as named drivers. Not bad for an Insignia with 160 bhp.
Still cycling to work though 

[rob1966]

You're looking at it from the wrong angle mate. They are interested in the cars value, but it's what you can do with the car that matters most, ie. potential to kill / disable someone.

I've said this before, rear end a car with 5 people in it, even at low speed and thats 10 grand in whiplash claims alone then you've got the repair bill on top.

One funny conversation I heard at work was my area manager talking to a driver about a crash he'd had, he said to him "Two cars? I thought you said you hit a Reliant?" "Yeah, but I pushed that into a brand new Merc"

[markedasred]

Looks like Kwik Fit are being an agent and they are selling insurance, but it's not their own.

Yes Kwikfit and Swinton are both agencies, and Kwikfit has more clout it seems when buying a policy on my behalf. I had the start date worong by 6 days and got back to kwikfit to see if they could change the date at the same price, and they did, but switched it to cooperative insurance, at the £221 price. I went with it, happily, less than a third of last years price, still only 4 years no claims. Bet I manage to beat it again next year, by giving it an hour on the phone.

[DanFromMars]

So I put down 2k miles as my annual coverage with GoSkippy and I am approaching that within probably the next couple of weeks. I've only had my car a couple of months and unexpectedly got sent to Wigan for the second part of my uni course. Luckily this ends in 6 weeks, but I'm doing 250 miles a week commuting currently. I won't be doing nearly as much miles after this but should I contact the insurance company and would they know about the mileage if something happened?

[Claire.]

So I put down 2k miles as my annual coverage with GoSkippy and I am approaching that within probably the next couple of weeks. I've only had my car a couple of months and unexpectedly got sent to Wigan for the second part of my uni course. Luckily this ends in 6 weeks, but I'm doing 250 miles a week commuting currently. I won't be doing nearly as much miles after this but should I contact the insurance company and would they know about the mileage if something happened?

Did you tell them your mileage when you took out the insurance? If not how on earth could they possibly know how many miles you drive?!

[CraigDS]

They'll no doubt request the mileage from the place fixing it/insurance assessor should anything happen and will no doubt try to use it to not pay out (and would probably have a pretty solid case for not doing so given it's only insured for the first 2k).

[Claire.]

They'll no doubt request the mileage from the place fixing it/insurance assessor should anything happen and will no doubt try to use it to not pay out (and would probably have a pretty solid case for not doing so given it's only insured for the first 2k).

Yes but how would they know what the mileage was when he took out the insurance?
Also, 2000 miles a year? Mental.

[CraigDS]

Yes but how would they know what the mileage was when he took out the insurance?
Also, 2000 miles a year? Mental.

Presumably he had to provide proof of it.

His MOT certificate will say it depending if his car is old enough to need an MOT.

[DanFromMars]

I sent a photo of my vc5? doc which had the mileage written in biro on the form showing proof I was the owner the car.

I only bought the car to make trips down the road to my work, as I needed to avoid getting the bus. I worked it out as taking me to about 800 miles a year so put 2k down to be safe. Hardly use the car otherwise. Just wondering should I phone up and tell them? I've already paid the annual insurance in one go £1623 and if it's just a small premium I might end up paying I'd rather be safe. Just hoping they won't void the entire thing if something should happen.

[rob1966]

Did you tell them your mileage when you took out the insurance? If not how on earth could they possibly know how many miles you drive?!

Got my bike MOT'd today, its got the mileage at each of the last 5 MOT's printed on it, DVLA are doing this in an attempt to reduce the amount of cars that get clocked. You don't even need to keep the certificate any more, as all the details can now be accessed online.

I sent a photo of my vc5? doc which had the mileage written in biro on the form showing proof I was the owner the car.

I only bought the car to make trips down the road to my work, as I needed to avoid getting the bus. I worked it out as taking me to about 800 miles a year so put 2k down to be safe. Hardly use the car otherwise. Just wondering should I phone up and tell them? I've already paid the annual insurance in one go £1623 and if it's just a small premium I might end up paying I'd rather be safe. Just hoping they won't void the entire thing if something should happen.

Oh its guaranteed they will void the insurance in the event of a claim.  I used to say I did 10,000 and did 22,000, but that was over 10 years ago, in this day and age with the data thats now stored electronically, its not worth the risk and my advice would be to tell them. You rear end a car with 4 people in it, thats £8,000 in personal injury claims plus the damage to the other car.