Car insurance? (not meerkats).

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I use Hastings and have done so for the past 4 years I think. They were considerably cheaper than the last one I used which I had thought was reasonable. Although my car is 1991 it is a high insurance rating but I have been more than happy with the Hastings quotation. If you don't do a high mileage make sure you tell them as that can knock of a percentage. Also as a member if the IAM that can give a discount. (I can't remember whether it does with Hastings) 0800 00 1066 (I think)
 
No one has advised going to your local high street insurance broker! Not that I would but it is a sign of the times.

On price I dont think there is a universal cheaper company, some are good in some situations. I have changed cars in the past and got a high quote from a previously cheaper company simply as they rate the risk differently.
 

Rhythm Thief

Legendary Member
Location
Ross on Wye
Try confused.com. Nowadays, I buy the absolute minimum insurance needed to keep me legal, and confused.com have saved me quite a bit of money over the years.
Incidentally, is it just me who is astounded that a significant proportion of Britain's population can be persuaded to buy car insurance from a particular company just because a small animated bulldog tells them to?:smile:
 

Rhythm Thief

Legendary Member
Location
Ross on Wye
Uncle Mort said:
I certainly wouldn't buy from confused.com because their adverts drive me up the frigging wall. Or Churchill. Or Directline. Or [insert name of insurance company/PCS here] for that matter. I still get mine from a real person in an office. And I get a free cup of tea anna biscuit! :smile:

Fair enough. I find it fairly easy to avoid adverts by simply never switching my telly on. In fact, I must admit I had no idea confused.com had adverts, annoying or otherwise!:tongue:
 

tyred

Squire
Location
Ireland
Rhythm Thief said:
Nowadays, I buy the absolute minimum insurance needed to keep me legal, a

Me too but the one luxury I alloy myself and one I would recommend is to protect your NCB. It only costs a few quid and it's worth it to prevent your insurance from skyrocketing should anyone ever try and claim from it.
 

srw

It's a bit more complicated than that...
XmisterIS said:
This year, however, takes the biscuit. I have never had a claim and despite the fact that I now have 12 years no claims in my own right (since I got my first car and was insured separately from my parents) and I am a year older, my quote has actually gone UP compared to last year!!!! I thought it was supposed to work the other way around ...

Ever heard of inflation? Estimates of motor claim inflation vary between 5% and 20% per year. All the best evidence is that the UK motor market last year was underpriced to the tune of 10% or so. That means that your premium should rise by somewhere between 15% and 30% to get the market back into profit.
 

Gromit

Über Member
Location
York
I have found footman and james to be good, free breakdown cover as well. With 12 years no claim bonus you will only be paying peanuts with them.
 

Spinney

Bimbleur extraordinaire
Location
Back up north
I have sometimes found that I get a cheaper price by using a price comparison website to find a cheap quote, then going direct to that company's website (rather than through the price comparison people) - no idea why, but worth checking if this is the case before you buy anything.
 

Crankarm

Guru
Location
Nr Cambridge
Insurance companies, banks, utility companies = the enemy.

Loyalty will cost you money. Always shop around insurers each year even pretending to be a new customer with your existing insurer if need be.

Apparently the cheapest quote for fully comp insurance was less than £1 last year on MoneySaving Expert. Yep less than £1. It was 68p I think :smile:. The guy who got it made use of cashback offers IIRC.

If you have 12 years no claims just get the basic insurance Third Party or Third Party Fire and Theft with legal assistance or fully comp with a massive excess is bizarrely some times cheaper on web quotes. If you have an old car more than likely in any collision it will be a total loss and written off so no point what so ever in paying a higher premium for a low excess of say £50 or £100 with a fully comp policy. High excess means much lower premium. As you have 12 years crash/claim free you are a good risk, you are very unlikely to have a claim that is YOUR fault, so why pay for an all singing all dancing policy with bells on that costs ££££££££££ to cover prangs to your own car which might be your fault and in any case if car is old it will just be written off. Paying any more than you have to to insurers is a waste of money IMHO. Just because you pays a high premium doesn't guarantee good service if you make a claim.

All insurers have call centres which employ a sub species of human so you are in the sh1t if you need to call them who ever you insure with.

Plus if you go to a broker all they do is type your details in to a price comparison website anyway :thumbsup:! Plus you then get lots of junk spam unsolicited mail and loans taken out in your name unless you get the opportunity to scrutinise the small print to opt out of any communication/correspondance, and even then they can just ignore your opt out. They will send your details around the globe to India or China if they have other offices within their group of companies in these regions.

Anyway my choice has been HastingsEssential 2 years running, by far the cheapest. However mileage by car last year 627, by bicycle 10,000+. So the car's days may well be numbered.

Just my 2ps worth.
 
OP
OP
XmisterIS

XmisterIS

Purveyor of fine nonsense
Well,

I put my details into the meerkat website last night - and it told me that my car does not exist. That was worrying, seeing as I had been driving it not 30 minutes beforehand!

So I went to GoCompare and got a cheapest quote from Admiral. I spoke to them on the phone, saved myself £400!

I might upgrade my motorbike insurance to fully comp because of that saving on the car now.
 

Norm

Guest
Insurance is one thing which should not (but nearly always is!) be bought on the basis of price alone.

Check the policy documents and look at what cover you are getting. Differences could be in something obvious like deductibles (excess) but check out windscreen cover, availability of courtesy cars, contents cover (personal effects, jewellery, audio equipment etc), legal cover, foreign use (if likely) etc.
 

Rhythm Thief

Legendary Member
Location
Ross on Wye
Norm said:
Insurance is one thing which should not (but nearly always is!) be bought on the basis of price alone.

Check the policy documents and look at what cover you are getting. Differences could be in something obvious like deductibles (excess) but check out windscreen cover, availability of courtesy cars, contents cover (personal effects, jewellery, audio equipment etc), legal cover, foreign use (if likely) etc.

That's a fair point, but at the same time, my car is worth about a hundred quid more than my insurance costs. Things like my musical equipment are covered on my household insurance and I never leave anything worth nicking in the car anyway. As long as I'm legal, my only real concern is spending as little money as possible.
 
OP
OP
XmisterIS

XmisterIS

Purveyor of fine nonsense
Norm said:
Insurance is one thing which should not (but nearly always is!) be bought on the basis of price alone.

Check the policy documents and look at what cover you are getting. Differences could be in something obvious like deductibles (excess) but check out windscreen cover, availability of courtesy cars, contents cover (personal effects, jewellery, audio equipment etc), legal cover, foreign use (if likely) etc.

Yep, and I actually get better cover with Admiral than with the AA, in terms of things covered, courtesy car, protected NCB, etc!
 
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