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Thread: Car insurance- Madness!

  1. #1
    Grand Master JasonM's Avatar
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    Car insurance- Madness!

    I know, I know, we've had numerous threads over the years with crazy insurance stories, heres mine.

    The wife is coming out of her company car scheme as she is changing jobs and is inheriting my old car, a VW CC, so she's no provable no claims, fair enough, first I called my insurer who offer a multi car scheme and got a quote for the wife, £830, sounded a lot ( double my own insurance cost with triple the annual mileage, with business use and 4 x value of car ) so went on a comparison site, with the same details we got quotes from £325 to a eye watering £1150! We went with Churchill who were the first recognised brand name on the list for £335.
    I just don't understand how they can vary so much with all the same information?
    Last edited by JasonM; 5th February 2020 at 17:14.
    Cheers..
    Jase

  2. #2
    Craftsman
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    Different insurance companies have different risk profiles and target demographics etc. Therefore its probably a case of the the company that quotes the high figures aren't really interested in your business as is outside of the risk profile of their core book of business.

  3. #3
    Master
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    Ironically I’m with Churchill and got my renewal quote today for £398. Always double check and went on a comparison site and found a dozen or more a lot cheaper. Now will be paying £321. I gave Churchill the chance but they couldn’t drop a penny. No doubt next year I’ll be back as they’ll magically become competitive again.

  4. #4
    Interestingly when I came out of the company car scheme, some insurers would take that into account and offer a discount

  5. #5
    Grand Master JasonM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nick67 View Post
    Interestingly when I came out of the company car scheme, some insurers would take that into account and offer a discount
    The ones I have got quotes for only gave a token discount, nothing significant.
    Cheers..
    Jase

  6. #6
    Master dickbrowne's Avatar
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    When my daughter passed her test, she had a 19 year old Micra, which was fine for a while, but after 6 months I bought her a mini.

    Now, you’d have thought that a four year old mini one would have been reasonably cheap to insure? Well, it wasn’t that bad at £1198 with a tracker. Reasonable for a 17 year old with less than a year under her belt, I thought.

    The big shock was that we bought her a 3 year old cooper and insurance was only a nudge over £700!

    The reason is as simple as it is daft. Very few 17 year olds have a Mini Cooper, so very few 17 year olds have accidents in them, unlike the mini one for which the almost exact opposite is true.

    I can see the logic, but still...

  7. #7
    Master
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    You cant beat algorithms! Read recently on another forum a member advised his insurance co he h ad retired, double premium suggested, as he was higher risk. When he changed his occupation to retired police officer the premium fell to less than his starting point .......bonkers
    Last edited by higham5; 5th February 2020 at 19:55.

  8. #8
    Craftsman
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    Quote Originally Posted by JasonM View Post
    The ones I have got quotes for only gave a token discount, nothing significant.
    When I jacked in the company car I got a letter from the insurance broker confirming no claims had been made. The text has to be quite specific, and certain details must be referenced, but the broker should know this stuff. Some (by no means all) insurance companies accepted this and offered me an equivalent no claims bonus discount.

  9. #9
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by JasonM View Post
    I know, I know, we've had numerous threads over the years with crazy insurance stories, heres mine.

    The wife is coming out of her company car scheme as she is changing jobs and is inheriting my old car, a VW CC, so she's no provable no claims, fair enough, first I called my insurer who offer a multi car scheme and got a quote for the wife, £830, sounded a lot ( double my own insurance cost with triple the annual mileage, with business use and 4 x value of car ) so went on a comparison site, with the same details we got quotes from £325 to a eye watering £1150! We went with Churchill who were the first recognised brand name on the list for £335.
    I just don't understand how they can vary so much with all the same information?
    Most company schemes will (or used to) give a NCB confirmation. Quite often it’s the person in the company that needs nudging. There’s no reason not to as it’s easily identified.

    Otherwise, yes, motor insurance is crazy but then again, no other insurance can take a say £500 premium and face a loss of £42mm - that idiot that decided to end it all parked on the Newbury to London tracks.

  10. #10
    Craftsman
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    I always query my renewal. I was quoted £850 for my car and van which was minimal on the last year’s policy, but then had to scrap the van before renewal due to MoT failure and got quoted £850 for car only!

    The cheapest on price comparison sites was £600ish, but when I queried the renewal quote after removing the van, they asked me what price I’d been quoted online. I said £500, they offered £520.

    The renewal number seems completely arbitrary, and is entirely based on what they think the policyholder will pay, and what they think they can get away with attempting.

  11. #11
    Im with Tesco at the minute, and have been for a few years now. I was going to change last year as there renewal was much higher, but I was traveling a lot and it would have been a hassle to organise inbetween, so I left it in place. This year the renewal came through with a surprisingly massive drop, and I have ended up with both the Porsche and Audi insured for under £300!

    I notice that some of the comparison sites look ok on price, but when you compare direct it's sometimes cheaper, and using quidco or direct you might also get cash back or free gifts going direct!
    Last edited by Omegamanic; 5th February 2020 at 23:20.
    It's just a matter of time...

  12. #12
    Master
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    Ah, the dark magic of insurance.

    I fondly recall being 21 years old, on holiday and in dire need of a car as my crappy nova gave up on the way, a quick shop round and the next morning I paid £300 for a 200k mile Audi GT5 coupe.

    The insurance quote, £2,700......
    9 times the value of the car!

    I crashed it into the back of some Germans in a fiesta within 2 hours of taking out the policy so I guess they insurance company did their sums right.

    The next day of the holiday was spent winching the car straight enough to drive again courtesy of a steel bar welded across the chassis, a Landover at the rear and the front tied to a huge oak tree.

    I put a twin spot light off an old Capri in one side and fixed the ruptured fuel injection with reinforced hose and jubilee clips.

    After that it was an 'interesting' drive home. Strictly non smoking with a terrible smell of fuel. The engine clattering on the bonnet due to the broken engine mount.

    Managed to sell it for £60 with no mot a few months later. Surprised to get that tbh!
    Last edited by jmitch; 6th February 2020 at 00:59.

  13. #13
    Grand Master JasonM's Avatar
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    Ahhh yes, I remember diy repairs as a youth, exhausts held on with jubilee clips and coat hanger wires and copious amounts of that putty from a red tin from Halfords that didn’t work. A pal of mine duct taped his rocker cover down in his Peugeot 104S for months.
    Cheers..
    Jase

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by nick67 View Post
    Interestingly when I came out of the company car scheme, some insurers would take that into account and offer a discount
    I have recently decided to come out of the company car scheme and sought insurance quotes. I was given 6 years NCB as I said I had been driving a company car for many years with no claims. I have a letter from the company confirming such but, so far, haven't been asked to present it.

  15. #15
    My wife used to work for a com0any that specialised in insuring two groups of people.
    Professional lorry drives for their personal cars
    Taxi drivers for their second (personal) cars
    They worked out that both these were professional drivers so low risk but also their personal cars would be their pride and joy so we’ll looked after, it worked for them. Very low risk so very keen quotes.

  16. #16
    Master
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    I've just a renewal quote for my Mini Cooper Clubman d.
    Privilege wanted £360😯 and that's for a 61 year old with full claims bonus and an average mileage of not many since I took early retirement at xmas.
    Saga (don't laugh) are doing it for £230 and there were lots of similarly priced quotes.
    First motor insurance I got was in 1974 for a Honda SS50 at £4 and £5 road tax☹

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