F*ing Car Insurance!!!

[john0]

It's that time of year again that I totally dread, renewing car insurance. I hate dealing with the robbing sods! Since getting some quotes last week from the usual price comparison sites, I log back into them today in order to purchase one and the price has surprisingly gone up nearly £100 since last week

Can anyone receommend any decent company's that dont use the comparison sites who may be able to offer a good deal?

Thanks

 

[bobmac]

Saga

 

[john0]

Saga

Anywhere for the non-Ping players?

 

[Ken_A]

Just payed for 2 car insurances and house insurance - and NO one was interested in doing a deal for all 3 items.

In the end I went to Chaucer (internet only people) the Mrs is with The AA and the house is with Axa.

I hate insurance companies.

 

[jammag]

Unfortunately most companies will use comparison websites one way or the other. If you checked prices in the month of August then prices rise at start of every month. If you have a standard car then likes of aviva, elephant, direct line will be the cheaper, if you have a 4x4 import modified then try adrian flux, footman james, alan n alan, peter best.

The latter companies I mentioned mainly have better deals on non standard cars but will also offer prices on standard vehicles but may not be as competitive a bit hit n miss.

 

[john0]

If you checked prices in the month of August then prices rise at start of every month.

After checking it was the 30th August that I got the original prices....should of just took out the deal then

 

[3offTheTee]

AS mentioned by Jammy Mag thought Direct Line was not on a price comparison site

 

[thegogg]

The renewal for the missus Volvo XC90 (4 x 4) came through from Volvo Ins (Royal Sun Alliance) and it was up by £50 to £495 so I tried Gocompare and had a best quote from the AA at £349 with breakdown cover FOC which I upgraded to their top home start, recovery etc for £60. Well pleased

Could be worthwhile you calling the AA direct.

 

[Marko77]

I got a really good deal with the AA this year.

 

[thecraw]

Aviva for me. I do however go through a broker.

 

[twohats]

Having read all of the above and dealing with people on a regular basis with people about this kind of thing, I think that brokers are possibly the best way to go, they often seem to do a lot better than the comparison websites.

I am with Admiral for my car insurance however, and they have been by far and away the cheapest for me over the last 4 years, have always been really good and the customer service is generally bob-on.

 

[UpminsterGas11]

Mines up for renewal at the end of the month so i've been looking around, best i've found so far is Tesco' s, its worth a look, especially if your missus has a clubcard.

 

[jammag]

Aviva will generally be cheaper through a broker as they can take there commission off the price. Direct line dont go through brokers or on comparison websites so they can regulate what they want to insure and not rely on others to muck it up basically.

The only problem with comparison websites is theres a lot of hidden junk in there that can jeopardise claims etc and not being covered as much as you think so read through all the stuff. If you ring up its more hassle more time consuming but if they dont tell you something the call will be recorded.

 

[john0]

The renewal for the missus Volvo XC90 (4 x 4) came through from Volvo Ins (Royal Sun Alliance) and it was up by £50 to £495 so I tried Gocompare and had a best quote from the AA at £349 with breakdown cover FOC which I upgraded to their top home start, recovery etc for £60. Well pleased

Could be worthwhile you calling the AA direct.

The AA were quoting £1300
10 years no claims, 3 points for speeding and the cars barely worth £3,000, yet they want over £700 a year I could get some new bats for that!

 

[GB72]

I pay the extra to use Directline as when I have needed to make a claim they have been faultless in their service. They may not be the cheapest but the fact that they are great to deal with when you do need to make a claim keeps me with them.

 

[jammag]

The renewal for the missus Volvo XC90 (4 x 4) came through from Volvo Ins (Royal Sun Alliance) and it was up by £50 to £495 so I tried Gocompare and had a best quote from the AA at £349 with breakdown cover FOC which I upgraded to their top home start, recovery etc for £60. Well pleased

Could be worthwhile you calling the AA direct.

The AA were quoting £1300
10 years no claims, 3 points for speeding and the cars barely worth £3,000, yet they want over £700 a year I could get some new bats for that!

maybe worth trying some of the other companies I mentioned they may be smaller as in dont advertise on tv etc but a lot of these can offer good prices. Dont tell people your best rate and when they offer a price just say oh your close and lower there price by say £50 quid and say as you have been nice is there anything you can do to match it.

the person answering the phone wont be on commission so wont need to do you a favour as such, butter them up a bit and they may want to go that extra bit for you to go ahead with them.

 

[Aztecs27]

I have to say, I've had pretty good experience with car insurers of late.

I've been with the same company for 4 years - Elephant.

Every year they send me a ridiculous renewal quote and every year I do one maybe two "comparison" quotes to see what comes up as the cheapest.

Once I have this I call them and I basically say "what's the craic? I can get it this cheap online". They say "let me see what we can do" and always get it to within £5 or less of the cheapest online quote I found.

HAd a bit of a to-do on Friday as I was sorting out switching the insurance to my new Mondeo. They wanted an extra £150 on top of what I had already paid for my yearly premium on my current car. I was told that this is because I don't get the "new quote" discount. Told the customer service bloke I wasn't having that as it would be cheaper for me to cancel my policy and start a new policy.

Next thing I know, I get a phone call from the sales team (based in Canada, excellent customer service) to let me know my options.

Long story short: They are cancelling my current policy on Sunday and refunding whatever money I'm due back (£446 total premium - the 30 days I've been using it, so I'll get back just over £400) and waiving the "admin fee" of £45 that you usually pay to cancel.

They have started a brand new policy for the Mondeo which will be costing me £354 for the year, nearly £100 less than what I'm currently paying and £100 less than the cheapest quote I found online!

Really cannot fault the customer service of Elephant one bit.

 

[Ethan]

I use Audi Insurance, which is an Allianz policy. There may be cheaper policies available, but after a student t-boned my car they were great and very efficient, so I am staying with them.

 

[brendy]

I have the X5 with Greenlight, came down another £50 this year, still full NCBs etc so nothing changed.
The WRX stayed the same with a local company.

Insurance really is a lottery and how it is calculated might well be the best way to work it our for the insurers but for me, each motor only does around 2-5k a year (work, live and play in one town usually), I know it is my choice so quietly get on with it!

 

[jammag]

I have the X5 with Greenlight, came down another £50 this year, still full NCBs etc so nothing changed.
The WRX stayed the same with a local company.

Insurance really is a lottery and how it is calculated might well be the best way to work it our for the insurers but for me, each motor only does around 2-5k a year (work, live and play in one town usually), I know it is my choice so quietly get on with it!

You may well have tried this but have you tried flux on your wrx they like to be no1 on this type of car and rarely get beaten how ever the x5 is a big no go with them. most claimed against car in the uk due to a lot of drug dealers liking them and pinching em.

As someone said it is a bit of a lottery with car insurance it depends what operator you get on the phone and the way the conversation goes etc and also how they percieve your details and what claims have been made linked with your details. Its amazing the stuff they can find you within 5 minutes of searching.