Gits......let's hit 'em when their down.

[RGuk]

OK......

A few weeks back I *deleted* my post ranting for my life at the insurance industry.

Well, today, I got the most pi**ing off phone call of my life since I passed my driving test.

I have 3 cars, and the third (a pet project 1.7 Ford Puma) is insured through a specialist in policies where you have a spare or 3rd/4th car with no no-claims bonus. It's for folks with "weekend" cars that aren't classic as yet. I pay just over £200 per year (third party, just to be legal) and am limited to low mileage.

Well, this year they want near £400, so I asked for quotes from other companies, and basically I've no chance of getting a quote. I pay about £300 (fully comp) for the two family cars with max no-claims.

I asked what was going on and was told "the credit crunch"!!
All I can say is GITS!!! all of them....
How come I can drive a posh, expensive (when new), bigger engined car for £300 fully comp but have to pay more than this for a low-mileage run-around.

This is because they can charge what they want, and are doing exactly that.....

I'm phoning some specialists tomorrow, then if no joy, going back to my old Japanese estate.
What is their problem?
Maybe it serves me right for having three cars with a total value of under 5k rather than buying me and the missus two new-ish cars.

Credit Crunch my a***.

Sorry guys. Had to let it out.

 

[OldWindy]

Opportunistic b@r5t@d5. You need to give the That's Life team a call. They'll sort it for you.

Seriously, though, you should find a specialist who'll do this for you. They can't all be bad, can they?

 

[RGuk]

Seriously, though, you should find a specialist who'll do this for you. They can't all be bad, can they?

I hope not! I don't mind paying a bit more each year (inflation and all that) but.....there's a limit.

I could get a policy for an MX-5 or MGF easily.....maybe these cars are getting into the wrong hands or something.

 

[brendy]

Have you tried greenlight yet? neil and tony are decent blokes who love performance cars, in fact the give better value quotes on sporty/modded motors.

 

[RGuk]

Have you tried greenlight yet? neil and tony are decent blokes who love performance cars, in fact the give better value quotes on sporty/modded motors.

Will do brendy.....thanks for the steer.

HID had a good idea......why not swap the car on one of our main policies to this one and try for a cheap "make-do" policy on a different type of car. I can (although I hate to admit it) see why a Puma might be gradually becoming a dodgy risk. You can get them for £1k and at 120 bhp per ton, the boy racers must have spotted them, they go better than saxos for example. (well, only the 1.7s though, the rest are not so fast)

If they are going to get all "expensive" on me, I may as well sell it and buy a Nissan 200SX and get more power for my pound!!!!

 

[flandango]

GIVE THE DOG A PHONE!

 

[viscount17]

If you are the sole driver on two cars then could they not understand that it's not actually feasible to drive two at once so the risk is reduced on both?

 

[medwayjon]

Shame you cant blag a traders policy of some sort dave, say you are a valeter or something.

Reason is, I am 29 and my missus is 25. I have a fully comp trade policy that entitles me to drive any car upto £70k in value and covers my stock cars. I am also covered for any car that is for our social/domestic/pleasure use also so it really is great value for me when you consider the cost of the policy is a shade under a grand!

 

[USER1999]

That sounds like a good deal Jon.

The thing that has always stopped me getting a second car for fun use is the insurance. I can only drive one at a time, and if the other is kept off road, surely a theft only policy should be a ble to cover it when it is not being driven. It is all a rip off as far as I can see. It should be the driver that is insured, not the car, and the same applies to the NCB, how can a car have an NCB?

Now I have run classic cars as second cars before, which is cheap to insure, but the running maintainance is way higher.

Hmm.

 

[RGuk]

I have some news on this.

I tried all sorts of brokers and have finally found a broker that seems to appreciate my situation.

Essentially, (as Murph has spotted) if you and the missus have a car each with x amount of years NCB, this counts for nothing when trying to insure an extra car. If the car is "classic" then you'll get a deal, but if it's not old enough yet, you'll have to take out a full price policy.

So I'd overcome this hurdle for two years with specialist taking on 3rd cars for low-risk drivers. But, this broker has either got burned or just wants to put up prices because they can.

So, having been a reader of magazines for collectable/classic cars, I thought I'd do left-field and try some of the companies that claim to help find policies for non-typical customers. I explained my arrangement (which confused a few phone sales personnel) and have a quote AT LAST.

It's not complicated, we both have a car and we have another and don't want to pay twice as much to drive this one.

The answer......Adrian Flux. The cost....under £300. And the best bit, we start on 3 yrs NCB "just because" which will go up to 70% in the next four years. DEAL!!
So the Puma is saved......shame the clubs don't fit in it.

 

[theeaglehunter]

dave does your puma not have two grey toggles (maybe not grey) behind the back seats when looking in from the boot (parcel shelf will need removing probably to see it, the puma i know doesn't have one) they are in the top corners of the two seats- pull these and push the rear seats down and you will be able to get your clubs in easily and of course a passenger in the front if needs be. I have got two bags and a powakaddy in a puma boot with the seats down.

 

[RGuk]

Yes.....I could put the seats down.
If you know the car, you'll know that removing the parcel shelf is not an issue.....most members of the club complain they can't keep the shelf in place!
t.b.h. I rarely take it golfing (not that it plays!!), that's another reason for wanting 2 cars.

 

[theeaglehunter]

Thats why the puma i mentioned no longer has a parcel shelf! It sits in the shed.