Car insurance

Think it's around £1200. £750 for mine, £400 odd for the missus.

Last year we paid about £800 for both. Prices rocketed this year and those above were the cheapest we could get anywhere.
 
atypical_boro said:
But people I know round here same sort of age tbf, pay less, cars worth similar to ours.
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I know it doesn’t help but sometimes people tell you they’re paying less cos it makes them feel superior (I think it’s called the Sky Subscription Syndrome)

I suppose all you can do is use the comparison sites (remember Direct Line aren’t on them and also compare comparison sites don’t just use one), sometimes little independent brokers can do you a deal, my Mrs got her last insurance this way and saved £70.
 
Mine was due for renewal recently and after the renewal came I accidentally picked up three points. I thought I’d best tell them so when I online chatted with the guy he ran it through the computer and told me it was 30 quid less 😂😂 obviously I screenshotted the conversation.
 
The market for car insurance has shot up recently - more claims are coming in and at bigger values. Car Insurance has not gone up in recent years, but the cost of repairs and new cars has gone up 50% in the last 6 years.

Car insurance firms are also now targeting key groups of drivers which is OK for those drivers, but if you are not in their target group they have limited interest in providing insurance for you.

Agreeing higher excess will bring the cost of premiums down. Many people can afford to pay the first £500 in a claim, but the standard default is £200.

Shop around - not all insurance companies are on comparison sites. Direct Line is one that is not.

I use a seperate company for break down cover (Start Rescue) - its around £40 for full cover (4 star) and they have a high service rating (4.65). Its only £30 if you don't want home cover. So don't have break down on your normal car insurance which keeps the premiums lower.
 
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Ingleby_Flash said:
Mine was due for renewal recently and after the renewal came I accidentally picked up three points. I thought I’d best tell them so when I online chatted with the guy he ran it through the computer and told me it was 30 quid less 😂😂 obviously I screenshotted the conversation.
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IF - drivers are supposed to tell their insurer straight away when they get points. I only realised on renewal. It put about £30 a year on my insurnace for the next 5 years. It was more costly than the fine.
 
Redwurzel said:
IF - drivers are supposed to tell their insurer straight away when they get points. I only realised on renewal. It put about £30 a year on my insurnace for the next 5 years. It was more costly than the fine.
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I did tell them straight away, I got the points as the renewal came through. I said to him ‘that’s mad’ and he said ’thats what the computer says’

My insurance is a bit odd as I always had company cats, so when I retired a couple of years ago I had to insure myself and start with 0 no claims bonus, so it does fall quickly from the massive high it was.
 
Ingleby_Flash said:
I did tell them straight away, I got the points as the renewal came through. I said to him ‘that’s mad’ and he said ’thats what the computer says’

My insurance is a bit odd as I always had company cats, so when I retired a couple of years ago I had to insure myself and start with 0 no claims bonus, so it does fall quickly from the massive high it was.
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Company cats? That is unusual. Was that job need or a perk?🤔
 
I'm expecting mine to go up drastically this year. Whilst in France we had a young French kid go into the back of us and cracked all the bumper and dented the bottom of the rear boot door. We got all the relevant details from the lad and passed them on to our insurance. The car was repaired on our return home and was asked to pay the excess. The guy at the garage questioned why we had to pay the excess and that we needed to question this with the insurance company. When I contacted the insurance company they stated that I had to pay it because they had had no contact from the other French insurance company. I asked them if they had tried to contact them and was told no. I ended up putting in a complaint and received a cheque for £75 (the excess is £150). Neither insurance company has at present contacted the other.

I dare say I will lose my 17 years no claims now.
 
One car, £230 or so with business use. I just had to renew and ended up getting it cheaper than last year after shopping around. My current lot decided they didn't want my custom any more when they put their renwal price up to almost £600.
 
Littlejimmy said:
One car, £230 or so with business use. I just had to renew and ended up getting it cheaper than last year after shopping around. My current lot decided they didn't want my custom any more when they put their renwal price up to almost £600.
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It pays to shop around and not stay with the same company.
 
atypical_boro said:
We have done this but it’s saved us max £100 or so each time; never anything hugely drastic.
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We had been through the AA and that went up something ridiculous so the wife phoned a few other companies. Prior to the AA insurance expiring we had to have our windscreen repaired and noticed that the insurance was through Zenith Insurance and AA was the frontman. The wife rang Zenith direct and got it for £284.88.
 
From an insider who used to work in insurance for a while. Your premium is made up from a combination of factors;

Firstly, how likely you to have an accident/ claim
So the following factors have an impact
Age, occupation, previous driving record, time of day that you drive (night time higher risk), tracker fitted, annual mileage, children and existing no claims bonus.

Secondly, in the event of an accident, the cost of repair/replacement.
So some marques are more expensive to repair than others. Also older cars are more expensive to repair than newer cars. Car value (likelihood of write off).

Thirdly, cost of payment of claim from another party.
So everyone will be subsidising the likely claim for the other party, inflated when bogus claims are submitted. Also everyone pays into a pot to cover uninsured lost.

Last factor, how price sensitive is the customer.
If you keep swapping providers you will often get a better quote. Loyalty is not often your friend in insurance, however companies will often try to retain you by providing multi car quotes as it is often perceived harder to leave. Equally you will get a better quote by applying a month or more before renewal. Leaving it to the last minute, or altering your quote too many times results in quotations.
 
I'm in my 40s with over 20 years no claims.

I've had a midlife crisis and bought a MK 8 fiesta ST. It would have been £320 with admiral or a 'normal' company. Yet I've had a remapped so went with Greenlight rather than run the risk of it not been valid if they checked in the event of a crash.

So pay £405 for the peace of mind of bieng legal.
 
Yeah, given all these factors and all posts (thanks by the way) I could sort of understand if we were paying £500ish. But we are a fair bit of above that and I just cannot understand why, I’ve tried every “trick” in the book to get it lower but it just won’t budge. Oh well, it’s a mystery.
 
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