Car insurance for over 85's - help!

[longtallannie]

Can anyone help with good car insurance deals for my Dad, who's still driving well & safely at age 87? His premium with existing insurer Tesco is due to increase from £500 to £700 this year, seems a huge jump. Any recommendations very welcome before I start the horrendous search process...

[Quentin]

40% isn't an unusual premium increase currently.

Irrespective of renewal premium, it is always worthwhile doing the search process, but especially so currently!

[lisyloo]

Use a comparison site, but bear in mind that many companies won't take on drivers above a certain age, so there is less choice.

[hartcjhart]

we found LV to be very good for our dad(86)

[Natbag]

You may need to phone certain companies as they will insure over 80s, often with competitive prices, but only as long as they meet certain criteria. The quote often requires a manual override, which you may not be able to get online, so you'd need to phone to check.

[lisyloo]

but only as long as they meet certain criteria

Hi - Could you give me a clue as to what those criteria might me?
Is it disability or claim related?
I'm interested as I sort out affairs for my MIL & FIL in their 80s.

[Natbag]

It goes on the vehicle segmentation - cars fall into a segment letter according to their size, engine size, performance, brake horse power, etc - as well as claims history. We also have to check something called the super-profile, to make sure it's under a certain number, and I think that's rated on all the information given during the quote (age, location, claims, convictions, NCD, years licence held, class of use, etc). Our maximum age limit at new business is 90, 99 for renewals if no claims have been made. I've not done too many of these type of quotes yet, so I can't tell you the full details without referring to my underwriting guide at work, and of course it will vary from insurer to insurer. I can get back to you on Friday when I'm next in work.
As for disability, we're not actually allowed to take that into consideration because of the disability discrimination act - we're not allowed to even ask or use those details to rate the policy and premiums.
If your in-laws are driving quite small or family-type cars and don't have motoring convictions in the past 5 years or claims in the past 3 years, and have full NCD, they *should* be able to get insurance at a competitive rate.

[longtallannie]

Following Martin's advice on which sites to search & in which order, Admiral seems to have come out the best so far - but only on moneysupermarket.com, not comparethemarket. Why is that??

Interestingly re hartcjhart's post, LV say on their website that they don't cover anyone over 85, but maybe it's a different case by phone. Thanks for everyone's comments & advice. I hate buying car insurance....

[lisyloo]

If your in-laws are driving quite small or family-type cars and don't have motoring convictions in the past 5 years or claims in the past 3 years, and have full NCD, they *should* be able to get insurance at a competitive rate.

Yes, small Corsa (probably 1.2).
Thanks for the info.