Choice Quote - Car Insurance? Any good?

slipp_digby

Just wondered if some eagle eyed MSE could tell me if my gut instinct is right/wrong on a car insurance quote I have had.

Am looking to insure my Audi A3 fully comp and my current insurers want £1,000 (I only have one years no claims). Key thing for me is a sensible excess (say £150 voluntary+policy excess) and I must be able to use my car for business use (I am a consultant and claim back my business mileage).

Did a search and came up with a number of companies which on further investigation were not much cheaper. I then found Choicequote specialist insurance which was around £650 full comp.

They seem to ask different questions to other insurers (e.g garaged during night and day) and also was the only insurer which allows "business class 1 usage" - most insurers are domestic/pleasure OR business only.

Gut instinct says that its a huge difference in premium, so I might not be looking at like for like cover. Having dug about, I can't see anything major.

Can anyone point out any obvious omissions/pitfalls to using this insurer, also has anyone experience of using this insurer?

tinkerbell84

slipp_digby wrote: »

Just wondered if some eagle eyed MSE could tell me if my gut instinct is right/wrong on a car insurance quote I have had.

Am looking to insure my Audi A3 fully comp and my current insurers want £1,000 (I only have one years no claims). Key thing for me is a sensible excess (say £150 voluntary+policy excess) and I must be able to use my car for business use (I am a consultant and claim back my business mileage).

Did a search and came up with a number of companies which on further investigation were not much cheaper. I then found Choicequote specialist insurance which was around £650 full comp.

They seem to ask different questions to other insurers (e.g garaged during night and day) and also was the only insurer which allows "business class 1 usage" - most insurers are domestic/pleasure OR business only.

Gut instinct says that its a huge difference in premium, so I might not be looking at like for like cover. Having dug about, I can't see anything major.

Can anyone point out any obvious omissions/pitfalls to using this insurer, also has anyone experience of using this insurer?

I've never heard of this insurer. However, I wanted to correct a couple of things you've said.

Most mainstream insurers offer business cover in addition to SD&P use. I don't know of any that are 'business only'

You need more than class 1 business use if you are visiting different sites.

I know that the RAC don't charge extra for suitable business cover (my OH is a consultant) but they don't provide driving other cars extension.

slipp_digby

tinkerbell84 wrote: »

You need more than class 1 business use if you are visiting different sites.

Thanks, tinkerbell can you clarify for me. I am a little confused as to what cover I do require and what the different classes mean!

I do indeed visit many differents sites during my work and assumes Class 1 woudl cover me to use my own car to do mileage which I was claiming back from my employer.

tinkerbell84

Sorry - mental block today

Class 1 will cover you going to different places. Standard commuting cover won't.

shelly

slipp_digby wrote: »

Gut instinct says that its a huge difference in premium, so I might not be looking at like for like cover. Having dug about, I can't see anything major.

Call them up and go through the quote with a fine tooth comb to see if you are getting everything you want if you are worried.
In my experience of phoning around each year for 2 cars and a bike its not unusual to slash so much off of a premium just by shopping around.
Just this week hubby has had his bike renewal come through. His current co wants £135, I used a screen scraper and got it down to £68.
Even though its not the high figures you are talking about its still half price.

lisyloo

Don't forget about quidco as well.

I got 80% of my car ins premium back and 45% of my bike ins premium back in cashback last year.

But of course don't forget to cancel your existing policy as a lot are on auto-renewal these days.

Quentin

lisyloo wrote: »

Don't forget about quidco as well.

I got 80% of my car ins premium back

There is no way you can get 80% cash back on a £600 premium!

Quidco's maximum percentage off car insurance is currently only 5.

You cannot get anything like 80% off.

They have fixed cashback amounts, but the best is currently £75.

But on premiums in the region of £600 to £1000, as the op is faced with, then you can probably find a cheaper deal outside of the companies available via cashback sites.

There are problems currently getting insurance cashbacks from quidco, only use them if you get a good deal despite the cashback (which is never guaranteed).

BenL

Are you planning on moving home, adding people on or changing car?

The non-branded for want of a better phrase insurance companies usually have lots of lovely hidden charges for amendments.

Have you seen any terms and cons with these listed?

shelly

Quentin wrote: »

There are problems currently getting insurance cashbacks from quidco, only use them if you get a good deal despite the cashback (which is never guaranteed).

I took this into consideration when taking out the insurance I mentioned in my earlier post. Got quote down to £68 by clicking through Quidco and using Bennetts, if we get the £20 cashback its just a bonus as they were the cheapest anyway so if we don't get the deal we haven't lost anything.

Can I just ask a question about Quidco while I'm here? Have never used it before but signed up ages ago. I clicked through from quidco for the £20 cashback deal on the insurance, checked it last night and it says its been tracked then validated but its giving me a total of £40
I know with the problems Iv'e read about Quidco that I'll be lucky to even get the £20 but surely £40 is wrong......or is that just how it looks until you get paid?

Thanks

lisyloo

But on premiums in the region of £600 to £1000, as the op is faced with, then you can probably find a cheaper deal outside of the companies available via cashback sites.

My advice would be to try both and not restrict yourself.
Then you can choose the best of both worlds either with or without cashback.

Bear in mind that cashback does not always come through so only take it if that premium is the cheapest/best anyway.
But there's no harm in taking it just by uising a specific site if it's offered for your cheapest quote.

Quentin

shelly wrote: »

I clicked through from quidco for the £20 cashback deal on the insurance, checked it last night and it says its been tracked then validated but its giving me a total of £40

They only pay you after they've been paid, so if they get the £40, then they'll pass it on to you!