Admiral Car Insurance?

fitterastra

Thinking of taking my car insurance admiral. Does anyone know what they are like? Have your experiences and dealing with admiral been positive/ negative? Would you recommend them?

Please let me know your thoughts, all appreciated!

Fitterastra

MickKnipfler

I've never had a problem. Also check out Bell Direct, their sister company

tipsychick

My brother and I have been with them on and off ever since we've been driving (about ten years or so). I think there customer profile is younger drivers. We've never made a claim but I can't see why there would be a problem. They're a pretty big company I think. Elephant are also part of the same group. Normally it's a toss up between Admiral and Elephant as the cheapest for us.

HTH.

nadnad

likewise - i was with admiral but elephant worked out cheaper this year. when people ask if anyone has had a problem with an insurance company its very difficult to give an answer unless you have made a claim - this is after all the product they are selling. however a large company like admiral or elephant shouldn't cause any problems with any justified claim.

DavidHM

I'm with Elephant and their customer services seem okay although I haven't claimed.

I would suggest that you find a nice, fiftysomething lady and add her to your policy as a named driver as that should bring your premium down nicely.

Sting_2

I was with Admiral, and over the years have also been with Elephant and was briefly insured with my (then) girlfriend through Diamond which is also part of the group.

Firstly I would agree with DavidHM's comment about adding on another driver (pref. mature and female). Normally car insurance companies INCREASE your premium by adding extra drivers (unless they are your spouse) however Admiral REDUCES your premium by adding on an extra driver provided they are more experienced than you. I added my mum on for a reduction.

One thing they did do which annoyed me was to send out my renewal quote saying I didn't need to do anything to renew my policy with them as they would automatically renew if for me. However, if I didn't want it renewing I would have to ring them on a 0870 number to cancel it. After ringing and cancelling it (and taking out cheaper car insurance elsewhere) I thought that would be the end of it, until I received my credit card bill and saw they had taken out the premium regardless.

I complained to their customer services (another 0870 number) and they seemed very off-hand with me. They said they could only refund the premium if I supplied them with the full details of my new car insurance policy. In the end I just got my credit card company to stop the transaction.

cas26

I'm with Elephant who are fine if you don't want to make a claim, my sister (who was also with Elephant) made a total loss claim, due to a fire, 24 hrs after purchasing her car & insurance and they cancelled her policy. We also had a load of hassle getting a satisfactory settlement.

alanshave

I was with Admiral for my first year, by far the cheapest. Had one claim when a female driver decided to drive into my stationary car in a car park and then claim that it was both of our faults! The best bit was that she drove into the back of me, but there you are, some people just refuse to be honest. Anyway Admiral have been very co-operative and have since 'bought' the case off me via their legal team as they feel that her insurers are completely in the wrong to be claiming joint responsibility.

Although on another note, when my renewal came with one years no claims they only offered me £60 off my £800 premium, so I went hunting for a new deal. Norwich Union certainly quoted me happy and offered me insurance for just over £400! Admiral made no attempt to match the quote.