Choosing a car insurer

Androcles

Just getting a new car. After using a broker for years, two years ago I went to Norwich Union Direct and insured with them, renewing last year. This year on my current vehicle the premium rocketed and have just tried them for a quote on the one I am buying - again through the roof. Looking at the comparison sites Martin suggests, Ihave got some quotes from people like Churchill and Swiftcover, which are way below - £150 approx , whilst "mid range" quotes still well below the NU quote (about £100) are from people like Admiral.

As I have not used companies like these before, are they any good? I am worried about the "we cover you for everything except when you make a claim brigade"! Any guidance appreciated!

dacouch

Avoid Swiftcover like the plague, feel free to do a search of the MSE forums for "Swiftcover" as they have their own "fan" club...

Churchill are part of the RBS Group who also own Direct Line, their policy is not to bad, you can probably find some cash back deals if you go with them

dogbot

This thing about comparison websites is the assumptions they place in the quote. This is to speed things up for you and to get the quotes you see down to the lowest prices they reasonably can. Remember each comparison website is competing against all the others!

Most assumptions relate to aspects of some non standard drivers, so if you have convictions or an unusual licence etc. They should be easily accessed on most websites.

When I use them, I select the top 4 or 5 quotes I get and then go through to the insurers pages to check things like total (voluntary and standard together!) excess, and the details of cover I know I want. The price comparison website might put a higher voluntary excess in there to reduce the premium. This should be obvious when you get onto the insurer's page, but might not be. Changing it to what you want could change some premiums more than others.

This takes a little more time but is worth it to make sure you compare like for like, or at least against exactly what you want.

You may find names you don't recognise on those comparison websites. This are often brokers and they may also have their own admin charges etc so bear that in mind if you think it might be a problem for you.

haggle_2

Check what would happen if you have a crash with a driver who gives the the wrong details. Would you keep your no claims?

I was with Directline and lost mine after that happened to me.

dacouch

If you get the registration number now days they can trace who the Insurance is with (If they are insured)