New driver getting spanked

Jamesr_2

I've followed the guides, used the search engines. Had an argument with confused.com which kept wiping information and misquoting.


I'm 27 and I've just passed my test. I need to drive for work, and work say I need business insurance.


The best quote has been 441 from Bell insurance obtained via gocompare.com. HOWEVER, when my dad called Bell insurance to pay he was told that the car would have to be insured in my name and it would be 'not competative' - to the tune of 13,000 an increase of nearly 900.

I rechecked all the details given to gocompare and I WAS listed in their information as the main driver. So Bell had quoted, via go compare, with my dad as the owner, proposer, etc and me as the main driver at the price of 441.


Does this mean I shouldn't trust what I put into the comparison sites and I will have to check each individual insurer?

Bell cropped up on several of the comparison sites ranging from 441 - 600 and I have put the same information in each time.


Not happy in the slightest, have to have business insurance or no return of mileage. This has taken over 5 hours today!


If anyone can offer any advice I would be mnost grateful.



Regards,

J

dogbot

Does this mean I shouldn't trust what I put into the comparison sites and I will have to check each individual insurer?

Yes. Price comparison websites are set up to handle "the standard" and when more than one thing becomes non standard they often can't cope.

Try a local broker (http://www.biba.org.uk/ConsumerHome.aspx) as they will be able to handle more non-standard risks. Alternativly, run some quotes though the comparison websites with YOU are the proposer (don't use the real vehicle reg/your names though - put mr test test for example and google the vehicle to find a reg plate or enter it manualy). Call the people that come up in the top 4 for a real quote.

If you are regularly driving for work why is your company not either providing a company car or car allowance? Seems a bit odd to me!

If you are traveling for business purposes you definatly need to declare it and have that cover since otherwise you could be done for having no insurance in the case of an accident. By insisting you have cover your employer is covering their back, likley a condition of their own employers and public liability cover.

LizD_2

Unfortunately your age, lack of experience and gender are against you. Also if you're doing high mileage for business, you will be seen as a higher risk, hence your quote will be higher. You don't say if the quote is fully comp or fire, theft and third party - this may be a way to save, but you must think long and hard about which option you choose. How much are you insuring the car for? What type of car is it?

When I first passed my test (at 23) I had a cheap car on FTTP with Diamond and it was still in the region of £500, so I don't think you'll get much cheaper.

I would suggest going directly to Admiral or Elephant (or any in that group of insurers), they are resonably cheap.

lisyloo

If the comprison site have passed all of your details on correctly (and not mis-translated anything) then I'd say that Bell are bound by the quote.

You have to decide if you want to take that chance.

LittleMissAspie

My boyfriend is 27 and had his licence for 2 years but never had a car until this week. All his quotes were around 400-600. BUT if you are insuring for business use that will bump it up a lot.

Sometimes if you add a named driver it can decrease your quote - my boyfriend saved about £60 by adding me. It didn't work by adding his dad though

When he was looking for quotes, Direct Line didn't ask what the usage would be, ie social and commuting etc, so maybe try them?

dacouch

If the Insurance is in your fathers name there is a good chance the "Business Use" you need will not actually cover you and / or be shown on your certificate which your employers normally want to see to refund you. It would be wise to check with whoever you get quotes from to make sure any busness use you need is covered and will be shown on the Certificate

anniecave

lisyloo wrote: »

If the comprison site have passed all of your details on correctly (and not mis-translated anything) then I'd say that Bell are bound by the quote.

You have to decide if you want to take that chance.

Er no. The comparison sites take the details you input and put them into the individual providers sites. Sometimes there are extra questions that the providers ask and sometimes information does not get translated accross correctly. Always double check what the providers website has.

And for business use you will need to be the main driver .

sarah_elton

I think OP was saying that he's going to be using his dad's car - the car is owned by his dad and therefore his dad has to take out the insurance. However, it's OP who'll be using it full-time and therefore he tried to put himself down as main driver.

I don't think gocompare can handle this - normally with insurance the owner is the main driver and other people are additional drivers. All the website forms for taking out insurance seem to assume this, so I think you'll need to ring round insurers for quotes to ensure you're getting accurate ones. Or use a broker as previously suggested.

I got my Astra last year (group 4 IIRC) and was 27 at the time. Prior to that, I'd only been additional driver on other cars, so had had my license ten years but had no no claims in my own name, and hadn't been driving regularly. My insurance was over £400 for social-domestic-pleasure only, so yours would be more as the license is new and you want to commute in it. This year though I got mine down to about £200. Since you're over 25 it will drop in the first few years, assuming you don't have claims.

lisyloo

Er no. The comparison sites take the details you input and put them into the individual providers sites. Sometimes there are extra questions that the providers ask and sometimes information does not get translated accross correctly. Always double check what the providers website has.

Hi Annie,

I agre with you that information sometimes does not get translated correctly.
I've had it happen to me.

What I was saying was that if it was all translated correctly (by careful checking) then I can't see how they could renage on a claim IF IF it was all 100% correct.

The fact that they want to charge more implies that there might have been some mis-translation, but if it's say a computer error, then it would still form a valid and binding legalcontract IF IF the information is 100% correct (sorry for shouting but I think the IF condition wasn't made clear enough before).