Car insurance comparison

dacouch

NFU are very good except if you are a third party trying to claim off them, they are an absolute nightmare when this happens

mbrijun

mattymoo wrote: »

Er - you didn't really read the thread did you. See post 1.

sorry, should be more attentive. NFU hiked my renewal quote this year slightly, but they are saying it is "across the board". Please let me list my points for going with NFU (purely my subjective experience/impressions):

1. When I had a no-fault accident recently, the NFU and DAS (legal protection firm employed by NFU) made my life easy. No chasing around. On the other hand, my Direct Line experience was dreadful when I had a similar accident - had to chase them up endlessly to give me an update. And, when my cheque arrived, it arrived together with a cheque for another motorist! Imagine my surprise. I was tired of argueing with DL so I ended up just forwarding the cheque to the intended recipient.

2. One big selling point of NFU it is its "human side". They may not be the cheapest, but they are a mutual company, and they share their profits with me (or so they say in their correspondence). In that respect I do not classify NFU as an enemy that needs to be outsmarted.

3. NFU honour their word. I took out the home insurance with them. The salesman I spoke with misunderstood me and I ended up with the wrong info on the policy. When I checked the documents I pointed it out to them, they listened to the recording of the phone conversation and honoured the discount given to me initially.

4. NFU have local offices. If you are not happy, you can go and have a word with them. The big ones normally hide behind faceless call centres.

HTH,
Martin

dacouch

Mbrijun its nice to see someone who buys their insurance not just on price but on the cover and the service they provide. You cannot dispute that NFU have values and offer a good old fashioned service.

Like any other product that does not cut corners these add to the cost

mbrijun

dacouch wrote: »

NFU are very good except if you are a third party trying to claim off them, they are an absolute nightmare when this happens

could you elaborate on this point please? Thanks.

DomTom

My dad and his dad were both insured by the NFU, the only way I could get insured by them was through my dad through his local office (Marlow). I would have stuck with the NFU if it was a matter of £50-£100, but the difference here is from as little as £350 with Churchill and £666 with NFU, that is not a neglible difference. I have yet to speak to churchill, btu i spoke to admiral and the guy i spoke to (a canadian, gwen?) was very good and helped me through my queries and actually lowered my premium. it still ends up as £430 but again, massive saving.

NFU did tell me that this price hike was to everyone, as the costs have gone up. but it just seems impossible to me that adding a third years no claim, their loyalty discount (£40 or so) and being 20 not 19 has made the premium go down by only £10. that would be saying that their costs have gone up by hundreds? i drive a class 3 insurance car.

DomTom

Okay so i think i may have got my details right now, and the end quote would be
Direct line £372.75 (£395 with legal cover) - promotion : 52 days free cover
Churchill £381 (£405 with legal cover) - promotion: free basic breakdown service
Admiral £451 (free legal cover) - note: 10 month bonus accelerator optional

all of those give me free third party eu cover for up to 90 days, none of those insure me third party on other vehicles.

i'll have to try and contact NFU when i can to see if they might want to lower their premium


probably the last time i ask, but would anyone be kind enough to tell me who would be the best company to deal with? up to now i've been recommended both churchill and direct line (and NFU) but not endsleigh, admiral or elephant.co.uk

dacouch

They are not giving you "Free" third party cover in Europe, all policies issued in Europe give the basic cover (Which is in effect similar to out Third Party Only Cover) in any European Country. This is an European Law so they are not giving it free and in actual fact if you are talking about Third Party Only Cover then it is actually technically for 365 days.

DomTom

makes sense. so when they say they offer 30 consecutive days cover, they are talking about fully comp?

does anyone know what the criteria is for the third party insurance on other vehicles for an NFU cover? I've read the booklet twice and cannot find any information about it

Insurance_Man

DomTom wrote: »

makes sense. so when they say they offer 30 consecutive days cover, they are talking about fully comp?

No DomTom, they are still covering for the minimum level of cover in any European Country. The reason they try and limit you to 90 (not 30) days cover abroad is that if you are there for longer than that time, they may consider you to be a non UK resident.

Quote

DomTom wrote: »

does anyone know what the criteria is for the third party insurance on other vehicles for an NFU cover? I've read the booklet twice and cannot find any information about it

What is your obsession with driving other cars? If you were offered the cover for £50 would you take it?

iamana1ias wrote: »

And I don't know of any company that gives driving other cars on a TPF&T policy.

Loads of them do.