Cheaper car insurance - Updated 14.03.08

samsyerman

My son at University, has now finally decided that he wants to drive. I think his sister turning 17 in a few weeks time and counting the days till she can learn has dented his male ego.

I have been told by my insurers, AXA, that they will not put any male drivers on my policy who are under 21. He still has only a provisional licence.

I rang Hughes today to get a quote for his own insurance, for a Renault Clio, and they quoted me £2040 for third party. It was a good job I was sitting down, otherwise the shock would have knocked me doen.

Has anyone any suggestions other than keep using the train.

Many thanks


samsyerman

dmurray0

Did the yearly ring around today for car insurance. Tried umpteen offers mentioned on the 1st page but ended up with my existing insurer giving me the cheapest quote. 2002 Vauxhall Astra/2 people insured fully comp/ protected no claims etc etc for less than £360. J Mc Whirter in Ormeau Road, Belfast done me a right favour!!!

sor_fes2

Anyone yet tried Nationwide and their 'we'll double the difference' for N.Ireland. You need to ring thme on a special number instead of getting a quote online but it doesn't say anything about N.Ireland being excluded from the 'double the difference' deal... though it could be written in some small print somewhere!

Greentea

yes i rang on Friday for Nationwide 'double the difference' they cover NI. They quoted me £550 would only quote comrehensive cover, my last quote was for TPFT for £269.

Havent decided whether its worth the bother of getting the double the difference, cosidering it has to be like for like.

habugg

Not sure if this will help at all but if you register at greasypalm.co.uk then go to insurance you might get lucky with one of the ones offering cashback. I've just got £60.00 cashback on my car insurance with Lloyds TSB plus a 5% discount for buying online.

Jon_C

Just in reply to an earlier post, now that I am hunting for that mythical 'cheaper insurance' myself:

"You can join csma if you:
have ever worked for the Civil Service or an organisation with its roots in the Civil Service such as BT or the Post Office
[or] are the relative of a current csma member"

Even then there are exceptions such as NHS and police service.

Being a journalist, I share the problem of some previous posters. I never leave the newsroom during the course of my shift and yet insurers either don't want my money or want every penny I have. Bunch of unscrupulous see you next Tuesdays, I tell you... and people think hacks are bad.

talksalot81

dmurray0 wrote:

Did the yearly ring around today for car insurance. Tried umpteen offers mentioned on the 1st page but ended up with my existing insurer giving me the cheapest quote. 2002 Vauxhall Astra/2 people insured fully comp/ protected no claims etc etc for less than £360. J Mc Whirter in Ormeau Road, Belfast done me a right favour!!!

I am with these guys too.... the big insurers are totally useless in my experience (they get you to go through the whole process only to tell you that they cant insure you through age or location - why didnt they tell me that at the start and save me the hassle!?), JMW came up with a better quote than anyone else by a long long way and are very helpful about it. I thought that small local organisations wouldnt be able to compete these days, but I was totally wrong!

Jon_C

I eventually stayed on with Hughes after badgering them into giving me *£100* (around 20 per cent) off their original renewal quote.

I rang round the numbers listed here and told Hughes I'd only renew my policy if they could do better than the cheapest one I'd found elsewhere.

That was through Adelaide. They were very helpful but were just pipped at the post when Hughes gave in.

A bit of exaggerating helped when telling Hughes how cheap Adelaide's quote was, particularly with regard to excesses.

Although Hughes gave in, I'm still appalled at how much they were willing to overcharge me in their original renewal quote.

Usually I'd just leave a company which behaved like that but in this case I reckoned it better to stay, trim back their profits and save some money and time (a quick Visa card payment as opposed to sending more letters off to a new insurer).

Thanks to all those who made my search easier by submitting phone numbers to the list.

Notes:

The UFU are no longer insuring motorists who live in certain Northern Ireland postcodes, BT7 being one.

Allianz Direct said they weren't even giving quotes for male drivers under 33, as they weren't competitive against other insurers. At least they were honest rather than wasting my time taking details before hitting me with a ridiculous quote.

McWhirters failed to answer their phone each of the three times I rang.

Axa Direct were competitive and helpful but again, just pipped at the post.

Kyle's in Ballymena were nice but just couldn't compete with the others as regards premiums for journalists.

Parisien

Newbie, first post, hope it goes down well with the seasoned reporters and contributors on the most important board on the net!

If I can thank the numerous contributors to this thread, partly because its very close to my heart ( ie getting a competive and comprehensive quote and indeed availing of high quality and reliable service) and also because we in the North have had to put up with the vagaries of being a captive market for so long and never really being able to take advantage of a truly competitive market as per the mainland GB. ( Rant over!!!)

So, hence began the annual ring round for an insurance quote, started off by noting the remarks made by a number of guys on the board and realised (plus by reading lots of articles in the press that, its persistance..persistance then pressing the right buttons and finally a bit of luck when getting the quote you can live with!!!) that it would take quite a few phone calls plus endless repetition!

Got my renewal letter from Open + Direct, quoting £481 for the year, then tried the list of numbers listed previously by one contributor; Hughes, didn't answer quickly enough; Kyle in Ballymena - their best via Allianz £592 ; Lennox Belfast - £439 via Chaucer ; Quinn Direct - £406; Axa Direct - £398. Others not in the ball park!

But the winner was Erne Insurance Services (028 68628019) - £375 fully comprehensive, protected NCB, plus full business use!! Saving of over £100 for an hours work, plus a pleasure to deal with and very professional into the bargain.

Car insured was a 2005 Saab 9-3 Linear, 1.8t, value £12k; male driver ,45 clean licence

Happy hunting!

skintharry

I have heard numerous people complain that Quinn-Direct are hard to get money from.