Preparing for winter II

BitterAndTwisted

saveabobortwo wrote: »

We've just had our insurance renewed and really had to shop around for a sensible and i mean sensible price the quotes we received was more than the vehicle was worth been driving for 19 years never ever claimed.or had an accident. i wonder whether they are not getting as much business so have to put premiums

I think you'll probably find that premiums have shot up mainly due to the enormous numbers of uninsured drivers out there.

A retired couple who have been driving for over forty years were interviewed in my local newspaper recently complaining that they can't find a single insurer willing to sell them any policy whatsoever due to their post-code.

The police carried out an operation here not long ago and FOUR OUT OF EVERY TEN drivers were uninsured. I was shocked and horrified and I don't even drive.

bluebag

We got stupid quotes from our insurance too, I just really ballyragged them and went through everything twice until I was satisfied I couldn't get anything better.

My mate was telling me they wanted £4 THOUSAND to insure her teenage son!!! In the end she bought a new car with the first years insurance as part of the deal ... this was a few years ago though so I expect that boat has sailed. It's no wonder kids drive without insurance.

Was reading somewhere (so not sure it's legit) about mums not realising that if they register as owner of the vehicle and put their son/daughter on the insurance as a named driver it's illegal. If the son/daughter is paying for the vehicle they have to say so. Sounds like another way for the insurance companies to print money.

katholicos

Insurance quotes have sky rocketed and i now have third party, fire and theft for the same price as i had fully comp last year (no claims either). My DD passed her test early in this year and her insurance was over 1.5 grand. She may not be able to afford it next year though in which case she will have to sell her car.

Justamum

katholicos wrote: »

Insurance quotes have sky rocketed and i now have third party, fire and theft for the same price as i had fully comp last year (no claims either). My DD passed her test early in this year and her insurance was over 1.5 grand. She may not be able to afford it next year though in which case she will have to sell her car.

It's ridiculous isn't it? Our biggest added expense (after the usual rent, bills and food) is the car. We would have some spare cash if we weren't paying insurance and diesel. If ours goes up astronomically next year we will have to seriously consider whether or not to keep the car - which would be a pain and DH would not be happy about at all!

bluebag

Justamum wrote: »

It's ridiculous isn't it? Our biggest added expense (after the usual rent, bills and food) is the car. We would have some spare cash if we weren't paying insurance and diesel. If ours goes up astronomically next year we will have to seriously consider whether or not to keep the car - which would be a pain and DH would not be happy about at all!

Might be worth you looking at the car insurance groups and trying to find a car that has lower grouping, either that or a motorcyle and sidecar.

We will all be on trusty old pushbikes in a bit. With a big basket on the front for the grocery bargains.

Eenymeeny

katholicos wrote: »

Insurance quotes have sky rocketed and i now have third party, fire and theft for the same price as i had fully comp last year (no claims either). My DD passed her test early in this year and her insurance was over 1.5 grand. She may not be able to afford it next year though in which case she will have to sell her car.

My son had to get rid of his car when it was broken into and the insurance went up. He just couldn't afford it anymore. Not fair is it?:(

clare64

Mardatha,
Good news about your cat!!
I love a happy ending.
Clarex

amber03

My son is learning to drive but does'nt seem that interested, lot of his friends have either took driving lessons but not the test or not bothered to learn to drive, they say that even if they had passed their test they could'nt have afforded a car, they don't bat an eyelid on using public transport to then its the norm, and they travel all over the country it does'nt seem to bother them.

Charis

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

The police carried out an operation here not long ago and FOUR OUT OF EVERY TEN drivers were uninsured. I was shocked and horrified and I don't even drive.

Since you can't get road tax without valid insurance they couldn't have been taxed either. That should have been flagged up when their tax discs were not renewed on time. Sometimes it makes you wonder why they bother to use a computer to track all tax discs...

Confuzzled

amber03 wrote: »

My son is learning to drive but does'nt seem that interested, lot of his friends have either took driving lessons but not the test or not bothered to learn to drive, they say that even if they had passed their test they could'nt have afforded a car, they don't bat an eyelid on using public transport to then its the norm, and they travel all over the country it does'nt seem to bother them.

while it's sad that young people are being priced out of having a car i will say i think it's superb that some of them at least think it's perfectly ok to use public transport...

originally being from the states, i can't commend the UK highly enough on the public transport, even when i was in the highlands i could get a bus to almost anywhere and often a train. they may not have been frequent there but at least they were available, it's very rarely an option in the states unless you're in a big city.

at least the infrastructure is already here, i have a feeling more and more people will be looking at public transport with fresh eyes as insurance and petrol costs continue to rise