Ridiculous car insurance quotes!!

raskazz

Harry_Flashman wrote: »

I think you're missing out competition (or lack of it) from your figures. The insurance industry seem to play very much in each others' pockets.

It never ceases to surprise me how many different 'brand name' insurers are actually the same company.

The latter is true, however, there are over 60 different insurers transacting motor business in the UK. The market is competitive.

Off the top of my head:

Aviva
Axa
Advantage
Brit
CIS
Chubb
Chaucer
Esure
Equity Red Star
Fortis
Groupama
Hiscox
Highway/LV
Jubilee
KGM
Markerstudy/Zenith
Octagon
Provident
Premier
Quinn
RBSI group
RSA
Sabre
Tradex
Zurich

I don't think any of these companies are in the same group as any of the others. There are far more motor insurers than supermarket chains.

raskazz

mikey72 wrote: »

Good edit, but if even you admit the estimates the report makes cannot be relied on, what does that imply for the rest of the reports conclusions?

Well in broad it is happy to conclude that both terms of accessibility to the market (number of insurers quoting) and in terms of pricing, the motor insurance market is not suffering any market failure in respect of young or old drivers. I haven't seen any compelling evidence in this thread (or elsewhere) to the contrary so I am inclined to agree with its conclusions at this point in time.

I refer back to my earlier post. The reason why young drivers are facing high insurance premiums is because as a cohort they crash too frequently and too severely. The answer is not moaning about insurers - it is lobbying to Government to make our system of driver training and licensing fit for purpose.

huckster

Raskazz

Statistics show that road accidents are at all time low. This probably applies to younger drivers as well.

What has changed are the value of settlements, particularly for PI.

I really do think this is a problem that the government and the various interest groups need to look at. But they must do this in the round, as the problem is not with the Insurers alone, who will only base their ratings on the basis of financial risk.

It is calculated that there are over 1 million uninsured drivers, but this I believe is purely based on the vehicles missing from the MID. What about the number of people who are driving under 'fronted' policies.

Rob_192

All very intersting folks, but not much help to the OP.

OP, I really feel for you. We had the same dilemma last year when my eldest was learning to drive.

The secret is to research which cars are in the lowest groups and target one of those. Then wait until you are ready to insure and start getting quotes. Don't bother doing it too early, it's pointless and don't forget that every time you get a quote, a computer somewhere remembers it. I'm not actually sure if this has any relavence, as in it counts against you - it would if it were a loan you were applying for!

Then start seeking quotations from the companies directly, don't bother with comparrison websites, they're too broad and don't necessarity cover your circumstances. We found that quotes vary dramitically, but eventually we found one that was hanging out the bottom - £1100/year as compared with over £1700 for many and most over £2000. This was from a well established household name.

Good luck with it, and ignore the comment like 'wait till you're older' or 'take public transport'. If like us you live in a rural community, there are no alternatives to driving.

R

huckster

Rob

The problem is that at 17, he can't pay monthly anyway, as you can't have credit until 18, unless his parents or someone older agrees to pay under a 3rd party mandate.

Even if he finds a policy for say £1500 a year, with all the other running costs for a car, he might struggle to pay all the costs. If there is a default on the monthly premiums and the policy gets cancelled, with the cancellation rates charges, he could find himself in a debt situation. Insurance companies don't mess around these days, they pass on debts to debt collection companies and will apply for CCJ's.

So yes I agree with you that he needs to do his homework, before he looks at buying a car. This will include doing a full budget about all the different costs of running a car, as well as all other living costs.

When I bought my first car many years ago, I had waited until I was 19 and was in a financial position to afford it. My first years premium was about 10% of my first years pay, but then the other costs I am sure were much lower e.g petrol, road tax. Even then I could not afford to use the car all the time, so I had to use public transport to travel to work. Living in a rural area, waiting for the hourly bus to come for the hours journey to work. Leaving most morning about 2 hours before my start time, just in case the first scheduled bus did not turn up. So I have been there, in having to deal with these issues.

mikey72

To answer the op,

Choose a car from group 1 for insurance
http://www.parkers.co.uk/insurance/Groups/by-group.aspx?ig=1#ig=0

(Also try group 2, and get quotes)

Go for insurance companies like Bell, who are cheaper.
Bear in mind if you insure the car on a provisional licence, not many companies will change to full later, and those that will will charge you a large amount.
If you want to insure provisionally, in you own name, try collingwoodannual, they're cheap(ish).
Put your parents on your cover, it'll help.
If you use it for work and college, make sure you declare it, and where it'll be parked.
Try fully comp, with the biggest excess you can put in.

nathanbUk

Thanks to everyone who has replied, obviously my main focus will be to just pass my test at the moment, but I am doing my homework in research, strangely the odd time a quote pops up on the comparison websites at a considerably lower price like today one came up at £1400 and then the next one up £5000 but then it makes me wonder can they be trusted, but I mean as long as it's insured it's legal to drive right? But I'll check out the companies some of you have suggested because I mean £1400 is still ridiculous at my age, I'm on a wage of £2-300 a month so it would be practically taking my wage away every month!

mikey72

I don't think any of them can be trusted.
But as long as they give you a piece of paper, and put you on askmid you're legal.
To be honest, pay as little as possible, you can't afford to make a claim yourself, or next year’s premium will be more than any car you have written off.
You'll get stung for administration costs anyway if you make any change, but the difference is tens of pounds, not thousands.
Third party claims aren't your problem, the other drivers insurance will sort that out.

olly300

nathanbUk wrote: »

Thanks to everyone who has replied, obviously my main focus will be to just pass my test at the moment, but I am doing my homework in research, strangely the odd time a quote pops up on the comparison websites at a considerably lower price like today one came up at £1400 and then the next one up £5000 but then it makes me wonder can they be trusted, but I mean as long as it's insured it's legal to drive right? But I'll check out the companies some of you have suggested because I mean £1400 is still ridiculous at my age, I'm on a wage of £2-300 a month so it would be practically taking my wage away every month!

No £1,400 is cheap so grab it with both hands.

However if you can get away without having a car and can use a bike to get to work instead then get your car licence but do your CBT and get a bike.

nathanbUk

olly300 wrote: »

No £1,400 is cheap so grab it with both hands.

However if you can get away without having a car and can use a bike to get to work instead then get your car licence but do your CBT and get a bike.

Sorry if I sound really silly but could you explain what CBT stands for and means? Thanks!