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Insurance Shambles
Comments
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Its a tough one, I am 26 and have just passed, also live in London and the best quotes I can get for a modern car is around £1000*, far more than my car will be worth.
Having never driven before, my partner doesn't drive nor does anyone in my family I have found it hard to understand the weird world of motoring and insurance. Insurance especially seems nonsensical.
After many hours searching I have some tips though:
- As people have already said some cars are more expensive to insure than others, for example I have found that a 1.3 ford fiesta is much cheaper than a 900cc of other car makes. I look on autotrader and type in license plates I see and get quotes write a list of 'cheap to insure' cars and look in your local area.
It doesn't always make sense. Try everything. A smart car (you would think small engine, small car etc) cheap to insure - definitely not! Double the quote I get for other cars.:eek:
- Consider your milege - do you NEED 6000+ miles? A friend of mine after only 1 year of driving (male under 25) has a 2.5l engine sporty car (no idea whats its called) but he has the milege limited to 3000 miles pa. He has to send off his milege to the insurer every month. His insurance is only £700pa
-The same person above used a local insurance firm whose actuaries
properly worked out the risk - this can make it cheaper.
-Where is it parked? Roadside garage etc can make a difference
-Consider a security device. Work out the cost of the device+drop in premiums, plus the cost of the car. For me it was a false economy, but for a higher priced car it may be worth it.
-Wait a bit. Doesn't make sense but don't drive for 6 months (but you have held your license for that time) premiums drop. Doesn't make sense but it works!
-I have been told go to sites like gocompare, but then ring up the insurer direct, you often get cheaper quotes. (Haven't actually tried this one though).
-Classic cars are much, much cheaper (although check the policy VERY carefully some have a age limit). I have tried to drive a Morris Minor, great fun but completely different to modern cars, consider the driving differences (may not get to 70), the fact that the cars themselves are more expensive, sometimes more unreliable, need more maintenance and the safety ratings are quite low.
I ultimately decided that I would get a few years of driving experience/ experience helping fix others cars first before I went down that route.
-Don't choose 3rd party only it is nearly always more expensive than TPFT (again doesn't make sense). Fully comp can also be cheaper although the excess will then rise.
- Area- although I would imagine that you can't help where you live. Out of interest I put in a friends address and my families, one increased by a third, one dropped it by a third. ** Maybe if you are renting and the lease is going anyway pop in a few postcodes of where you might want to live and see if that changes anything.
As much as the insurance puts you off, remember once you start earning your no claims it should go down. Plus the extra freedom it gives you and the ability to get jobs that say must have a driving license
*yes I know bloody women etc etc
** DO NOT LIE about where you live, you will not be able to make a claim and may get in trouble for fraud. I just was interested to see how they work out the final figure, I did a science degree so I want to know how EVERYTHING works
perhaps I will show the potential impact of each factor and put it in a chart to bore people hehehe 0 -
.............The insurers don't know if you will be the young driver who ploughs into a queue of people at a bus stop causing multiple fatalities & costing them thousands if not millions, & like it or not they have to try to protect themselves from this potential risk.....
They don't know if you will be the middle aged driver that does it either.
Statistically, younger drivers tend to have single car accidents, not "the bus stop" example you have quoted. But it's always good for the dramatic effect.Whoever said it costs more to park your car in a garage than on a road is talking out of their jacksy A locked garage is the most secure place you can park a car & will reduce your premium, unless it's in a block of garages half a mile from your house.
You've not actually had a quote on this have you, so I think we know what you're talking out of.Due to the amount of uninsured drivers on the roads premiums are a lot higher than they should be. The only way to reverse this is to eradicate uninsured drivers. Simple :wall:
£30 apparently, which won't make much of a dent in a £2000 premium.0 -
pixie_girl wrote: »Its a tough one, I am 26 and have just passed, also live in London and the best quotes I can get for a modern car is around £1000*, far more than my car will be worth.
Having never driven before, my partner doesn't drive nor does anyone in my family I have found it hard to understand the weird world of motoring and insurance. Insurance especially seems nonsensical.
After many hours searching I have some tips though:
- As people have already said some cars are more expensive to insure than others, for example I have found that a 1.3 ford fiesta is much cheaper than a 900cc of other car makes. I look on autotrader and type in license plates I see and get quotes write a list of 'cheap to insure' cars and look in your local area.
It doesn't always make sense. Try everything. A smart car (you would think small engine, small car etc) cheap to insure - definitely not! Double the quote I get for other cars.:eek:
- Consider your milege - do you NEED 6000+ miles? A friend of mine after only 1 year of driving (male under 25) has a 2.5l engine sporty car (no idea whats its called) but he has the milege limited to 3000 miles pa. He has to send off his milege to the insurer every month. His insurance is only £700pa
-The same person above used a local insurance firm whose actuaries
properly worked out the risk - this can make it cheaper.
-Where is it parked? Roadside garage etc can make a difference
-Consider a security device. Work out the cost of the device+drop in premiums, plus the cost of the car. For me it was a false economy, but for a higher priced car it may be worth it.
-Wait a bit. Doesn't make sense but don't drive for 6 months (but you have held your license for that time) premiums drop. Doesn't make sense but it works!
-I have been told go to sites like gocompare, but then ring up the insurer direct, you often get cheaper quotes. (Haven't actually tried this one though).
-Classic cars are much, much cheaper (although check the policy VERY carefully some have a age limit). I have tried to drive a Morris Minor, great fun but completely different to modern cars, consider the driving differences (may not get to 70), the fact that the cars themselves are more expensive, sometimes more unreliable, need more maintenance and the safety ratings are quite low.
I ultimately decided that I would get a few years of driving experience/ experience helping fix others cars first before I went down that route.
-Don't choose 3rd party only it is nearly always more expensive than TPFT (again doesn't make sense). Fully comp can also be cheaper although the excess will then rise.
- Area- although I would imagine that you can't help where you live. Out of interest I put in a friends address and my families, one increased by a third, one dropped it by a third. ** Maybe if you are renting and the lease is going anyway pop in a few postcodes of where you might want to live and see if that changes anything.
As much as the insurance puts you off, remember once you start earning your no claims it should go down. Plus the extra freedom it gives you and the ability to get jobs that say must have a driving license
*yes I know bloody women etc etc
** DO NOT LIE about where you live, you will not be able to make a claim and may get in trouble for fraud. I just was interested to see how they work out the final figure, I did a science degree so I want to know how EVERYTHING works perhaps I will show the potential impact of each factor and put it in a chart to bore people hehehe
All excellent advice, the only other thing you can do is take the highest excess possible, we have a £1550 excess on a £400 car, it reduced the premium by 25%.0 -
All excellent advice, the only other thing you can do is take the highest excess possible, we have a £1550 excess on a £400 car, it reduced the premium by 25%.
Taking a high excess is fine but bear in mind you will need to pay the excess if you have an accident. If you can't get your hands on that sort of money fast then your best to bring it down a little and just pay monthly.Everyones opinion is the most important.....no wonder nothing is ever agreed on.0 -
You only pay the excess if you claim for your own car.
Third party claims don't have any excess. (Although one or two "cheap" specialist high risk customer policies do)
So if we hit a Rolls Royce, then crash into a bus stop full of people, we don't pay any excess.
If we claim for the £400 car, we get nothing. But then if we have a normal £200 excess, we would get £200, but would be paying a lot more for insurance annually.0 -
You've not actually had a quote on this have you, so I think we know what you're talking out of.
£30 apparently, which won't make much of a dent in a £2000 premium.
Are you for real? You actually believe everything you read in the tabloids?
Wherever you "read" or whoever told you "down the pub" that it's cheaper to insure your car if you park it on the street rather than a secure garage was either an April Fool or they saw you coming
My post was designed to help the OP, not to pick fault with other posters, unlike you who obviously take great delight in picking over posts you don't agree with.
FYI I have many years experience working in the insurance industry so I do know what I am talking about :silenced:
0 -
Are you for real? You actually believe everything you read in the tabloids?
Wherever you "read" or whoever told you "down the pub" that it's cheaper to insure your car if you park it on the street rather than a secure garage was either an April Fool or they saw you coming
My post was designed to help the OP, not to pick fault with other posters, unlike you who obviously take great delight in picking over posts you don't agree with.
FYI I have many years experience working in the insurance industry so I do know what I am talking about :silenced:
Do the quotes, as you obviously don't.
I posted, you disagreed, not even politely.
You're "advice" will cost the op, so at least we believe you work in the insurance industry.
At the end of the day though, the op will get quotes as well, so you can disagree and mis-advise for as long as you want you.0 -
Do the quotes, as you obviously don't.
I posted, you disagreed, not even politely.
You're "advice" will cost the op, so at least we believe you work in the insurance industry.
At the end of the day though, the op will get quotes as well, so you can disagree and mis-advise for as long as you want you.
What a lovely person you are.
You don't even make sense - "do the quotes"?
You don't know me so have no right to get personal.
I provide facts based what I know, not what I think. Can you say the same?0 -
Are you for real? You actually believe everything you read in the tabloids?
Wherever you "read" or whoever told you "down the pub" that it's cheaper to insure your car if you park it on the street rather than a secure garage was either an April Fool or they saw you coming
My post was designed to help the OP, not to pick fault with other posters, unlike you who obviously take great delight in picking over posts you don't agree with.
FYI I have many years experience working in the insurance industry so I do know what I am talking about :silenced:
right after reading this i went back to my insurers for a quote with a garage instead of on street parking to see if mikey theory is true or not, now its been months since i purchased my policy and insurance fluctuates on a daily basis by upto £300 + -'ly.
all details the same as when purchased just changed to garaged.
policy increased (since purchase)by £394.65p, rerun the quotes with on street parking, policy increased (since purchase) by £47.93p.
so i'm thinking the risk involved in garages is that they can burn down with a car in, more sole accidents can happen within the garage things fall onto cars paints ladders boxes shelving etc.0
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