Is third party fire and theft sufficient for us?

CompBunny

Hiya,

My car is an old rust bucket...my excess is more than the value of the car (my car is worth £150, excess £250). If the car was stolen we probably wouldn't even claim (if I am right in thinking it would increase premiums in the future etc?)... insurance for our circumstances is to

1) Legally be on the road
2) Cover us if we caused damage to someone else's car.

I have been driving for two years and my partner will hopefully pass his test soon.

If my car has very little value, should i set the excess higher? Does the excess include what you would have to pay for an accident where someone else's car is damaged or just your own?

Also;
My partner is currently looking for a new job (one he has been invited to apply for requires a license hence learning to drive!) and is unemployed at the moment. On a car insurance application, can we BOTH be househusband/housewife?

I am unemployed due to illness (Non DVLA related) but for the past two years have put housewife down on the forms...as essentially thats what I am - the one who looks after the home.

Thankyou I don't want to lie on car insurance as the reprecussions would not be worth it - but if "unemployed" can realistically be tweaked to "househusband" then its an £80 saving which can stay in the car emergency account! He should be in employment soon and is searching hard.


Thanks to anyone who can help!

Quentin

You only pay your excess on claims for damage to your own car.

These days often comp insuranxce is cheaper than TP, but if you find TP cheaper then go for it.

You can try putting in a massive voluntary excess for your comp. quotes and see what difference that makes to the premium (eg swiftcover allow a £1000 voluntary excess irrespective of how little the car is worth)

mikey72

You can't put really put househusband if he's jobhunting and going to be employed shortly.
It's worth checking how much difference that'll make to the policy, and what fees you'll be charged when making a decision on which company.
We insured our £400 car fully comp with a £1000 excess, the exces reduced the premium by about 30%, in the end it was cheaper than tp f & t.

InsideInsurance

If your not going to claim for fire or theft claims (as the excess is more than the vehicle) then you could also get quotes for Third Party Only insurance but as has already been said, Comprehensive insurance is often cheaper than TPFT or TPO cover because of greater competition in the market (amongst other things)

There are some insurers that have tried adding a TP excess but this has been separate to your normal voluntary excess. Just ensure you read the policybook to confirm the details.

CompBunny

Thankyou for all the replies! If it helps anyone searching for similar advice in the future, we went for Admiral third party, fire and theft with a £250 excess - they wouldn't let us adjust the excess. I played around with some quotes, eg 3rd party only, excess of £1000 etc etc and Admiral still worked out cheapest. Fully comp was only about £60 more expensive but we are living by every penny at the moment - if we had a better car I would definately have gone for it.

Funny thing, this insurance business.

Thanks for your help