Car Insurance Quotes are insane

jen_79

Hi all,

I've been offered a room, sharing in a lovely house in the country but unfortunately, not within walking distance of where I work and there is no public transport nearby. It would save me about £500 a month and it is beautiful so I'm eager to take advantage of it.

No one that lives there works in the direction I do so I've been looking into buying a car. I've only had my license a year, so I know that's not great but I'm 32 and not a girl racer! A friend offered to sell me their other car, a 1.4 litre Ford Focus, 2005 with about 50,000 miles. Very well taken care of for £1250. Seems like a good deal.

So I've checked all the price comparison websites and the cheapest quote I can get is £2090 or around £200 a month. How on earth does anyone afford that kind of price? Does anyone know what they are basing it on, is it because the car is old or so cheap?

Although I don't have any no claims, I've been a named driver on my parents car and haven't made any claims. I also drive a company car during the day (it's not for personal use) and haven't made claims on that either.

I'd nearly be better renting a car.

My plans are now scuppered because of this and I don't know what to do. Can anyone help?!

thegirlintheattic

Probably based on your lack of experience and the postcode.

magic

if your parents haven't made any claims, try adding them as named drivers on your insurance. It can bring the price down a lot.

jen_79

Does it matter if my parents live 100's of miles away? There would be no way they would be able to drive the car. I only drive theirs when I go back home every 3-4 months, which only adds £10 per month to their insurance amount.

Just tried echoice, they quoted me £20,309.31 a year. I give up!

magic

They wouldn't have to drive the car, just need to be named drivers. Same way you don't have to drive your parents' car every 3-4 months even though you are insured on it. As your parents are experienced drivers though, if you add them to your insurance it is likely to bring the cost of your insurance down rather than taking it up.

I'm assuming you've read Martin's cheap car insurance guide, if not have a read and follow it so you can hopefully find the cheapest quote.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/compare-cheap-car-insurance

jen_79

No I hadn't, bit silly not to have started there, will give it a read, thanks!

InsideInsurance

It will be lack of experience and possibly postcode that will be making the premiums so high. Certainly adding an experienced driver will help but make sure you know of all their motoring history re claims/ points on license etc.

My wife is of a similar position as you and doing some quotes for her with me as a named driver (again similar age, clean licenses but 1 recent small fault claim) was getting quotes ranging from £850-950 depending on if it was a car similar to what you have or a brand new family type car worth £25k

HappyMJ

Try getting a quote for an E reg Ford Escort. It's considered a classic car. Amazingly I got the insurance down from £2,700 on my Peugeot 306 down to £190 on the Ford Escort. If that doesn't work for you try a scooter I got a quote for insurance for a scooter sold at Tesco for £70 a year. 36 yrs old male east mids 5000 miles per year no previous insurance (within last 2 years).

huckster

If you look at the overall cost of ownership, is it worth it ? I don't know how far it is to work, but with petrol at £1.35 a litre and likely to rise, plus other costs, I suspect this is a decent chunk of your earnings.

As the last post suggests, take the CBT and buy a cheap scooter. Hondas are reliable and you will get over 100 miles per gallon, cheap to Insure/tax. But invest in some decent clothing, as it is freezing in winter.

If you are determined to buy a car, then spend a couple of hours phoning around companies and try local brokers. There are loads of threads on here, where people have almost given up and then found an affordable Insurance. Remember that internet is no longer the best method to find the most competitive prices.

thegirlintheattic

HappyMJ wrote: »

Try getting a quote for an E reg Ford Escort. It's considered a classic car. Amazingly I got the insurance down from £2,700 on my Peugeot 306 down to £190 on the Ford Escort. If that doesn't work for you try a scooter I got a quote for insurance for a scooter sold at Tesco for £70 a year. 36 yrs old male east mids 5000 miles per year no previous insurance (within last 2 years).

Although be aware that classic car insurance often has restrictions when it comes to mileage and the like.

talulah25

jen_79 wrote: »

Hi all,

I've been offered a room, sharing in a lovely house in the country but unfortunately, not within walking distance of where I work and there is no public transport nearby. It would save me about £500 a month and it is beautiful so I'm eager to take advantage of it.

No one that lives there works in the direction I do so I've been looking into buying a car. I've only had my license a year, so I know that's not great but I'm 32 and not a girl racer! A friend offered to sell me their other car, a 1.4 litre Ford Focus, 2005 with about 50,000 miles. Very well taken care of for £1250. Seems like a good deal.

So I've checked all the price comparison websites and the cheapest quote I can get is £2090 or around £200 a month. How on earth does anyone afford that kind of price? Does anyone know what they are basing it on, is it because the car is old or so cheap?

Although I don't have any no claims, I've been a named driver on my parents car and haven't made any claims. I also drive a company car during the day (it's not for personal use) and haven't made claims on that either.

I'd nearly be better renting a car.

My plans are now scuppered because of this and I don't know what to do. Can anyone help?!

How long have you been driving your company car? Some companies will take this as an NCB providing you can produce a letter from your employers detailing how long you have had use of the vehicle and confirming you are claim free. Also you could try contacting the company that provide the insurance on your parents' car and see if they will take claim free years as a named driver as an NCB on a policy in your own name.