A wee flaw in the car insurance comparison site system that can save you a few £'s

useless_git_requires_wife

Now I know I will not be the only one to have spotted this, but it's a simple method that could be easily overlooked so I think it's worth mentioning as it may help someone.


You need to start generating quotes around 28 days from your renewal date, note the cheapest, then simply generate more quotes using the same details every few days over the period leading up to your renewal (this can be done without having to input all your details each time). Because insurance prices go up and down all the time, you greatly increase your chance of a lower quote by generating many quotes over a month. This will only tend to work if you book and arrange the cover online from the link in the quote. If you phone up to book, most companies can see the latest quote you have generated and will only talk about that one (fine if it's the cheapest), but most of the quotes you have generated over the month are still valid if you click through directly.


Credit crunch comparisoning.

BoGoF

Don't know if it's urban myth or not but I heard that this action would leave a search on your credit file and if that's true then you are going to show as multiple searches and damage your chance of getting credit.

rev_henry

BoGoF wrote: »

Don't know if it's urban myth or not but I heard that this action would leave a search on your credit file and if that's true then you are going to show as multiple searches and damage your chance of getting credit.

If you get a monthly price they may do a credit search but it'll only be a 'soft' credit search that is only visible on your credit file to you - not other potential lenders.

savemoney

I often do this have done for at least 7-8 years mainly as I am interested before hand how much insurance is then nearer the time I send a requote. Often prices do change not sure its always for the best or not

I also play around with how much you have to pay in the event of an accident which doesnt always increase the insurance ie from £300 down to say £100. Then if I find insurance company I want I look to see if I can get cashback and then go through these I use a separate browser for this. I dont normally get the same exact quote though so have to way that up in overall costs doesnt vary too much for me having had 9+ nocd

useless_git_requires_wife

BoGoF wrote: »

Don't know if it's urban myth or not but I heard that this action would leave a search on your credit file and if that's true then you are going to show as multiple searches and damage your chance of getting credit.

I always tick the 'pay in full' box so no credit search should be required. it still shows you the 'pay monthly' option in the results on most sites anyway.

useless_git_requires_wife

Another small bit of advice is to play around with the voluntary excess (comprehensive policies).

This renewal I noticed that reducing it from £250 to £150 only resulted in a £1 increase in my policy....so well worth it.

savemoney

I agree I said that above it doesn't always increase it

useless_git_requires_wife wrote: »

Another small bit of advice is to play around with the voluntary excess (comprehensive policies).

This renewal I noticed that reducing it from £250 to £150 only resulted in a £1 increase in my policy....so well worth it.

Lessbutbetter

Don't know if it's urban myth or not but I heard that this action would leave a search on your credit file and if that's true then you are going to show as multiple searches and damage your chance of getting credit.

...it's a "soft" search. only visible to you.

No need to worry about it.

mikey72

An increase from £250 to £1000 on our £400 car halved it though.

InsideInsurance

useless_git_requires_wife wrote: »

I always tick the 'pay in full' box so no credit search should be required.

Things vary by aggregator and insurer but an increasing number of insurers are using credit rating not for the purposes of monthly installments but as a general rating/ pricing factor.

Financial difficulty = increased fraud risk = higher premium