Car Insurance Companies - Reputations?

HelenPie

Hello!

My OH's car insurance has gone up significantly and mine is very high for minimal travel. Both over 25 and 5 years/7 years NCD respectively.

I've found much cheaper quotes and am comfortable with how to get 'good deals' but am concerned about going with a company that I will have trouble with in the future (hidden costs, difficulty claiming, poor customer service, etc.)

Can anyone point me in the right direction to find this information. That is, is there somewhere I can find honest reviews of various companies for service and value for money? This site can be a bit overwhelming!

Thanks.

olly300

If you google for car insurance or Which (sorry can remember the terms I put in) there is a survey done by them on the service and terms and conditions of different insurers.

If the insurer is not there one of their brands probably will be.

To check whether an insurance company is in a brand look on the "About us" page of their website or google them.

HelenPie

Thank you.

I took a look at their recommended companies and as suspected, the price is very similar across these, and the bigger discounts come with the sacrifice of quality of cover/service.

At least I can now make an informed choice!

Helen x

property.advert

http://www.quotemehappy.com/ seem to offer some very good premiums at the moment and some decent cashback via topcashback.co.uk Showing for me on a mid performance Astra 2007 with 1 year NCD with a new driver under 1 year since past test for £420 gross with £50 cashback meaning £350 net. Not bad I think.

Owned by Aviva.

RAC seem to be doing some good promotions as well with even better cashback.

Direct Line have gone to the dogs in the last few weeks.

forgotmyname

Honest reviews on the net will be thin on the ground. Usually you only see negative posts about companies.

When someone joins a forum to praise a company, 99.99999% its :spam: .


Its only when things go wrong do you think i should have gone elsewhere.

Questions to ask are what are the costs to amend the policy or cancel early if needed.


Shopping for an iron, Online reviews said. Its heavy, But some said its very light.. Well make your
mind up which is it...?

Dont rely on online reviews.

rev_henry

You may find this useful:

http://defaqto.com/star-ratings/find-star-ratings/motor-insurance-comprehensive

Companies with 5 stars that I know of include NFU and LV.

dunstonh

Most people only post negatives. So, this can give a distortion. Also a lot of people post errors they have made or misconceptions they have as the fault of the insurer. Personally, I put very little weight on opinions.

Its a bit like tripadviser for holidays. If you took that seriously, you would never go to any hotel. The last two places I have been too were excellent but some of the comments made by some individuals suggested a totally different place.

Parking_Trouble

dunstonh wrote: »

Most people only post negatives. So, this can give a distortion. Also a lot of people post errors they have made or misconceptions they have as the fault of the insurer. Personally, I put very little weight on opinions.

Its a bit like tripadviser for holidays. If you took that seriously, you would never go to any hotel. The last two places I have been too were excellent but some of the comments made by some individuals suggested a totally different place.

Hopefully your added your own review then?

JUMBO

Dear Helen

Yesterday 21st December, I too found that pricing on motor insurance varies, some is so cheap, you wonder why.

Customer service/satisfaction is so important.

I have renewed with another company.

As for a previous refeence to Trip Advisor, I am full of praise for T.A. I like to read customer's experiences of Hotels before booking. Previously, you just took a chance.

scooby75

A lot of it will come down to what your expectations are. Personally, I value efficiency and foudn Bell Insurance quite good on that aspect. A customer may rave over what another customer thinks is mediocre (I know of someone who complained that it took 3 days after a crash which wrote off her car to get her settlement payment). The ABI conducts annual surveys on customer satisfaction and the NFU does really well on all aspects.

I'd probably avoid Direct Line personally - a former staff member told me that the "training" is like a nursery school.

Parking_Trouble

It really does depend on the criteria you value in an Insurer and their products.

Typically we are drawn by the price and the features of the product.

In reality the acid test is how they deal with a claim.

Maybe there should be Claim Comparison sites, not Price Comparison?