Car insurance: changing car

Blue_Parrot

rs65 wrote: »

Are you disclosing that it is a company car on the comparison websites?

Yep.

HOWEVER, (you learn as you go along......) despite from my point of view as the company person who does the accounts, this is the company car because the company pays the contract-hire and the insurance and the petrol and every other cost, I found out only today

that

from the Insurer's point of view,

it is not a company car. !

It is a contract-hire car, NOT a company car no matter who/what pays for it. (That was a long road of discovery. The Company Accountant (someone else) has always said wtteo "company car, goes down in company books, as". )

---

This reminds me, painfully, of the last contract-hire, that time with BMW.

You only got answers to your questions, IF you knew which questions to ask in the first place. If you don't ask - they don't tell. You have to go on a long long self-educated journey to find out which questions to ask them to get the answers which should be in Frequently Asked Questions, but which are - obviously - not.


Example: I asked BMW dealership if they would collect car @ end of contract. They said yes.

What they should have replied is: Yes, if you are starting another new contract. Otherwise, no, of course not, silly.

Blue_Parrot

Today I finally managed to get an on-line quote out of Zurich by using moneysupermarket, waiting till a Zurich quote came up, clicking on that, going directly to their website.

At that point I added in nearly every single variable extra. I ended up with £350 p.a.

The only single difference between that Zurich quote for the new VW, and the insurance broker's Zurich quote, was an 'on-line discount'.

Is it likely that an on-line discount is a massive £125?

:question:

vaio

£125 for a broker to source and administer a policy doesn't seem unreasonable but I'd advise against trying to apply logic to the world of insurance quotes or you'll go mad.

If you have a quote you are happy with (having read the paperwork) then grab it, tomorrow it might be higher

Blue_Parrot

vaio wrote: »

£125 for a broker to source and administer a policy doesn't seem unreasonable but I'd advise against trying to apply logic to the world of insurance quotes or you'll go mad.

If you have a quote you are happy with (having read the paperwork) then grab it, tomorrow it might be higher

So what you're saying is, all my previous broker-obtained car insurance policies with Zurich, had at least £125 loaded onto the premium, which we paid to Zurich, which they passed back to the broker as commission.

As far as I can see, in all these years the only things the broker's firm have done, is process some paperwork, i.e., sending me the Insurance Certificate which Zurich sent to them to send to me. Also claiming once a year that Zurich offer the "best deal".

Having now put in all the hours of research myself, there is absolutely no way that Zurich offer "the best deal". It's just the firm which this broker deals with, to get commission.

No wonder he had a face like an Easter Island statue when I went in the other day to query this.

vaio

Yep, I think you've got it pretty much spot on there.

In an ideal world the £125 would pay for the broker to do the "hours of research" that you've done to identify the best policy for you.

In the real world the broker might just choose the company that pays him most commission and hope that enough of his customer fall for the "best deal" line that he stays in business.

Given the history of misbehaviour/mis-selling/incompetence and in many cases plain old fashioned lies and theft we've seen from the of the financial services industry generally I'm not at all surprised.

Blue_Parrot

Okeedoke vaio, I've just thanked you twice for that invaluable information.

(why does it show me off-line when I'm on?)

vaio, since you're being so helpful, in a couple of days I'm going to the VW dealership to choose a registration plate for the new car. At that point we will sign the papers for the contract-hire and (presumably) arrange a delivery date.

I understand that they will need to know I've insured their car, in order to get a tax disc for it, before they deliver it to me.

Here's another question: I have to tell Zurich in writing that our insurance policy with them currently (for the BMW which is being taken out) will cease on June 29th. Then I can cancel the direct debit, right?

Do I write this letter to the broker (Easter Island face man) or to Zurich and give it to the broker to send to them? Or both? Hey let's do both.........

How do I get my 10-years no-claims paperwork from the broker/Zurich, to apply to the new insurance company for the new VW? Just ask him nicely? Ask Zurich nicely?

All this research and self-learning is why I really do not want to have to deal with middle-men brokers any more.

Anyway, hope you're reading this and will supply more helpful tips. Thanks in advance.

vaio

Assuming you are trading in the BMW then the easiest way would be to arrange a change over of your existing policy on the day you collect the new car & hand over the old one.

Moving to a new company is best done at renewal time when all the NCB paperwork will be sent to you