How to get rough idea of cost of car insurance?

violettasomerset

My husband and I have always driven his company cars. He's just been made redundant though, and so we may need to buy a car of our own for the first time. We have no idea of how much insurance will cost though, and so whether we will be able to afford to buy the car and pay the running costs - if insurance will be £400 it will be affordable, for example, but if it will be £1000 it won't be. Is there a way to get a rough idea of costs if we don't actually have a specific (secondhand) car in mind? (likely to be a small car like a Skoda Fabia though around 3-5 years old). Will insurance companies or brokers be able to give an idea?

If it helps, I am 33 and will be the main driver (as once he is re-employed he will have another company car), I have an office job and will need business travel to be covered for occasional site visits/meetings. He is 41 and is a sales rep, though won't use the car for his business travel. I doubt we'd do more than about 5-8,000 miles a year in it. I'd say we live in a "safe" (low crime) area, and the car would be kept on a driveway.

ACG

On autotrader, if you look at a car it will ask you to put your age and NCD in. It comes up with a rough figure, ive always found it to be fairly accurate. There may be the odd exception as its only a rough guide but its not bad.

It also does it for that particular car, so you dont have to put different cars in all the time.

violettasomerset

Thanks ACG - that's fantastic! For my first search it's giving me quotes of around £700 to £850, which is at the "hmm, have to think about how affordable this is" level, but at least now I can look at different vehicles and see how they compare.

vaio

hit the comparison sites for a more accurate indication...if necessary use cars off the web as examples

Also, get your company car insurer to confirm your driving record and you should be able to find an insurer/broker that will give you an introductory discount (faux NCB) to reflect your record

forgotmyname

Do a comparison site for a proper idea and choose some odball cars.

Just because a car is small or has a small engine doesnt mean it will be cheaper to insure than something bigger.

Choose a car lots of young people buy and crash = big premiums.

If i choose zero no claims for my car it comes in at £1100. Direct line wanted that with 9 years + no claims.

With 70% off it should be £330 but my insurance is almost £500.

violettasomerset

Thanks for all the advice. I don't know if we'd have much luck at getting the introductory discount/faux NCB information from the company car insurers, as hubby has been working for contract companies recently and so has had about three different employers/ car providers over about 18 months! Good idea though, and we will see what we can do, as we will have no NCB otherwise and it's worth asking. I've never had to claim, though he has had a few accidents when people have run into him (high work mileage means this is almost inevitable!), so not his fault but I'm not sure how the insurance has been sorted.

Interesting to know that "young people's cars" will have a high premium. We'll make sure to go for something frumpy then!

forgotmyname

Accidents whether his fault or not need to be declared for 5 years.

So beware of that one. If the company insurance claimed he could be named on the insurance database with the claim applied to himself.

If you dont declare they could cancel the policy increase the premiums to silly levels or say its potential fraud.

Cancelled policies are something you dont want.