Updated Cheap Car Insurance guide - new system

iburt

benners_2k said:

I would like to see MSE do a new campaign to force insurance companies to make you opt-in to auto-renewals when you start a policy.

Like most people reading this forum I always do quotes for all my policies every year and 9 times out of 10 I go with someone else. I then have to phone up the old company and sit on the expensive phone line while they try to convince me to stay with them despite them ripping me off. It is so annoying and there is no way i am going to accept a new price off them because they should have offered me that in the first place if they had any respect for me as a customer.

I don't see anyway on the site to suggest campaigns to Martin or whoever runs things these days.

Yep, I agree. Hastings direct 'You can never leave'
30 minute wait on the phone to  cancel auto renewal. They renewed it anyway.
Another 30 minute wait on phone to get new policy cancelled, all charged to caller. 
No other way to do it -they said via online messaging !! (you can find 0800 number if you google it)
Avoid this rip-off company !!

1PlusDriving

There can be only one ☝🏻 

Ok I would love to have a new Quote for my driving school car. But there is only one company offering driving school insurance. 

I switched from my Audi Q3 Diesel sline 70k new. where I would pay £700 a year

so trying to help and switch to a electric car it’s now over £1500 a year more than double the price and it’s only worth half of the Audi.

so the moral of this is if you keep your diesel or petrol car it will save you more than half on insurance offsetting the savings and a lot more easy to fuel up. 

There should be a lot more companies that offer insurance for electric cars there’s only 8 + years left and it’s a monopoly with just one company that will insure you. 

salamicat

LV car insurance - been with them for years and always happy with them. This year increase of £160. Any comparable insurance companies I should try?

mslatte

Another Car insurance scam, I have not made a claim for over 30years but one insurance company will give you a NCB of say 9 years plus, another 20 years plus. My previous insurance gave me 20 years plus, the current one only gives 15 years plus so next insurance year my new company have increased my premium because I can only show 15 years plus. This only came about because I rechecked my application and realised I'd have to edit it in light of the change in NCB. Every company has different rules and all designed to get more money out of you

oceancreeper

Thanks for the guide, I am a habitual renewer of policies, but thought I'd seek out a better deal this time, as my renewal was so high. I did all of the comparison sites and Money Supermarket was by far the best. I then spoke to my current insurer and even with a discount, they couldn't get near my new policy, so I've saved well over £120 at the very least, plus cashback to come (another £30+). Cheers!

ClaireBear83Sx

I appreciate that by far not the cheapest, but following MSE's tips, this year I have managed to more than halve my car insurance, meaning I can pay it in one hit, also saving on the additional monthly payment charges!
Had my renewal through at £333, had a look on the comparison sites 23 days before renewal and found the exact same cover etc for £192, I then checked with my favourite cashback website and I'll be getting an additional £35 from them.
I also did quotes to see if having my dad as a named driver would be of a benefit - he had advised me that as he is now retired and considered "old" it doesn't always help - but thankfully this year it did drop about £20 off.

pkempc

Just had my renewal price from Halifax ( actually underwritten by Ageas ) 

last year £ 171.92 fully comp + NCD protection

This year ( nothing has changed apart from one more years NCD and obviously the cars value is slightly less ) £ 171.39

Happy with that - I'll still shop around anyway for any extra perks that are on offer.

johnbhoy70

Just renewed with Churchill after getting renewal quotes through and hitting the top 3 comparison . Got my car down from £270 to £224 and the wife from £203 to £170. Didn't even need to bargain or change or tweak policies and just needed to give the cheapest quotes from elsewhere .Very easy!!...easiest in a few years actually and no need to mess about with excesses.
So nearly 17% saving (£79) in 10 min call.

What is very interesting to me though is just how close to the cheapest comparison quotes my new renewal prices are. 

Also just noticed we're now cheaper than last year......£394 now and was £441

Farmacista

Hi, 
After about of help with the comparison tool, have tried raising with Moneysupermarket and MSE but haven't got very far! I was involved in a car accident that wasn't my fault back in 2019, so I have been honest and stated 3 years NCD when filling out the comparison tool. When I get my quotes they're about £60-70 below my current insurer's quote for this year, so far, so good. However when I go onto the individual sites it defaults to 9+yrs NCD and when I change it all the quotes jump higher than my current insurers. I have been told by Moneysupermarket to use another browser yet the ones they suggest I'm using. Any ideas how ai can get this sorted before my insurance runs out on the 22nd? 🤷‍♀️

fiish

Got my renewal quote from Zenith this weekend.

Last year £395 comprehensive + protected NCD (11 years no claims)

This year, now with 12 years no claims, the renewal quote was £1291! Also, the quote came later than 21 days before.

Thankfully, I had picked up some quotes through Compare+. Switched to Aviva Zero for £571. It really does pay to shop around.