Cheaper=less?

Blue4motion

Hi,

I'm sure I'm not alone in learning that buying via car insurance comparison sites can mean paying less for a poorer product. Some things that have caught or sirprised me when checked:

Not covering driving someone else's car even 3rd party.
A claim my wife made on my policy for minor bump resulted in drop from 9 years NCD to 3 years instead of the expected loss of 2 years
Adding a loan car costs £25 fee or any other minor amendment.
Not covered for driving in Ireland or mainland Europe.

I'm sure there are many other things that used to be included in most 10 years ago but now are being cut out in a market driven by price comparison sites.

Do any of the sites have a minimum criteria for comprehensive cover or allow a more detailed review of this type of thing without having to go into the small print of each result?

My renewal is due and I need cover that includes Republic of Ireland. Can anyone recommend a way of comparing insurance that includes this?

Thanks,

Richard

CKhalvashi

I use Swinton; not the worlds cheapest (I'm sure there will be cheaper that offer this), but I have one of the best Green Cards, covering all the countries I visit with my car (including Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, former Yugoslavia etc, so not standard), and the only claim I've had to put through with them was handled effectively (smash with a foreign lorry).

It may be worth Googling the terms of the cheapest, until you find what you need. Insurence terms is 'green card' for what you need.

CK

InsideInsurance

Blue4motion wrote: »

Hi,

I'm sure I'm not alone in learning that buying via car insurance comparison sites can mean paying less for a poorer product. Some things that have caught or sirprised me when checked:

Not covering driving someone else's car even 3rd party.
A claim my wife made on my policy for minor bump resulted in drop from 9 years NCD to 3 years instead of the expected loss of 2 years
Adding a loan car costs £25 fee or any other minor amendment.
Not covered for driving in Ireland or mainland Europe.

I'm sure there are many other things that used to be included in most 10 years ago but now are being cut out in a market driven by price comparison sites.

Do any of the sites have a minimum criteria for comprehensive cover or allow a more detailed review of this type of thing without having to go into the small print of each result?

My renewal is due and I need cover that includes Republic of Ireland. Can anyone recommend a way of comparing insurance that includes this?

You are right that insurers have cut their product offering to enable them to reduce their costs and thus appear higher in the aggregators tables.

The only part you wrong on is the NCD element which is as close to standard practice as is possible for something that isnt universal.

The minimum criteria for a policy to be "comprehensive" is that they cover accidental damage to your own vehicle. Anything else like Driving Other Cars or Courtesy Car etc are bells and whistles which are increasingly add ons rather than standard features.

You can look at Defaqto's website which lists product features http://defaqto.com/star-ratings/car-insurance including if foreign use is standard cover or not.

Of cause you could look at the High Net Worth motor insurance where you get a like for like courtesy car, you and all named drivers have comprehensive cover on any other car you drive not owned by you, have hijack cover etc and see how the prices compare to your cut down high street ones

Blue4motion

Hi,

Thanks for replys. I searched green card and found that moneysupermarket.com allows more detailed comparison including Europe cover. When results are returned it allows a more detailed side by side comparison of up to 5. This is useful as it shows many have trimmed all but the basics from the cover.

Thanks,

Richard