Will phoning insurers directly be cheaper than comparison sites?

rtcw

I'm shopping around for car insurance, and last time I shopped, quotes were in region of 6-7k. Now it has reduced to 2.5k, I'd want to reduce it even further.

Also, is there popular car insurers for young people that aren't on comparison websites? I tried Elephant, Direct Line, Ariva, and all of them refuse to quote. Any other suggestion?

What's difference between Endsleigh, Endsleigh Extra? I can't seem to find anything on their policies about it.

I know it's unrelated but, does anyone know if Fiat Panda is a good car?

InsideInsurance

Insurers increasingly have different products and different pricing structures for different distribution channels and so it isnt as simple as saying that one is cheaper or more expensive than the other.

Traditionally telephone is more expensive however with some insurers itll also be a better product. Some do give advisors the authority to adjust premiums and so you may get it cheaper where as clearly online almost no one allows their system to flex the price (I did know of one tiny intermediary that did but their prices were silly to start with)

sithemadmonkey

If you want the official MSE guide go to http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/car-insurance/.

The general consensus seems to be: Check a few comparison sites, then check the direct insurers that don't use them, then check the cashback sites for any available deals. Once you've done all that, research the policies to make sure they cover you for what you want, then make a decision on which one is right for you. Ensure that you get any available cashback/rewards for your chosen insurer (but don't base you entire decision on what cashback etc is available, as it's not the most reliable).

InsideInsurance

sithemadmonkey wrote: »

If you want the official MSE guide go to http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/car-insurance/.

The general consensus seems to be: Check a few comparison sites

Though of cause remember that the site is owned by a comparison site and so may not want to give 100% the full picture.

*Scarlett

As regards to phone vs online - online q's tend to be cheaper but you can always ring the company.

Many will honour an online q price over the phone and you might be able to negotiate a bit of extra discount as a new customer if you are in a position to confirm the policy - the person you will be speaking to would usually be targetted on sales so would be keen to get your business!

There is never any harm asking for a bit of extra discount.

sithemadmonkey

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Though of cause remember that the site is owned by a comparison site and so may not want to give 100% the full picture.

Given that the page currently recommends going to two other comparison sites before moneysupermarket (who own MSE), I hardly think the car insurance guide on MSE is influenced by MSE's ownership...

What part of the 'full picture' do you think that is missed out on the page?

Kayalana99

rtcw wrote: »

I'm shopping around for car insurance, and last time I shopped, quotes were in region of 6-7k. Now it has reduced to 2.5k, I'd want to reduce it even further.

Also, is there popular car insurers for young people that aren't on comparison websites? I tried Elephant, Direct Line, Ariva, and all of them refuse to quote. Any other suggestion?

What's difference between Endsleigh, Endsleigh Extra? I can't seem to find anything on their policies about it.

I know it's unrelated but, does anyone know if Fiat Panda is a good car?

A change in car can be the differnce between a 2.5k quote to a 1-1.5k quote.

My first car was a 1.2 Vauxhall Corsa, I had no idea about cars in general - but it was the cheapest insurance quote I found. Maybe see what comes up for you with them? (It was 3-4 years ago now)

It depends if you want a car or the car.

rtcw

What's harm mentioning Moneysupermarket if they're actually popular and cheaper than the most?

*Scarlett wrote: »

As regards to phone vs online - online q's tend to be cheaper but you can always ring the company.

Many will honour an online q price over the phone and you might be able to negotiate a bit of extra discount as a new customer if you are in a position to confirm the policy - the person you will be speaking to would usually be targetted on sales so would be keen to get your business!

There is never any harm asking for a bit of extra discount.

Thanks.

Kayalana99 wrote: »

A change in car can be the differnce between a 2.5k quote to a 1-1.5k quote.

My first car was a 1.2 Vauxhall Corsa, I had no idea about cars in general - but it was the cheapest insurance quote I found. Maybe see what comes up for you with them? (It was 3-4 years ago now)

It depends if you want a car or the car.

That's how I got the 7-6k quote on seemingly cheap and normal car down to 2.5. I don't think quote can be reduced further since fiat panda's in insurance group 1, and I can't afford any other cars in that group. If I pick group 2 car, the quote skyrockets up to 5k.

oscarward

interestingly when my son came to renew after his first year Aviva were the cheapest just, he tried Adrian Flux and they quoted even cheaper than Aviva for an Aviva policy!

Prothet_of_Doom

When you talk to someone, over the phone imagine they are sitting with 2 screens in front of them. On the one screen, they can see all thier competitors prices, and on the other they can see what the underwriter is going to charge them.
In order to make thier commision they need to sell policies at a %age over the cost, so they know that if they undercut their competitors, they will make the sale, but they also know that the bigger the mark up the greater thier commission.

Lets assume that they NEED to make 20%. But they start off marking up by 100%. which is 10% lower than the competitors.

So you ring around, give the next person a figure that is 20% lower than from the first. They want their commission so they'll undercut that by a bit, as long as they are making at least 20%. Keep going. and eventually you'll get to the point where nobody wants to go lower.

That's how it used to work and if you have a complicated insurance issue still can.

InsideInsurance

oscarward wrote: »

interestingly when my son came to renew after his first year Aviva were the cheapest just, he tried Adrian Flux and they quoted even cheaper than Aviva for an Aviva policy!

I cannot say for Aviva explicitly but for another large insurance group they had over 50 different policywordings with differing levels of cover/ exclusions etc.

Just because two companies offer something underwritten by Aviva doesnt mean they are offering the same product. Using Defaqto ratings Aviva certainly goes from 2* comprehensive cover up to 5* and then up into the HNW area.

Even if they are the same product different companies decide they want to make different margins. This can be universal (ie taking a 5% commission rather than 10%) or they can target certain segments with discounts.