Admiral, bell, diamond and elephant car insurance

Charley92x

Hi,
Would be grateful for some advice. Has anyone dealt with the above car insurances? I am 21 and been driving 6 months and due to pick up a new car this month which is costing me £13000.

I have looked online for weeks and these are the only companies under £750, after that they all shoot up to over £1100.

Obviously if I have to pay the extra few hundred to make sure my car is insured safely I would. But it seems a lot when other companies are offering much less and it doesn't hurt to do some research!

Any help is really appreciated!!

JournalGirl

I've been with Admiral Multicar for two years now. Not had an accident, but just had a stone-chipped windscreen replaced under the glass cover with no problem at all.

Just need to watch for the upselling attempts (injury cover etc)

nidO

Similar experience to above for me, I've used Elephant a couple of times in the past few years, the only type of claim i've had to make has been for a windscreen repair which was sorted with no hassle, but no clue how well they deal with accident claims.

Be aware though that they do sting you for admin fees if you have to make any kind of change to your policy where most more expensive insurers wouldn't, but if you're saving several hundred £ with an Admiral brand it's well worth the possible odd £35 charge if you move or similar.

Edit: It's not clear from your OP whether you're actually aware, so just to clarify - Admiral, Bell, Diamond, and Elephant are all part of the Admiral group, these are essentially just 4 different brands of the same company (so, as you've seen, will generally all have quotes almost the same, and can match each other's pricing)

InsideInsurance

They are a budget provider, most of their products are rated 3* but then not always is 5* necessary.

I've used them many times before and only because of having a brand new car did I move elsewhere last year (they dont have new vehicle replacement unlike most).

Customer service always has long queues to get through but the agents are always friendly and chatty - possibly a cause of the queues.

Had a fault accident with them and they werent any issues. For non-fault they tend to pass (sell) your details to a claims management company but this isnt intrinsically bad and for me I'd always rather claim direct from the third party in these cases anyway

Charley92x

It sounds fine in general from what I hear, thanks to you all it's been a great help. I'm not so worried about going with them now. When you say they don't do new vehicle replacement,. What do they offer instead of this? I'm new to it all so I'm a bit blonde at it !

dacouch

They're all in effect Admiral companies.

If you look at Admiral as being the Easy Jet of car insurance it describes them well

Seanymph

My daughter is with Diamond, and has had good service.

Be aware though you may end up with only premium rate phone numbers to call..

InsideInsurance

Charley92x wrote: »

What do they offer instead of this? I'm new to it all so I'm a bit blonde at it !

Normally if your car is written off/ stolen not recovered you get a cheque for its immediate pre accident value.

The vast majority of insurers however will give you the value of a brand new car if you are the first owner of the car and its total lossed/ stolen not recovered before the car is 12 months old - Saga do it for the first 2 years.

Admiral dont have this features so if you buy a brand new car, drive it home and in the morning its gone and never seen again then the cheque would be basically a nearly new car price not brand new.

nobbysn*ts

'nearly new' being subjective. Go for an insurer that offers a new car replacement.

Charley92x

Ah thanks guys, I think I would be safe with admiral in that respect as I have taken the 3 year gap insurance out with the dealership so whatever it devalues to up until it's 3 years they will provide the rest of what the insurer doesn't on it's sale price :-)