Car insurance renewal

egyptiancotton

Hi all. Looking for some advice. My car insurance is due for renewal in a few days. The cheapest quotes are:

Hastings Direct
Without substitute vehicle cover: £331.54 - £35 cashback = £296.54

With substitute vehicle cover: £359.04 - £35 cashback = £324.04

Voluntary excess - £95

Compulsory excess - £50

Hastings Premier
Without substitute vehicle cover: £346.49 - £55 cashback = £291.49

With substitute vehicle cover: £373.99 - £55 cashback = £318.99

Voluntary excess - £75

Compulsory excess - £50

I was toying with the idea of not having substitute vehicle cover. Without it, if I wrote my car off and it was my fault then I wouldn't have a courtesy car. Obviously if my car is written off and it's the third party's fault then I'd be covered as I would claim from their policy.

Adrian Flux
£300 total premium - Markerstudy

Excess - £250

Direct Line
£367 total premium (renewal) but they've dropped it to £332.64.

Voluntary excess - £150


All companies have offered a courtesy car, PNCB, legal cover and for the same estimated mileage.

Flux asked Markerstudy if they could lower the excess but they wouldn't because I'm younger than 30. Markerstudy are the cheapest but they are Defaqto 2 star rated and posts on various forums about people's experiences with them don't make for pleasant reading.

EdGasketTheSecond

If it were me I'd stick with Direct Line; more reputable than the other two. There's no guarantee of cashback; sometimes it works and sometimes not.

egyptiancotton

Just rang Direct Line. They've dropped my estimated mileage to 12k from 13k because I calculated it at 11,700 per year, and the premium came down to £324.80. For the sake of £5.81 I might as well stay. Saves the hassle of switching and waiting for cashback to track with Hastings. The excess is £25 more with Direct Line but I don't think it's worth worrying over.