Extra £20 cost - is it worth it?

siber

I drive a Peugeot 206, am 25 and have a completely clean driving record. I have 6 years No-Claims-Discount and am currently insured by Churchill. Every year, when it comes to policy renewal, I have a good shop around for the best premium.

Essentially, I'm shopping for fully comprehensve insurance, and protected NCD and legal cover (because you never know).

The best quote I've had is £421 from Tesco Value car insurance. This policy has an excess of £475 which cannot be reclaimed if an accident is judged to be my fault.

The second best quote was with Churchill: £448 with a policy excess of £250. they also have little extras such as windscreen cover for chips and a courtesy car if my car needs a repair. These are nice, although I'm not overly bothered about them as I don't drive enough to make it necessary (I walk to work each day!)

The question is; should I pay the extra £27 to sign up to Churchill and reduce my excess (and get the little extras) or should I go with Tesco and save the money? Your thoughts please:

Many thanks for any advice! :money:

mattymoo

The Tesco policy is bare bones by comparison to those from Churchill.
Churchill are also perceived to have a better reputation in terms of customer service.

If the premium difference remained constant for the next 8 years (it never does in reality) you would have to be claims free for 8 years before the Tesco policy proved to be cheaper. In other words, 1 claim within the 8 years and the excess difference would wipe out the saving.

clarkadr

mattymoo wrote: »

The Tesco policy is bare bones by comparison to those from Churchill.
Churchill are also perceived to have a better reputation in terms of customer service.

If the premium difference remained constant for the next 8 years (it never does in reality) you would have to be claims free for 8 years before the Tesco policy proved to be cheaper. In other words, 1 claim within the 8 years and the excess difference would wipe out the saving.

Churchill & Tesco Insurance are provided by the same organisation, so the customer service can't be better.:rotfl:

brazilianwax

I'd pay £20 more to have almost half the excess!!!!

The £20 saving wouldn't cover the increased excess if something did happen (and it doesn't have to be your fault - a hit and run or uninsured driver will go against you too )

Easy decision I think (and I'm a libra!! :rotfl:)

mattymoo

clarkadr wrote: »

Churchill & Tesco Insurance are provided by the same organisation, so the customer service can't be better.:rotfl:

You would think that wouldn't you but to some extent it depends what you mean by customer service.
If you mean, will they be polite on the phone and will the documentation be in order then yes should be the answer.
The thing to bear in mind is that supermarkets want their financial cut out of these deals, say 5-10%. That leaves less money to pay claims after the insurers overheads have been deducted.
The end result is strict enforcement of policy terms, no grey areas (or ex-gratia payments as insurers call them) and no extra frills with the policy.

Check out Defaqto for further info. http://www.defaqto.com/star/default.asp