Car Insurance Article Discussion

owitemisermusa

>bump< . .

lion100

owitemisermusa wrote: »

Hello peeps,
Wondering if it's possible to cancel your car insurance and reapply online with the same insurer immediately, to get a cheaper quote? Another incentive is to aim for cashback via the usual sites.
Possible?
Danke.

Yes- I did it last year with Pru, - it didn't track for cashback, so I cancelled the policy,and reapplied the same day (using a different e-mail address though-just in case),they refunded money, also the quote came cheaper, plus the cashback tracked OK and I was paid within 3 months.;)

Crabman

Noticed Norwich Union conduct a credit search for car insurance quotes, unless you tick the box to opt-out. Hopefully this isn't across the board as I didn't notice a credit search mentioned on any other sites from the article.

On a side note, Norwich Union didn't 'quote me happy' at all - in fact I could purchase four insurance policies from Moneysupermarket.com for the price they quoted :rotfl:

NJW69

I have been reading this thread and needed new insurance for my new car that I'm picking up on Monday. I tried the online comparison sites recommended and the cheapest was £703 and didn't give me everything I wanted such as protected ncb. My husband has just renewed with Norwich Union Direct and his renewal offer with them was £429 but he went online as a new customer and got it for just over £300 so I tried them. They initially said £458 which I was happy with compared to the others. I then looked and saw that one of the caskback sites was offering £52 cashback so I thought I'll do this as this makes it even cheaper. However as it was a new car the site wouldn't accept my regsistration number as it must not be on the system yet so I had to ring up (I also wanted to find out how to get the 5% multi-policy discount).

The person who answered was really helpful and made the changes I needed but this then meant I wasn't doing it online and couldn't get the cashback. I told him about this so he went away and came back and said I can do it for £410 and give you free legal cover and courtesy car as well . So I went with that. So overall saved about £300. Just wish I had read the cashback thing before my husband did his as he would have got the £52 back as well. However still happy with the saving. It really does pay to shop around.

ioscorpio

Do brokers normally charge a broker fee? I've not heard of it before.

I went through all the comparisons sites and was called by a company who then puts you through to brokers to try and get you a better deal. I was put through to Academy Insurance who quoted £180 which was £61 cheaper than my renewal notice and £16 cheaper than gocompare. I also found going through Quidco, brought up higher quotes, so even with cashback they were more expensive.

On receipt of my policy it states premium £160 and £20 broker fee, I was not advised of this, neither is it stated on their t&c.

staplefordbill

Last week I had an accident at work and reversed into a colleague's car. His car will need a bumper respray costing about £400 at a dealer approved garage. Mine's an old car and I can patch up the (minor) damage.

Should I claim on my insurance or pay privately? I have 3rd party cover with the Post Office. When I renewed in May it cost me £190. I have 6 years NCD but it's unprotected. I believe the excess is £100.

How much is my insurance likely to go up if I do claim? I gather I'll lose 2 years NCD and I imagine my options for shopping around when renewing will be fewer if I claim. Someone from the Post Office told me on Saturday it wouldn't go up if I don't claim.

Please help!

Quentin

You can get a good idea of the difference between the claim going through insurance and you paying the repairs yourself by doing some virtual quotes online. Do them with and without the claim (and its loss of your ncb) and see the difference in cost. It will take two more full years (after this one) to restore your ncd to maximum again, (which will usually be down to 3 years after the claim, as the max they use is 5) but the claim will affect the premium longer than that.

Note that you cannot claim for this, the injured party needs to claim (either direct off you or your insurer or via their own insurance), and you shouldn't admit liability if you want it dealt with by insurers. The excess you mention won't be payable.

staplefordbill

Thanks Quentin. I did as you suggested and the premium will only be £80 more so I think I'll claim.

Why shouldn't I admit liability?

Quentin

You can (on your own behalf,if you are prepared to pay all the costs that a third party throws at you), but cannot on behalf of your insurance company.

You should never admit liability for anything, no matter how "guilty" you feel. Just let the insurance companies sort it all out. (And your policy will state that you mustn't admit liability).

You say you will claim, but you cannot - it is up to you to inform your insurer about the incident, but any claim must come from the third party.

staplefordbill

What I meant was - my colleague is getting a quote for the damage and it will be up to me whether I pay him privately or whether he sorts it out through his insurance company. I do realise I won't be claiming (honest!).

I notified my insurance company of the accident on Saturday. I don't remember being asked whether I was liable. I've not received the incident forms from my insurer - presumably they'll ask about liability on that?