Car Insurance Article Discussion

biggles666

I am about to renew my car insurance. I have followed Martin's tips and compared the four main sites as recommended. The best quote I received covering all my requirements was from Zurich Insurance £289. I checked the Cashback Maximiser and found that through Quidco Zurich offered a £75 cashback. However when I got a quote through the Quidco site it came back as £388, increasing my excess to £250 only reduced the quote to £373.
I have noted all Martins advise about obtaining the best quote and it would seem to me that cashback is not always the route to take. I must admit this is the first time I have considered cashback.Has anyone esle experienced this .

steam_dan

I seem to remember that when I received my speeding conviction the accompanying letter from the Police Authority (Cornwall) advised me that I should tell my insurance company. I would hope that all Police Authorities would tell you this.

klint wrote: »

There's a couple of questions that Martin leaves unanswered. First, he says premiums are cheaper at this time of year. Why's that? And when will they go back up again?

Secondly, in his weekly email he says:

"One MoneySaver e-mailed me to say he'd not realised he had to declare his speeding cam points to his insurer. When he did, it charged him £900 back-dated as a retrospective rise in premium."

This is exactly what has happened to a colleague of mine at work (well nearly so, as it wasn't quite as much as £900.) I wonder what happened, did he pay up or is he taking the insurance company to court?

My colleague's insurance policy had already expired before they realised about the undeclared speeding points. It was a genuine oversight caused by a belief that the DVLA would have told the insurance company about the points. My colleague did not make any claims, so the points had made no difference to the insurance company. And yet they are still asking for a retrospective additional premium. The speeding points did not cost the insurance company a single penny, so what would happen if my colleague refuses to pay?

steam_dan

Just got my renewal notice through from esure yesterday. For the first time in many years I decided not to renew with esure and shop around. The best quote I could find with Compare.com with everything I wanted was with Tesco Car Insurance, and was £70 cheaper than my renewal quote after taking into account the monthly payment premium. If you are a clubcard holder and input your Tesco Clubcard number when getting your quote, they are also offering a free Karcher Pressure Washer worth £100. I don't want one but reckon I could easily sell it for £60 when I get it. £130 better off for a few minutes work! Beware: You don't get it with Tesco VALUE Car Insurance so make sure are buying the standard product and not the VALUE one.

Glowbabe

Both Topcashback & Quidco provide specific links to The Co-op Car Insurance - offering circa. £70-£75 cashback.

What is not made clear by them or the Co-op, is that you can 'only' make payment, be it a deposit, or the full amount of the premium, using your 'own' credit card - you may not use your hubby's, wife's or partner's....only your 'own' - in the event you don't have a credit card (or you're up it's limit and need your partner's) you can phone the Co-op and use the actual quotation reference obtained via Topcashback or Quidco - the Co-op will then accept payment using anyone else's credit card - but you will lose the cashback - so user's please be very careful -
I believe that the cashback sites and/or The Co-op should warn potential users right 'up front' that unless they have own their own credit card and can make payment on it then they shouldn't waste their time filling in all the info .....and being credit checked by The Co-op ....only to be blocked from making payment.....when using their husband's card - but then being given the opportunity over the phone to use any credit card...but losing the cashback - which loss you may well not be told about or realise, until 3 months down the line ! In my view - not right - and the guy at The Co-op agreed !

Caveat emptor !

flyingflea

biggles666 wrote: »

I am about to renew my car insurance. I have followed Martin's tips and compared the four main sites as recommended. The best quote I received covering all my requirements was from Zurich Insurance £289. I checked the Cashback Maximiser and found that through Quidco Zurich offered a £75 cashback. However when I got a quote through the Quidco site it came back as £388, increasing my excess to £250 only reduced the quote to £373.
I have noted all Martins advise about obtaining the best quote and it would seem to me that cashback is not always the route to take. I must admit this is the first time I have considered cashback.Has anyone esle experienced this .

This isn't uncommon, some insurers offer discounted quotes via the price comparison sites. Don't forget to take into account cashback for the top 5 or so cheapest insurers before making a choice.

Fiz91

Hey people. This is my first time using this site so please bear with me. I hope im not posting in the wrong thread.

Basically, I am a 18 year old driver. I passed my test in november 2008 and today, I got stopped by Police for flagging up in their system as a non insured car. As far as I was aware, I had insurance covering me from 23rd February 2009 untill 23rd February 2010.

Today, police stopped me and said that the insurance company which was insuring me had cancelled my policy due to non payment. The problem arises when I tell you the rest. My dad pays for my insurance, and as far as he was aware, and i was aware, our insurance had not been cancelled (he is first driver, I am second) Now, police took my car after deciding that I was driving uninsured. When they spoke to my insurance company, they found out that my insurance had been cancelled on the 17th June 2009. This would mean that for the last 8 days, I have been driving without insurance.

I did not recieve any letters or phonecalls from them, but when i WALKED home today after police seized my car, there was a confirmation letter from my insurers confirming the cancilation of the policy. This letter had arrived at around 9am, just 30 minutes after i went out with my car! Due to the penalties of driving uninsured, I have now got 6 points on my driving license, meaning I will have to retake my theory and practical.

What I am wondering is wether I have a chance of winning should i decide to appeal againt my 6 points and £200 fine. My dad, who pays the insurance, said he had no idea that payments werent going through (Direct Debit) and also had no idea that my insurance company had cancelled the insurance. I feel harshly done by, seeing as the letter saying my insurance has been calcelled only came AFTER my car got seized by police.

Please let me know if any of you have been through the same thing and also any advice as to what I can do would be greatly appreciated.

nandrews

Fiz91,

As a laymans point of view (there may well be a more professional advisor responding).
First advice is KEEP all the documentation
Make notes of everything that has happened with dates and times
Then I suggest going to the Police and tell them what has happened and that the insurance company have deceived THEM as well as you!
They have taken the word of the insurance company over yours and they have been hoodwinked. It maybe they will have a go at that company if you deal right with them.
Be nice to them and you may well get a sympathetic response.

It is obviously unacceptable that the insurance company took since February to advise you!
But you should try and find out why the payements weren't made or taken. Depending on where that fault lies there maybe others to blame.

Good luck
Nigel

Fiz91

nandrews wrote: »

Fiz91,

As a laymans point of view (there may well be a more professional advisor responding).
First advice is KEEP all the documentation
Make notes of everything that has happened with dates and times
Then I suggest going to the Police and tell them what has happened and that the insurance company have deceived THEM as well as you!
They have taken the word of the insurance company over yours and they have been hoodwinked. It maybe they will have a go at that company if you deal right with them.
Be nice to them and you may well get a sympathetic response.

It is obviously unacceptable that the insurance company took since February to advise you!
But you should try and find out why the payements weren't made or taken. Depending on where that fault lies there maybe others to blame.

Good luck
Nigel

I know why the payments werent being made..Seems my dad didnt have enough money in his bank account. Quin-Direct (my insurance company) say that they sent several letters, none of which i or my family have seen. The only 1 i have is the one i recieved today, saying that it's a CONFIRMATION of cancillation.. Could I argue that I thought i was entitled to drive untill the confirmation came in?

rudekid48

Fiz91 wrote: »

I know why the payments werent being made..Seems my dad didnt have enough money in his bank account. Quin-Direct (my insurance company) say that they sent several letters, none of which i or my family have seen. The only 1 i have is the one i recieved today, saying that it's a CONFIRMATION of cancillation.. Could I argue that I thought i was entitled to drive untill the confirmation came in?

Looks to me like you should be having words with your Dad!

From what you are saying, the DD payments have bounced, your Dad has somehow not noticed that he has not paid his insurance (or noticed the bank charges that he probably got either :rolleyes:) and now you want to blame the Insurer.

If your Dad was the policyholder then any letters would have been addressed to him and not you, perhaps he didn't notice those either?

If I was you, I would focus your energies on speaking to a decent solicitor to see if they could build a defence for you as, to be fair, you appear to be the innocent victim of your Dads incompetence.

Sorry if this seems harsh - it's just the way I see it.

nandrews

Fiz91,

Well that puts the responsibility more back in your area or your Fathers. To ensure he had enough credit to cover the outgoings that he (and you) planned.
But I think as for DD payments the onus must still be on the insurance company to advise you that they had not been succesful in drawing the money. Certainly when they decided to cancel the insurance they should have made sure that you were informed at the time and in time to make alternate arrangements. Either by speaking to you direct and/or sending you a recorded delivery letter.
It seems them have failed in that duty and so you weren't to know.

Nigel