Insuring a learner?

Flight3287462

Sandtree said:

jlemaitre said:
90% of the time they beat all other qoutes too.

I suspect they'd be much bigger were that the case... plus they do quote on aggregators via their sister brands of Churchill, Privilege etc (not that they all have identical pricing)

How big do you want them to be?

Sandtree

Hunyani_Flight_825 said:

Sandtree said:

jlemaitre said:
90% of the time they beat all other qoutes too.

I suspect they'd be much bigger were that the case... plus they do quote on aggregators via their sister brands of Churchill, Privilege etc (not that they all have identical pricing)

How big do you want them to be?

I dont have any desire for them to be big or small but given they used to be the largest UK Private Car insurer they have clearly slipped alot which is surprising given jlemaitre said they are the cheapest 90% of the time.

If they were cheapest 90% of the time you'd probably guess they'd have at least 60% market share to factor in those that dont shop around.

AdrianC

I suspect the DL brand may well have been, may still be, the largest single brand. That's different from being the largest actual insurer, especially given how many brands Admiral have.

But, yes, if any one insurer really was the cheapest "90% of the time", they would clean up the market. It would also probably not be a profitable position. Any fool can undercut their competition, so long as they don't want to make money doing it. Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity.

BOWFER

We also went with learner insurance, policy in her name and car in her name.
So she had a full year NCB before she passed.

Ibrahim5

Must be a lot of slow learners. Taking a year to pass a driving test!

Flight3287462

Sandtree said:

Hunyani_Flight_825 said:

Sandtree said:

jlemaitre said:
90% of the time they beat all other qoutes too.

I suspect they'd be much bigger were that the case... plus they do quote on aggregators via their sister brands of Churchill, Privilege etc (not that they all have identical pricing)

How big do you want them to be?

I dont have any desire for them to be big or small but given they used to be the largest UK Private Car insurer they have clearly slipped alot which is surprising given jlemaitre said they are the cheapest 90% of the time.

If they were cheapest 90% of the time you'd probably guess they'd have at least 60% market share to factor in those that dont shop around.

Direct Line aren't on the aggregators so the thick and lazy never get a quote from them.  I suspect DL are quite happy that way and saves them quite a bit of money which can be passed on to drivers we have been with them a few years now and apart from the annual haggle (which is a pain) their customer service is exemplary.

Ibrahim5

In my experience Direct Line have never been anywhere near being competitive.

BOWFER

Ibrahim5 said:

Must be a lot of slow learners. Taking a year to pass a driving test!

You heard of Covid, yeah?

AdrianC

Hunyani_Flight_825 said:

Sandtree said:

Hunyani_Flight_825 said:

Sandtree said:

jlemaitre said:
90% of the time they beat all other qoutes too.

I suspect they'd be much bigger were that the case... plus they do quote on aggregators via their sister brands of Churchill, Privilege etc (not that they all have identical pricing)

How big do you want them to be?

I dont have any desire for them to be big or small but given they used to be the largest UK Private Car insurer they have clearly slipped alot which is surprising given jlemaitre said they are the cheapest 90% of the time.

If they were cheapest 90% of the time you'd probably guess they'd have at least 60% market share to factor in those that dont shop around.

Direct Line aren't on the aggregators so the thick and lazy never get a quote from them.  I suspect DL are quite happy that way and saves them quite a bit of money

Seems odd that they don't want extra business. Assuming that business is profitable. Sure, price a bit higher through the comparisons, to cover the extra costs... but if they are competitively priced, they'll still get the business.

The other option is that they aren't actually competitive for many, and rely on the "Oooh, but we aren't on the engines" to pull people in to quoting direct and not comparing.

BOWFER

I've used direct line recently, always check them as well as using the comparison sites.
IIRC correctly they offered business cover for my wife at no extra charge, whereas others were SDAC only and extra for business.