Car insurance - 2 cars tips and advice

JustMe18

Hello. So we have 2 cars in the household - 1 Volvo XC60 plug in hybrid 2019 , then 1 Peugeot 2008 - 2014. My husband and I both drivers on both cars. We have over 10 years no claim bonus. I work in IT, he is a lorry driver, we both have driving licences for more than 17 years. We have driveway parking at the moment. I had only a small accident around 3 years ago at my fault ( which I don't agree, as I was static, but couldn't prove). Our Volvo insurance was £800 last year, now £1600, Peugeot £300, now £600. Why has that doubled the price suddenly?  Please advise, what is the best to do, we always had separate policies for both car, is it worth to do multi car policy?  also who would be best to be main driver - my husband or me?  or any other tips etc.

on another note, I can see a lot of soft checks on my credit file from insurance companies  - is it even legal to do those searches before I even searched anything myself? I'm concerned, as currently applying for a mortgage and don't want any extra checks.

BoGoF

Insurance has increased substantially over the last year. All you can do is search for the best deal and see if multi vehicle or anything else works out cheaper. As for the main driver you put whoever the main driver is and don't be tempted to lie about it.

As for the searches, don't worry about soft searches as only you can see them.

JustMe18

BoGoF said:

Insurance has increased substantially over the last year. All you can do is search for the best deal and see if multi vehicle or anything else works out cheaper. As for the main driver you put whoever the main driver is and don't be tempted to lie about it.

As for the searches, don't worry about soft searches as only you can see them.

We drive both cars equally...it's not about lying - how do we decide in this case, who is the main driver?

Mark_d

I would put different drivers as the main driver for each car, on the basis that you both drive each car exactly the same amount.  It just looks suspicious

JustMe18

Mark_d said:

I would put different drivers as the main driver for each car, on the basis that you both drive each car exactly the same amount.  It just looks suspicious

it is what it is, we drive one car for 3 days for example and then switch , nobody wants Peugeot lol 

Bigphil1474

If you really drive each car equally, then whoever is the main driver is irrelevant, other than you go for the cheapest. I don't know which would be cheapest between lorry driver and IT worker, I'd suspect lorry driver. Plus you had a claim 3 years ago, so overall hubby should be the cheapest driver, so put him against the more expensive car. I'd look at quotes for Volvo with husband as main driver, you as named, and vice versa on Peugeot. Then maybe swap round and get quotes the other way. Then try multicar although there's not many that do that. Choose the cheapest.

All policies seem to have gone up a big % in the last year so that's not necessarily unusual, but worth shopping around anyway. 

Ozzig

Bigphil1474 said:

If you really drive each car equally, then whoever is the main driver is irrelevant, other than you go for the cheapest. I don't know which would be cheapest between lorry driver and IT worker, I'd suspect lorry driver.
 

I think there's a list in the Insurance section on here somewhere that shows you what other categories are in comparison to your current one, I found a better description of my job than the one the insurance companies had used in the past and when I talked to them at renewal it dropped the price by a small amount.

EDIT to add the link ...

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/car-insurance-job-picker/

JustMe18

Ozzig said:

Bigphil1474 said:

If you really drive each car equally, then whoever is the main driver is irrelevant, other than you go for the cheapest. I don't know which would be cheapest between lorry driver and IT worker, I'd suspect lorry driver.
 

I think there's a list in the Insurance section on here somewhere that shows you what other categories are in comparison to your current one, I found a better description of my job than the one the insurance companies had used in the past and when I talked to them at renewal it dropped the price by a small amount.

EDIT to add the link ...

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/car-insurance-job-picker/

Thanks for that, I'll have a look, I work in Time & Attendance applications, I don't think there is even similar job lol, so always have to select the closest.

Ectophile

Soft checks on your credit file are normal.  They turn up any time somebody wants to check your identity, or that nothing important has changed.  Asking for a quote for insurance will create one.  They don't affect your credit.

You can, and should, shop around for insurance.  Some companies will offer a modest discount on a second insurance policy with them.  But you have to watch for companies that give you a good quote on the first car, and a high quote on the second.