Car insurance very high - what can I do about it

Catbells

I have a Toyota Prius and protected no claims.  I'm 72, don't require roadside assistance service and been driving for 40 years.  the cheapest quote I've managed to get from a comparison site is  £950.  Last year I was ill and paid £1500 without realising it.  Is there anything I can do to reduce it to a reasonable amount.  The person I spoke with at Direct Line told me all insurance had gone up.  Is this true.  Thanks for any advice on this.  

maman

It's true that all insurance has gone up but mine shot up by almost 100 % this year. I believe that's way above average but failed to get an explanation of why mine should be so much higher than average. I'll be interested to hear what people advise. 

DullGreyGuy

Catbells said:

I have a Toyota Prius and protected no claims.  I'm 72, don't require roadside assistance service and been driving for 40 years.  the cheapest quote I've managed to get from a comparison site is  £950.  Last year I was ill and paid £1500 without realising it.  Is there anything I can do to reduce it to a reasonable amount.  The person I spoke with at Direct Line told me all insurance had gone up.  Is this true.  Thanks for any advice on this.  

Do you need to protect your NCD? that could be £90 of your premium 

What mileage are you doing?
Any named drivers?

Unfortunately you are getting to the age at which premiums start going back up again... though never get back to how bad they were when you were 18

400ixl

It is true that for the majority the premiums have gone up for a number of reasons.

You are at an age that premiums do tend to start to rise anyway, even with out the general rises occurring.

I take it you are retired and the policy reflects this? If so have you made sure commune is not part of your policy. Also, things like too low a mileage can make a difference, so maybe try to cover yourself for more if you have currently set it low.

Can you add younger but experienced drivers to the policy to see if that makes a difference?

There is only so much you can do in reality to reduce it. Also try some of the insurers like Saga who may be more acceptance of your risk profile.

Robin9

What mileage do you declare on the policy?    What do you actually do ?

Catbells

DullGreyGuy said:

Catbells said:

I have a Toyota Prius and protected no claims.  I'm 72, don't require roadside assistance service and been driving for 40 years.  the cheapest quote I've managed to get from a comparison site is  £950.  Last year I was ill and paid £1500 without realising it.  Is there anything I can do to reduce it to a reasonable amount.  The person I spoke with at Direct Line told me all insurance had gone up.  Is this true.  Thanks for any advice on this.  

Do you need to protect your NCD? that could be £90 of your premium 

What mileage are you doing?
Any named drivers?

Unfortunately you are getting to the age at which premiums start going back up again... though never get back to how bad they were when you were 18

Thanks.  I always protect my NCD.  I do around 6-7k miles a year.  No named drivers apart from me.  I suspected it might be connected 

Catbells

Robin9 said:

What mileage do you declare on the policy?    What do you actually do ?

I've stated 7000 miles - I do around 3 long trips per year.  I'm retired.

elsien

What voluntary excess have you put on the policy? Is it worth playing around with that?
Have they stuck other things on that you don’t need, such as replacement keys et cetera?

Mr.Generous

Why protect no claims? If you claim premium will rise anyway. With your no claims discount your policy is £1500 a year, whatever % they claim to be applying isn't having an effect.

I don't protect no claims, have a voluntary excess of £500 and drive a 310bhp Cupra for £400 a year insurance. It's cheaper than the road tax

sheramber

Have you got quotes from other companies?

Direct Line has always been much more expensive than others for me when I have done a quote with them.

Is there someone you could add as a named driver?
 It doesn't matter is they never drive your car or live elsewhere.  My son was named driver on my insurance although he lived 260 miles away from me.

Maybe investigate a lower insurance class of car of you really want to reduce your premium.

Bigphil1474

OP, do you know a younger woman - probably good for a named driver, daughter, granddaughter, niece etc. I was named driver on at least 3 other policies up until a couple of years ago, but only ever drove one of those cars once. As above, look at your excess. If you can increase it by £200 for example but save your self more, it's worth doing. 7k miles is about average these days, if not slightly above, so that shouldn't be an issue. Don't just use one comparison site. Also, try a few insurers direct. It is true that pretty much everyone is seeing big hikes in their premium this year - mine went up by 57% from £245 to £385