Is it safe to pick the cheapest?

royP_2

I have had a quote from 1st central @£383.08 compared to LV @ £955.010.
Is it safe to pick the cheapest?

elsien

First question is do they offer equivalent levels of cover, and how do the excesses compare? Have you properly read all the small print to check?

ETA duplicate question already asked on the OP other thread.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6609386/why-the-difference-in-cost-of-car-insurance#latest

facade

I wouldn't pick the cheapest, unless it was a well known company obviously running a loss leader because they were desperate to get my sort as a customer. (vanishingly unlikely...)

Generally most of the insurers that you have heard of (in the sense of you recognise the names, rather than they have a poor reputation) come in in a clump in the middle of the quotes, then you have stupidly expensive and suspiciously cheap outliers.

I go for one at the lower end of the middle clump that I recognise, in my case Aviva Zero.

Nobbie1967

The big danger with the cheaper ones is limitations on cover such as lack of windscreen cover and high charges for making changes. Also, if you do go with a cheap one, make sure you check all the details on their site to make sure they are correct as some firms make a bit of money by finding errors and making you pay to correct them.

Ibrahim5

I used to love LV. Never claimed though. They have become very expensive in the last couple of years. It's a pity but you just have to use someone else.

Grey_Critic

Ibrahim5 said:

I used to love LV. Never claimed though. They have become very expensive in the last couple of years. It's a pity but you just have to use someone else.

My next door neighbour is an insurance Engineer and worked for LV for over 10 years. He does not insure with LV as even with staff discount they are too expensive.

Mildly_Miffed

1st Central are a broker, not an insurer - who is the cover with?

If you're happy with the cover, then the question is really one over how well they may deal with any claim during the policy... Are you planning on claiming?

DullGreyGuy

Ibrahim5 said:

I used to love LV. Never claimed though. They have become very expensive in the last couple of years. It's a pity but you just have to use someone else.

LV as a whole or explicitly the general insurance side? 

The GI side has a bit of a checkered history, they got into it after they bought a business that had a sideline in GI broking in the late 90s and shortly after setup their own insurer but that didnt go great. Then they bought the unlaunched ABC Insurance which were effectively the former exec of Churchill after they were acquired by DL in the 00s. They grew the business four fold and then dont know what happened but ultimately they were sold to Allianz in two steps in 2017 and 2019