Cut Your Car Insurance In 4 Steps Discussion Area

System · 22 October 2003 at 7:24PM

For information that may be of particular interest to "Senior Citizens" (mature in age drivers) There is an excellent article in the September issue of Which magazine, that provides a table showing which Insurers will not quote at "age" whatever, say 70 plus.
It is very time consuming getting a quote on or offline, when the routine requires all the full prelim info - address, car &cc - but age comes much later - and the reply is..."sorry unable to quote" : you may find that the analysis shown would be of interest to your subscribers.

System · 23 October 2003 at 11:36PM

I succeeded on Confused on my second attempt: they took the site down half way through my first attempt, and I was getting very frustrated at the password point on my second attempt - shame I can't count the no. of letters in my password.

But, a hint if you have not been terribly conscientious in keeping a detailed list of all your claims for the last five years. I phoned my current insurer and asked for the details, said I needed them for a form at work (which is true). Initially they only went back 3 years, and they couldn't give me the costs involved in all cases, and I don't think they EVER told me what repairs cost at the time. So I had to make these up - and put the min. of £100 for the ones where my insurer recovered all costs, which annoyed me a bit.

I await the results with baited breath - not that I've had my renewal yet. And bear in mind cheapest is not necessarily best. If Direct Line come within a whisker of the cheapest, I'm staying put because I have been satisfied with the service they offer.

System · 24 October 2003 at 2:01AM

Firstly, I named my spouse as the main driver (she is over the all important 25 age limit) then I headed for the two search engines recommended. :-/

Note that you should only do this if she is in fact the main driver, ie drives more miles in the vehicle than you do. Otherwise they have quoted on incorrect info from you, which could lead to problems with any future claims. You say yourself you're a bad risk: one accident when you're driving they might not quibble over, but have too many more than that and questions may be asked.

bbhcmike · 24 October 2003 at 5:21PM

My spouse is now, in fact, the main driver. I am at work while she is at home with the car.

Plus, I am only bad risk because that is the category my details place me (not much I can do about age, having items stolen from me, and I don't particularly think being caught doing 80 on the motorway makes me a bad driver). I have never had an accident in 5 years on the road, and now when driving normally have my baby on board, so I'm more likely to be driving with caution (trying desperately to avoid the other maniacs out there).

Unfortunately, insurers cannot go into too much detail to quote, and so the info I provide makes me look bad. I would consider myself to be a much better risk than someone who has to ask their insurer for all the details of all the crashes they've had because it's too many to remember!

I understand and grudgingly accept this paradox, being an underwriter in profession!

Galstonian · 24 October 2003 at 5:31PM

If you think you are a better driver than the insurers do then why not take (and presumably pass) an advanced driving test? It can often make enough of a difference to your premium to cover your outlay.

bbhcmike · 27 October 2003 at 6:25PM

I have done, and passed my pass plus. Makes a small difference but can't stop you from being stereotyped though.

System · 29 October 2003 at 6:29PM

I used the 2 websites you suggested using for cheaper car insurance.

https://www.insuresupermarket.com only came back with one result but is was a good bit cheaper
than what we were being quoted from the existing provider.

https://www.confused.com took longer to fill in but not too bad and you have to wait for them
to email you back But they returned loads of results and most of them cheaper.
We took up one of their suggestions that saved us over £100 and we got windscreen
cover with it which we were not getting before.

Thanks

Consumer_Monkey · 12 November 2003 at 1:15AM

Hi there,

I tried both the search sites & didn't think that much of them - i already had a pretty low renewal notice from Tesco of £213.15 fully comp - confused.com came out at £217.75 and insuresupermarket reckoned they could get £199 but would'nt name the insurer unless i coughed up some cash for the privelege (can't blame them i suppose!).

In the end i resubmitted my info to tesco.com via their website and they came in £10 cheaper - so the system does work!!! May phone them tomorrow for a haggle!

;D Kev the Consumer Monkey

MSE_Martin · 12 November 2003 at 4:04AM

sorry please can you explain what you mean by 'until i coughed up the dough'?

What exactly did it say?

System · 30 November 2003 at 2:02PM

I got a great deal following the 4 step plan, and di dnot even have to use step 4 (haggle).

Current renewal quote £385 for a 2001 Renault Scenic 2.0L. I got a price back from "confused" web site £240 for exactly the same policy type, fully comp etc.. This was from Sainsbury Bank. Added to that i registered for a Nectar Card and got 1100 points thrown in! Added to that, i payed with my RBS Advanta card (another of Martins tips) so i pay for it intereset free.

Start to finish, about 30 minutes very productive time on the PC!

Cut Your Car Insurance In 4 Steps Discussion Area

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