ADVICE PLEASE

Whenever I ask for advice on here, I always get sensible answers, so here goes.

I made mention on here a while ago in another thread that I pranged a car back in February and, because it’s a very expensive high performance sports car, I was concerned about my renewal insurance premium.

I got an email on Thursday which shows that my insurance has literally doubled to just over £800 a year for fully comprehensive.

The probability is that, at that cost, it will hurt me financially so, should I opt to take out third party, fire and theft instead and, more to the point, would they allow me to do that? I have never been in, or caused, an accident in the 45+ years I’ve been driving, but I was definitely at fault, and I told the owner immediately.

Unfortunately, without my car I would be marooned at home as I can’t walk too far these days, so it’s not a luxury, but a necessity.

You could take out TPF and theft but it will probably be as much as fully comp. Plenty people have found that their insurance has almost doubled Use a comparison site.
LINK

Mollie my insurance also went up this year by a good amount and I have not pranged anyone, nor have i had any convictions so I went on comparethebeercan and got a quote much less but, as a mater of curtesy and good will I foned my current insurer ( then) and gave them a chance to match the price but, they would not or could not, So I changed insurers ,
I recommend you do the same, there are several compare sites, You will defo get a better quote,

Go Compare

MoneySupermarket

Confused.com

Direct Line

Put exactly the same information in each one. You can change your quote from Third Party F&Th to Fully Comp., and vice versa.
Find out how much no claims bonus you've lost on your claim, you don't usually lose the lot in one go.
This time, protect your NCB just in case.
Don't give them your new quote either. It only gives them a price to undercut.

failing that, Get an ebike, they are free to run and faster in traffic and more fun than driving,

Or a Fiat 500. They're cheap to insure and low road-tax. Get a red one and park regularly on Poolstock Lane!

Many thanks everyone for the replies.

Ah well, I did get some sensible answers which I'd expected, but I also got some daft ones as well, which I'd expected.

First Mate:

Thank you.

Tom:

No chance.

Tonker:

Wouldn't be seen dead in one. Thank you for those links though. I'll give them all a go and see what I can come up with.

Mollie If you do go for the fiat 500, get a different colour because I'm sick to death of sweeping up the red uns,,,

Don't you worry Tom. I won't be buying one of those nasty little mop buckets!

Actually, Mollie, and I never thought I'd say this, ever!, but they're not a bad little car ....... I've had several (car rentals from Barcelona, raaaaight, I wouldn't buy one, laaaaike!)

Very expensive high performance sports car! Well my dear if can afford one I'm sure the double price insurance won't be a problem

Tonker:

You're probably right, but one of those Dinky toys is too small for me. I know I'm only little, but I want plenty of metal around me in the event of a crash. That may sound daft, but I once bought a Fiat Punto after having to give up my Cortina Estate and, after driving a much bigger car, I couldn't stand it, so I only kept it about six months when I got my lovely Brava instead. Then, daft me, I bought the Corsa Sting which I've recently told the tale of, and I hated that as well, so I'm happy now with the Astra.

Posted by: eggbeater (3016)

"Very expensive high performance sports car! Well my dear if can afford one I'm sure the double price insurance won't be a problem"

Goodness me, no. Not my car. I pranged a colleague's Jaguar F-100. I knocked a lump off the bumper, which has now been fixed but, oddly enough, there wasn't a mark on my car.

Oops sorry Mollie misunderstood

Try Dial Direct online Mollie rather than compare sites they always give me a good deal and you don't get all those daft emails from compare site who sell all your info. Mine only went up £12 from last year fully comp.

ADVICE ...... VICEAD !

Doo yoo remember when your insurance price would go down every year, as your 'no claims bonus' went up

I've read about that in history books Tommy tee, It was called the ' dark ages' before marketing executives were invented and board meetings about , maximising profits and get as much as you can from the client a time when England produced and manufactured to finance wages instead of, shuffling paper as they do now,

Eggbeater:

No need to apologise. Perhaps I didn't explain properly.

Pyeta:

Thanks for that, but did you prang an £80,000 car and still get such a low increase? Still, it's worth a try.

Tommy:

Car insurance never goes down. I'm not so naive as to believe that it ever will; but double? I expected to be penalised, but not hung, drawn and quartered.

Mollie

It happened to me last year, it didn't double, it went up by about 40%, but every year I have a different insurance company.

Insurance Companies are legalised bandits , They bum shafted me in 2008 when we got burgled, They treated me like a thief by making me prove all I was asking for replaced and only paid part of what i was claiming, When the episode was over I told the person dealing with my case.

" You lot are worse than the Bastards who came through the window"

This years renewal offer for one of my cars .........

If you are not happy with the increase, cancel the policy and then go on Go Compare, moneysupermarket etc where you will get a lower price and possibly even with the same company as like eveything else these days it is now all about getting new customers rather than giving the existing customer a good deal based on any no claims or loyalty.

And when you get the new policy, check the details as requested, but cancel any auto renewal which the companies now put on a policy without asking a customer if they want it or not as it is better for you to be asked each year if you wish to renew the policy.

Today, like eveything else, it is not based on no claims or loyalty, but all about getting new customers with a initial lower price then when after a period and due for renewal, put up the higher prices to the existing customers to offset the lower prices given to the new customers.

It's called the Dick Turpin Conveyor Belt System of what we lose on the swings, we will get back on the roundabouts!

OC is it not better to get a new policy and then cancel your old policy renewal or you could be left with no insurance.

It's pointless cancelling an insurance policy, after it's run for part of a year, as you won't get anything back nor will it add to your NCB (if you have some).

Here's an Insurance Frauds thread that I started back in December 2021.
And they're still at it!

PS: Tom, writing "Bang and Olufsen" on a piece of masking tape and sticking it over the 'Bush' label on your tv, doesn't work with insurance companies. Their assessors pick it out straight away!

Tommy:

It is best to get renewal quotes from different insurers every year. I learned that a long time ago when I had my Brava, covered by the AA. I never bothered checking my premiums until a few years later when I actually looked at my, then, latest reminder. By then (around 2016) my car was 15 years old with less than 50,000 on the clock and, when I saw they were going to charge me £500 fully comp, I put the brakes on with a screech! Even my boss’s brand new BMW wasn’t costing him that much!

I then tried Liverpool Victoria which gave me a much lower quote so went with them then, up it went again with my Corsa Sting. Gawd knows why, so I went with Hastings who gave me a lower quote. When I got the Astra, Hastings put up my premium, so went back with Liverpool Victoria who have been great, until now. It’s like bouncing a bleedin’ ball trying to me nose above water. So, with great reluctance, I’ll be trying those links that have been posted to see what they can do for me. My problem is that I don’t have the patience of a saint, but can’t allow my blood pressure to rise.

Is it to do with my age, and/or, age and the fact that I’ve committed the crime of the century?

Oh yes, they're bandits alright. If there was an insurance company called Dick Turpin's I'd be more likely to trust them than the others.

I've read all other replies, for which I thank you, but I've had another thowt and, with a bit of juggling I might have another solution. Will let you know how I get on.

Did your colleague give you the option of settling the bill without going through the insurance?

It may have fathomed out cheaper for you given that you would have to pay your insurance excess, your insurance premium would increase plus to add insult to injury you would forfeit your years of no claims bonus?

Chesh,,,, car body repair shops charge zillions, getting the right finish to paintwork is a highly specialized job , doing a ' rattle can ' spray job is not good enough on a £80,000 car,

Cheshire Cat:

I'm a bit late replying here, but my colleague would probably have happily let me pay out of my own pocket but, as I don't have a fortune, it was better to go through insurance. After all, that's why we pay it.

retep1949

Which is exactly what I do as you have suggested, every time I change a policy!