Just been getting car insurance quotes early as it runs out in October. Currently paying £700 a year but they now want £1100 for a group 1 car.
I am 28, do 5000 miles a year, two years no claims+, been driving two years it just seems madness.
Elaphant will insure me for £750 a year and my dads now with them as Direct Line could not meet our insurance requirements when we both drove his car. I suspect I will get a dual policy discount from them too lowering it to £700.
Either way the insurance is now getting close to what the loan costs me on the car and worried how out of hand this will become.
If I was 18 I reckon the cheapest quote would be around £5k! Either way for nearly adding double to my premium they have lost a life long customer. I haven't even had the official renewal quote yet which will be a lot higher than £1100 too :(.
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Now we know why they aren't on price comparison web sites..........
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The well known "screw you on renewal" trick.
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This isn't that trick though, as I have gone to their website as a new customer (although they will know I am not, I don't think the calculator is that clever).
I expect the quote they send me to more like £1500.
Hopefully I will be able to get a policy with Elaphhant and put may be £200 deposit down the monthly payments might not be too bad. The APR is 22% so I am even wonder if it would be cheaper to take out a 12 month loan at a less APR and pay it all at once?
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Be fair: Direct Line have to pay for all that expensive advertising.. and the welll known voices they use...
So it's a bargain. You are keeping two luvvies in bread and butter (or is it champagne and caviar?)..
What do you expect? Value for money?
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>> This isn't that trick though, as I have gone to their website as a new
>> customer (although they will know I am not, I don't think the calculator is that
>> clever).
If you use your correct details, it is indeed that clever.
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>> If you use your correct details, it is indeed that clever.
>>
I have an alter ego who lives next door to me and was born a day after I was...
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Mr KNow Wun lives over the road from me. His ISP is knowhere.com
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"The APR is 22% so I am even wonder if it would be cheaper to take out a 12 month loan at a less APR and pay it all at once? "
Absolutely, provided a bank will give you a personal loan to be spent on car insurance (some may ask what the purpose of the loan is, others may not). You could also consider using an overdraft or credit card to pay the insurance - rates can vary as much for different forms of lending as between lenders.
Not sure what the credit unions are like in the UK, but here in Ireland they're traditionally very helpful with this sort of loan. Might be worth a look?
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rats, you're screaming before you've been bitten. Admittedly it's not looking good but let's wait for the bit of paper to drop through the door.
JH
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>>I am 28, do 5000 miles a year, two years no claims+,
Do you declare the two break ins?
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He told them of these incidents and therefore it has affected the quote. Even if he didn't claim. And didn't he mention losing a key to the car as well?
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They know about the two claims and the key. But it was just a random car key so they would have to try every FIAT in Manchester to have any luck.
Going to sort the key out in October and I will get the existing key canceled too then threr is no risk at all.
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I wanted to insure this Fiesta I have, for a family hack.
Both my cars have no-claims built up on them.
'96 reg 1300 HCS Fiesta......no real value, TPFT........Cheapest £850......dearest A fiver under 9 grand !
Couldn't put it on either current policy as a second car....why? Can't drive two at once.
Seems to me that kids are being priced out of driving. Short-sighted policy, the country would grind to a halt without a new generation of drivers coming up.
Tede
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Its just statistics, Ted in the case of your Fiesta they have suspected it was a front for your kids to drive instead of them having their own insurance and their own car. I know this was not the case but fronting has been a real issue.
The problem is my car is now starting to cost nearly £250 a month to run which is a lot of money, the good news is it helps to bring my tax bill down. Been so busy lately that life would be imposssible without a car.
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>> the good news is it helps to bring
>> my tax bill down.
I hope you have a good tax advisor, you cant claim all that.
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I realise that, but at say £1200 a year busines motoring costs that is a business cost which reduces the profit by that amount thus reduces the costs. I suspect that now I am driving over longer distances the running costs I can't claim tax back on will be higher.
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>> 1200 a year busines motoring costs
You only do 5000 miles a year total... how many are for business? Does the car belong to the business or you personally?
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Both our cars are insured with the one-with-the-trunk - for the level of cover no one else comes close to the price. Granted I could probably save £40 or £50 by going elsewhere, but we get business cover and protected no-claims - the Xantia is about £350 / year for 20k miles, the Picasso a bit less at around £300 as the miles are less. We've only had one claim (SWMBO knocked over a m-bike) and it was dealt with no fuss at all. DL are no where near by the time you've added in the 'extras' that Elephant include.
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My premium with Privilege has been the same give or take a couple of quid for the last 4 years. they didnt even penalise me for my accident in the misses Sirion. Cant say fairer than that, they must like me.
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Try Admiral as they are the same group as Elephant. My daughter was insured with Elephant for 2 years and changed from a Ford KA 1.3 to a Honda Civic 1.6. Elephant wanted £1300 and I got it for £630 with Admiral and they transferred NCB electronically for her too.
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Try Bell. They are part of Admiral and specialise in business cover. I went with them on the GTI this year. Nobody else could get within £200 of them with the same Ts and Cs. 18k pa, inc 8k business cover, £250 excess on a group 14 car, albeit an old one for £335. Ok I'm the wrong side of 30 with full NCB but everyone else wanted over £500
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Thans, I think Bell came out cheaper actually didn't realise they were apart of Admiral. Thought they be one of them off shore companies from the channel islands.
Will also check Admiral.
Edit got the cheapest quotes here just checked and the three cheapest were Bell, Elephant and Admiral but only £10 difference between each.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Wed 1 Sep 10 at 21:11
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QUOTE
Seems to me that kids are being priced out of driving. Short-sighted policy, the country would grind to a halt without a new generation of drivers coming up.
END-QUOTE
Actually, it's the kids that are pricing themselves out of driving, or rather an idiotic minority who cause a disproportionate number of accidents who are doing that.
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I'd recommend trying a trunk call as well. Xantia was at same sort of level a Rich quotes above . Adding 17yo daughter on provisional put it up to £800 and another £50 after she passed her test - need to check whether Pass Plus has any effect. Given that she's going to Uni in a year and that a third car is something we've neither the space nor the budget for the extra insurance is a pretty good deal.
Other car (Berlingo) insured through Swinton who couldn't get a quote below £2k.
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FWIW I'm 28 and drive a 98 Mazda 2.0 petrol and pay £528 inc interest charges which works out at £44 per month. Not so bad for me as apart from £80 petrol per month and £50 put away for tyres and MOT's thats all I spend on motoring. Not really glamorous but affordable.
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DL put my policy up. Changed over to Tesco car insurance and saved £133. A few months down the line Tesco sent me £20 in clubcard vouchers as the insurance payment clocked up quite a few clubcard points.
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>> DL put my policy up. Changed over to Tesco car insurance and saved £133. A
>> few months down the line Tesco sent me £20 in clubcard vouchers as the insurance
>> payment clocked up quite a few clubcard points.
>
... which became £80 of Eurotunnel vouchers.
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It's worth looking at quidco. Some insurers give cashback, quite alot (ie morethan up to £100). If you combine with the meerkat, good overall deals can be had.
Alex.
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Wow! Rattle's insurance is costing him 14p per mile at present. For comparison, mine is 2.7p per mile.
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Just sorted out the Mrs car insurance - First direct will better your renewal by 10% with the same t's and c's. In her case the cover offered was actualy better than her renewall, but as a little bonus for me they have offered to improve on any other insureds renewall at the same address by 15%
EDIT
Should add that you cant lie as they asked for a copy of the renewall and proof of NCB
Last edited by: mikeyb on Tue 7 Sep 10 at 21:37
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Direct Line got very huffy when I told them that my (comparison site) quote was less than theirs. They flannelled about the all the extras (that I didn't want) but seemed very reluctant to accept that anyone might offer a better deal.
BTW, has anyone recent experience of 'transfer' charges when changing their car? I don't remember meeting these before, but Mrs JBJ was just charged £25 by Swinton for the privilege and an additional £47 to keep the insurer happy. When we queried this, the explanation was that her old 323 was cheaper to insure because of its age, despite being only TPF&T (so car value not important) and her new(er) 323 having less power, more security and ABS!
Years ago, you just phoned your broker and told them you'd changed the car - end of story.
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>> BTW, has anyone recent experience of 'transfer' charges when changing their car? I don't remember
Direct Line, Charged me a £25 "admin fee" when I changed my address, and then a Extra £60 becasue I live in a "higher risk area".
So for being honest it cost me money, as I still own the house that I moved from (trying to sell it) I should have kept my mouth shut for the remainder 4 months of the insurance term.
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Yes JBJ, I had this last year. I changed my group 6 Car to a group 2 one with 6 weeks to run on the policy and had to pay something for privilege despite the reduction in the gross premium.
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£25 is about the going rate unfortunately. I remember when I changed the Volvo to the Golf earlier this year, the £25 premium refund I was due was, by pure coincidence, exactly the same as the £25 admin fee for changing the cover over. So "I'm sorry sir, there is no refund applicable, in this case." It annoyed me so much, I decided not to renew with the same company, and I told them so on their feedback form. In fairness, they were wildly uncompetitive with their renewal quote anyway.
The problem with legally obligatory insurance is that the industry has no incentive to treat its customers well. They know the vast majority of people aren't going to cancel a policy and inconvenience themselves finding another one (and being off the road while they do so) for the sake of £25.
The only time I successfully had the fee waived was when I had two motorbikes and a car all insured with the same broker. I asked if they thought it was good customer retention policy to charge a customer with £1200 worth of policies which were coming up for renewal over the coming months a (then) £20 admin fee to amend a policy, when that customer was unhappy about paying it? After a brief chat with her supervisor, the girl in the call centre apologised and cancelled the fee. I've never managed to repeat this, but then I've never had three policies in one place since.
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>> I am 28, do 5000 miles a year, two years no claims+, been driving two
>> years it just seems madness.
You presumably have protected no claims discount but did you claim for your Corsa theft?
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I didn't put in a claim. I claimed for the my windscreen but that doesn't affect my no claims bonus, its just something I have to mention to declare as a claim.
I think I only just qualify for protected no claims because this will be first policy of having a licence for two years or longer.
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>> I didn't put in a claim. I claimed for the my windscreen but that doesn't
>> affect my no claims bonus, its just something I have to mention to declare as
>> a claim.
You dont have to claim, the very act of reporting *anything* including the loss of your key, will increase your premium next time round, you are classed as a risk.
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>> you are classed as a risk
I tried pointing this out higher up. Your discount is applied to the premium they calculate. If you are seen as a risk the premium will be higher. But then a bit will be taken off with your no claims bonus.
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But there is nothing in law to say I have to report the missing key to a new insurer is there? Its just a random key with no way of linking to my car and when I get the key replaced the missing one will be canceled too as when you get a key made for modern FIATs you hand them all the keys you want to work with your car, any missing key simply gets deleted.
The main element of risk is simply my postcode and possibly the fact I use my car for business use. I live in a fairly good part of Manchester with high house prices but I also live quite close to the city centre and any wealthy areas close to cities always attract crime.
My postcode is still on the refer list e.g very high risk.
That said Ted can insure a car for £200 and my dad only pays £300 a year so not much of that risk can be due to postcode. My age shouldn't be that much of an issue but I suppose two years driving experience is still considered a risk.
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I would hope at your age and your location, the insurance should not be so high.
There's isn't always logic with insurance. We reduced my wife's insurance by adding me as a named driver. The only time I drive it is when I put it in the garage or take it out for her.
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Ungaraged car in Manchester, 2 break ins, Business use, driver only has 2 years experience -
Substandard risk I'm afraid. You will be loaded by 30-50% for business use and probably another 50% for ungaraged/high theft risk.
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My rich little sister (she will go mad if she knew I call her that but she earns more than me and my dad put together) wants to buy a new car to learn to drive in. She has never driven a car in her life. She wants a brand new C1 or 107.
Anyway I did some spoof insurance quotes for her and a 13 year old Fiesta cost her more than £800 a year more than a brand new C1. Now that is logicaless. I can only assume its due to the expected injuries.
My quotes are basicaly double what my dad pays so I suppose its not that bad considering he has 20+ years no claims etc.
Adding my dad to my insurance increases the premiums massively it is very odd. He is not a named driver and never wants to drive it anyway as he will get the blame of any marks on it!
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>> My rich little sister (she will go mad if she knew I call her that
>> but she earns more than me and my dad put together) wants to buy a
>> new car to learn to drive in. She has never driven a car in her
>> life. She wants a brand new C1 or 107.
>>
>> Anyway I did some spoof insurance quotes for her and a 13 year old Fiesta
>> cost her more than £800 a year more than a brand new C1. Now that
>> is logicaless. I can only assume its due to the expected injuries.
No - it is entirely logical, someone who buys a new car is going to take more care than someone who buys a 13 year old Fiesta which will cost less than the insurance premium.
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"My rich little sister ... she earns more than me and my dad put together"
Does she have a paper round?
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>> "My rich little sister ... she earns more than me and my dad put together"
>>
>> Does she have a paper round?
>>
Two - the daily rag and the sundays :-)
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The Suzuki Jimny. (My rarely used 1000 MPA dog moving hack, value 1k max')) Renewal comes through at £284.00 for me and the Ayatollah. 'twas about £240.00 last year at inception. This hits me square in the eyes so I seek an alternative not hoping for much. Can't be arsd with comparison (information gathering long winded sites) so go out to a local mutual Ins' Co. who I have been with before and they quite surprised me with their bid. Took a voluntary £150.00 excess as opposed to the standard 100, but still>>>>
Virtual Quart of tonight's speciality (Marston's Pedigree) to the nearest answer within a fiver.
MD
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>> to a local mutual Ins' Co. who I have been with before and they quite
>> surprised me with their bid.
That's likely to be NFU then Mart, they plough their own furrow (groan) re pricing.
I'll hazard a guess at £148.
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>> My rich little sister (she will go mad if she knew I call her that
>> but she earns more than me and my dad put together) wants to buy a
>> new car to learn to drive in. She has never driven a car in her
>> life. She wants a brand new C1 or 107.
>>
>> Anyway I did some spoof insurance quotes for her and a 13 year old Fiesta
>> cost her more than £800 a year more than a brand new C1. Now that
>> is logicaless. I can only assume its due to the expected injuries.
>>
>>
The safety of the car will be a factor, also security is much better so less likely to be stolen
Last edited by: mikeyb on Thu 9 Sep 10 at 20:48
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>> The safety of the car will be a factor, also security is much better so
>> less likely to be stolen
Yup, it's the old bangers (pre-transponder immobiliser stuff) that are the last refuge of the joyrider. They've done all the hot hatches and the fast stuff, now anything that can be entered with a slide hammer, and started with a screwdriver is fair game. It doesn't matter what it is.
Youtube provides some often heartbreaking evidence.
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I've always found GoCompare.com to find the cheapest quotes if my renewal price goes up by more than a modest amount. I check it out in any case each year, along with house and contents insurance.
But I've been with Zurich Connect for the third year running now as it hasn't played fast and loose with the renewal fees and matches or beats the majority of on-line quotes.
£213 for fully comprehensive with breakdown cover, legal aid etc back in July.
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I long ago formed the impression that Direct Line 'cherry pick' insurance risks, also their policies (when I last looked) were very much 'bare bones' and adding niceties like legal cover and a hire car to motor policies or bicycles to household policies soon made them more expensive than their rivals.
It's a reasonable game plan, as long as enough people only want very basic insurance or don't read the small print or perhaps don't notice that the total price has risen beyond other insurers....
As for price comparison websites, they take margin, Direct Line is a direct business (supposedly cheaper but aren't they all these days) so use their savings on infrastructure to give lower prices, or higher profit margins.
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I got my renewal notice in the post on Friday, and after reading this thought I'd look around for another quote. Tried the meerkat, and my cheapest quote was nearly £50 better than my renewal. My current insurer also provided a quote, which was £20 cheaper.
I looked at Direct Line - they were substantially higher.
Time to make some telephone calls on Monday methinks.
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...Time to make some telephone calls on Monday methinks...
My renewal date was last month and I think premiums have gone up since last year.
Ran my details through GoCompare, and there were no significant savings to had.
The GoCompare quote from my existing insurer, More Than, was a few pounds more then their quote direct to me.
If you've found a quote which is £50 cheaper, I don't think there's much point in making any phone calls, the process is unlikely to yield a much greater saving.
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Try Aviva, phone them dont use a meerkat or try the web site.
The wife and I have both had very competitive quotes from them, cheaper than that quoted on the web site.
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>> I long ago formed the impression that Direct Line 'cherry pick' insurance risk
That was certainly the case, less so now. In those days car insurers didn't get quite so close to rating individual risk, but DL were pickier - so for example they could say to a driver under 30 with 2 speeding convictions "sorry we cannot quote you on this occasion".
DL seriously upset the market, because they took their competitors' best customers. The whole industry then had to starting rating more accurately, so they could reduce rates for the drivers DL were taking and increase them for the higher risks. One result was that premiums for new/young drivers went through the roof.
>> As for price comparison websites, they take margin,
True, but it's just one way of spending the marketing money. DL isn't on them but has to spend money to advertise the fact and persuade us they are cheaper for that reason. The one financial structure that should in theory be cheaper is the mutual, like NFU.
The frustration for buyers is that all motor insurers now follow a strategy of offering attractive quotes to new drivers outside the riskiest groups, then when they have got them on board they "de-tune" the renewal premiums to make a profit. This is the way the market operates, and if they don't do it they will either have no new business or lose lots of money.
This will continue as long as price is the key criterion. That's why insurers desperately try to differentiate by including breakdown, legal cover, replacement car if yours is written off, etc., but we aren't interested if the price is more than a little higher.
Meanwhile, unless you want to pay over the odds for car insurance, it's just about obligatory to visit the meerkat or one of his mates every year. This year my renewal with Swift (£278 last year) was £327, an 18% increase. Moneysupermarket.com brought up Admiral, at £298, so that's where I went.
The art of "de-tuning" is to pitch it so enough customers don't think it's quite worth moving. For £29, I nearly didn't, but of course there'd have been another tweak next year, and so on...
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SWMO renewed her insirance this year. Last year AA £142 fully comp.
This year SAGA plus discount for getting a quote for home insurance £77.
What's the fuss? :-)
(SAGA home insurance quote c £600, Sheila's Wheels c £320...)
Last edited by: madf on Sun 12 Sep 10 at 14:28
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£77?
What's that for, a de-tuned milk float?
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>>
>> £77?
>>
>> What's that for, a de-tuned milk float?
>>
>>
>>
That's faster than a 106 1.4 diesel:-)
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I've been with Direct Line since 2005; I'm now 39, drive less than 5000 miles a year, and have a 6 year old Prius T5 of which I am the only driver. I've never had an accident that was my fault, have no motoring convictions, and have 9+ years No Claims Discount.
I insure Fully Comp, with NCD Protection and Legal Assistance.
The first three years' premiums were practically identical, then in 2008, there was an £86 jump, followed by a further £58 in 2009, and I have been sent a renewal notice for an extra £183.75 in 2010!
Actually, I'd lazily let the 2008 one renew without question, then disputed the 2009 one, and got a discount (no reason given), bringing it back down to slightly less than 2008 levels, so the actual price hike from 2009 to 2010 was £260.95! Tried the same thing again today, but they were only able to offer a small reduction on their quote (just because I phoned?).
Most of the increase has been in the basic premium, but NCD protection has shot up this year after being fairly stable since 2005.
Overall my insurance quotes from Direct Line have increased by 57% in 5 years.
As you say, Bye Bye Direct Line; AXA are offering less than the premium I was paying DL in 2008... and that's with basic Breakdown recovery added on.
Last edited by: Ellis on Thu 28 Oct 10 at 13:46
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Try The Co-operative Insurance. You may be pleasantly surprised.
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SO far this year I have dumped DL for household insurance and pet insurance.
Both renewals carried a 25%+ increase from them.
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DL is up for sale as per Euro instructions after Banking Crisis. From being a gem and earning megabucks for RBS over some 20 years it found itself losing money in the recent past.
Up for sale - raise prices and make profits - the wise punter walks as there are equally good/bad companies out there who will cover your car/house/pet or whatever for less.
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Direct line was run very much as a hands off operation BY RBS, left to its own management down in Croydon.
RBS decided to bring it "in house" and there it began to spiral down hill.
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DL is outsourcing some of admin function to INDIA (and closing UK offices/downsizing offices) - a better reason for changing than even a price hike!(IMHO)
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Been with Admiral for just over a week now, no problems as yet all got added onto the MID database etc.
Of course with any insurance company one hopes to never need to find out how good/bad they are!
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>> Try The Co-operative Insurance.
More expensive than the quote DL gave me. I ended up going with Tesco and saved something like £130.
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DL are advertising big style in Germany and sponsoring auto programs on the TV maybe they are subsidising the customers here with higher premiums in the UK.
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RBS Insurance Wing - Thye are planning floating Direct Line/Churchill/GreenFlag after failing to sell it
Guardian has the detail
www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/oct/28/rbs-insurance-arm-set-for-flotation
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I don't think I've ever had a competitive quote from Direct Line, in my experience they provide a very basic level of cover and cherry-pick risks.
So as long as (back when I tried them), you don't want expensive items covered (home insurance) or legal protection, hire cars etc (motor insurance) and you drive a run-of-the-mill car their quote is attractive. add these things and they soon become more expensive than the competition. It's their business model so you can't blame them.
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As the header says, Well done.
Last years premium, £356. This year they have invited me to renew @ £346.
I was expecting to be fleeced at renewal ala the pirates at DL.
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>> As the header says, Well done.
>>
>> Last years premium, £356. This year they have invited me to renew @ £346.
>>
>> I was expecting to be fleeced at renewal ala the pirates at DL.
>>
Still worth a try on the comparison websites - you might save £100+ with AN Other insurer
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I renewed with Aviva instead of Privilege who I had been with for a few years due to their premium being substantially lower and they were also giving 2 months free.
Mind you, in the list of insurance add ons they try and sell you, as well as legal protection and protected no claims I was offered physio cover! First time I have heard of that!
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>> Still worth a try on the comparison websites - you might save £100+ with AN
>> Other insurer
I can save £56 with Tesco value insurance, but they want £725 excess for that, or £22 with LV and the policy matches closely. Not moving for 22 quid, I would loose my house insurance discount for next year.
And they are the only two cheaper quotes as per go compare.
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I've just discovered that John Lewis do insurance, house & car plus all of the usual. No idea how they compare, I have no insurance coming up for renewal for some time.
John
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John Lewis will come out more expensive. They are not a bargain basement/lots of exclusions policy.
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The JLP insurance is underwritten by Fortis.
A comparable car quote for my car came up at £411, and that includes being a JLP account card holder.
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Direct Line may not appear on comparison websites but Admiral do and they are both parts of the same company.This is true of a number of other companies who claim they don't appear on comparison sites.
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Admiral is Admiral and nothing to do with RBS/DL/Pivilege etc.
DL do not appear on comparison sites but RBS Insurance appears as an insurer under other names on comparison sites.
Aviva Direct is direct as the name suggests but Aviva sells policies via Brokers such as Saga etc
It is all segmentation and marketing to different markets, higher / lower risks etc.
15 yrs ago my son (22 at the time) was insured by Norwich Union Direct for a Volvo 480 for £500. Changes to Honda Prelude - NU Direct " we cannot insure a 22 yr old on a Prelude" as it is too high a group car for a young single man.
Goes to Broker, premium only £450 and it was with Norwich Union "Broker Division"
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For what its worth, I insure through IAM Surety. The Skills for Life course costs £139, and many drivers would get that back in reduced premiums within a couple of years.
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Bye bye Direct Line - £400 increase - Videodoctor
