Haggling with QuoteMeHappy?

[TomsFocus]

Has anyone managed to haggle the renewal with QMH?  I've seen this page on their website which suggests it's a futile exercise?  Quotemehappy.com

I'm perfectly content with the service so far.  The accessibility of online & mobile app policy management is ideal as I can't use phones.  Plus they don't charge any admin fees for making changes during the policy.

However their renewal comes out around £40 more expensive than Tesco Bank.  Tesco Bank also charge £10 less than QMH for cancellation, but I would have to write to them to do that, whereas QMH can be cancelled online easily.  Tesco Bank quote is roughly the same through various comparison sites so I could also benefit from a £20 Halfords voucher from Confused.com or up to £150 in 'garage vouchers' from MoneySupermarket.  (Not looked into full T&Cs of that yet.) 

This is for the Mk4 Focus so I do expect to either change car & change address at least once this year, OR cancel the policy altogether.  Which makes the decision a bit more difficult.

Ideally, I was hoping to sell the car before this years insurance expires, but that's looking unrealistic now.

[TomsFocus]

Quick update...turns out QMH do now charge admin fees for policy changes, despite being online only and the customer making the changes, £12 plus insurance tax.  That's a bit disappointing as it used to be free and one of the benefits of this particular company.  Having said that, they're still much cheaper than their parent company, Aviva, for me!

I'm still trying to plan with too many unknowns, so have decided to stick with them.  But a new quote comes out nearly £40 cheaper, so I'll let it lapse* and then start that.  Details are slightly different so I may see if I can edit the renewal down to that price first.  Either way, will be leaving it until the last minute in the hope of the Mk4 getting sold before then!

*The other major benefit of QMH that I'd forgotten about is the ability to choose whether you want auto-renewal or not, with an easily accessible online/app tick box.

[TomsFocus]

Update - I did stick with QMH, but couldn't get the renewal price anywhere near the 'new' quote with them.  Not entirely how that works out legally, but it is what it is. 

So I let it lapse and then started the new quote for £40 less than the renewal price, and also with a much lower excess too.  I couldn't find cheaper anywhere else and do like the low hassle accessibility with QMH.  

Cost me £265 fully comp with 1 years NCB on the Mk4 Focus Active Vignale.

[StephenFord]

Just wanted to say, 'well done', and didn't want to have a whole thread with just you posting LOL

[Wino]

Just to follow on from @StephenFord a job well done @TomsFocus might have a look at QMH as our Focus has been insured with Aviva for the last 2yrs.

No luck here. £24 dearer for the year.

Edited May 2, 2022 by Wino
Additional information.

[isetta]

I’m with direct line. They are not on comparison sites which makes it more work to compare. They were cheaper when I changed to them but not checked for a couple of years now.  But I don’t think they charge admin fees for changes even if done by phone. Unless they have sneaked that in recently.  The other thing I like-  you know the third party driving other cars.  These days many insurers have changed the wording so that it only operates if there is a policy in force on that car elsewhere (eg the owner has it insured for him only driving) .  But direct line have not restricted like that.  Why does this matter?   You drive your mate’s car for some reason , police stop you , but it turns out your mate’s policy was cancelled due to a bounced direct debit.  Hence your third party driving other cars does not cover you.  So you have committed an offence - driving without insurance. It seems to be a subtle change that some insurers sneaked in under the radar.      And on that subject, when I started driving in the 80s , the norm on car policies was to get third party driving other cars And Motorbikes (if you had appropriate licence) .  The motorbike bit seems to have disappeared. I didn’t notice when . 

[StephenFord]

9 hours ago, isetta said:

The other thing I like-  you know the third party driving other cars.  These days many insurers have changed the wording .... 

Another thing that many won't realise is that my insurance use to give me 3rd party cover for another car. I used it maybe 1 or 2 times/year when my car was in for service, and I would use my mums old Toyota Yaris for a day or so.

Then I found out when I lost my job, I also lost that cover. If you are unemployed, insurers retract 3rd party cover for another car because obviously you are a much higher risk?? - disgusting, but I'd expect nothing less from insurance companies...  (It was with 'elephant', but I subsequently found out that all companies do the same)

[TomsFocus]

16 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Another thing that many won't realise is that my insurance use to give me 3rd party cover for another car. I used it maybe 1 or 2 times/year when my car was in for service, and I would use my mums old Toyota Yaris for a day or so.

Then I found out when I lost my job, I also lost that cover. If you are unemployed, insurers retract 3rd party cover for another car because obviously you are a much higher risk?? - disgusting, but I'd expect nothing less from insurance companies...  (It was with 'elephant', but I subsequently found out that all companies do the same)

Are you sure it's all companies?  Or just all Admiral group?  (That includes Admiral, Elephant, Bell, Diamond, Ford Insure, etc!)

Most places that offer DOC's, only do so above 25, but I've never heard of it being restricted to employed people only.  

[StephenFord]

8 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Are you sure it's all companies?  Or just all Admiral group?  (That includes Admiral, Elephant, Bell, Diamond, Ford Insure, etc!)

 

Fair point, It was a few years ago now, but I remember getting quotes form about 4 or 5 companies and they all said the same. Ended up adding myself to my mums policy as a 2nd fully comp. driver for about £20!

[TomsFocus]

14 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Fair point, It was a few years ago now, but I remember getting quotes form about 4 or 5 companies and they all said the same. Ended up adding myself to my mums policy as a 2nd fully comp. driver for about £20!

I'll have to check my policy docs later.  Although I've never used it so far, I think I am covered to drive other cars despite my circumstances!  I know it only applies to cars that are already insured by the owner though, as Isetta said.

[unofix]

4 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

I know it only applies to cars that are already insured by the owner though, as Isetta said.

It has always been my understanding that to use any motor vehicle on a public road that the vehicle must be insured, not the driver !! Of course the driver must also be insured to drive the vehicle which is a separate issue, and may or may not be on the same policy. As is quite often the case your own insurance policy will in most cases allow you to drive another vehicle but with only third party cover, and always provided that the vehicle is insured.

If it was ever legal to drive an uninsured vehicle on a public road, relying purely on the fact that the driver was covered by their own third party insurance I very much doubt. What would be the legal position regarding the insurance if someone driving an uninsured vehicle on their third party cover was to stop on a public road, and get out and go in to a shop. Mean while the car rolls down a hill, knocks over and kills a pedestrian ?

I suspect that all that has happened is that the wording of insurance policies has been changed not to alter the cover but to make it clearer to all, that a vehicle must be insured in it's own right if it is to be used on a public road. Also as we mostly all know now, a vehicle must be road taxed at all times or declared SORN, and to be able to tax a vehicle it (not the driver) must have insurance.

 

[TomsFocus]

Must admit, I'd never really considered a difference between a car being insured and a person being insured.

Where I used to live, I often had 2 or 3 cars at a time, all parked on private ground, but on a hill towards the pavement & road and no fence or barrier of any sort.  They were generally taxed (remember tax was transferable back then!) but I rarely insured more than one at a time.  Wasn't bothered by them getting damaged/stolen...but I never considered what would happen if one rolled into the road or pavement like that.  

[StephenFord]

Now that's odd. I have just got notification this minute (16th February 2023) That there has been further posts on this thread from when I posted 16th June 2022! Presumably an IT glitch LOL

[TomsFocus]

Or a spam post that Alex quickly dispatched?

I don't get notifications for 'content I posted in' for obvious reasons.

 

[alexp999]

It was spam

[TomsFocus]

Just want to bump this thread to save starting a new one...

Does anyone on here have an older car insured with quotemehappy?

The Golf turned 10 this year and they wanted an extra 30% to insure it. Just tried to swap cover to the Mk2 Focus instead and that's even worse - nearly double the Golf!

I've tried putting the values up in case they just don't want sub £2k cars but that made no difference.  Same driver and address etc.  The only difference is the car age as far as I can tell.

For reference, I can insure a 3 year old, £15k Golf with them for just £200 a year so it's not the model either.

They've also added considerable admin fees now (despite being all online!) so I doubt I'll be sticking with them at renewal.

[StephenFord]

2 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Does anyone on here have an older car insured with quotemehappy?

The Golf turned 10 this year and they wanted an extra 30% to insure it. Just tried to swap cover to the Mk2 Focus instead and that's even worse - nearly double the Golf!

I'm unsure if the cars 'age' is a big factor in the premium. I speak as someone who insures both an 18 year old Focus Mk2, and a Toyota Yaris now 22 years old. The value allocated to both are minimal, though I did try a sliding scale with the Focus, right up to £3000 and the premium didn't change at all... I really don't understand insurance premiums, it's all done by witchcraft as far as I'm concerned! 

[alexp999]

It’s all based on statistics and mostly the risk of what you’ll hit as a car loses value. 

[TomsFocus]

12 hours ago, StephenFord said:

I'm unsure if the cars 'age' is a big factor in the premium. I speak as someone who insures both an 18 year old Focus Mk2, and a Toyota Yaris now 22 years old. The value allocated to both are minimal, though I did try a sliding scale with the Focus, right up to £3000 and the premium didn't change at all... I really don't understand insurance premiums, it's all done by witchcraft as far as I'm concerned! 

As someone who's insured 50+ cars, I have always found older cars cost more to insure.  But usually by more like 10-20%, never this much.  

Basically, they expect people driving newer cars to take more care while driving and take less risks when parked (for example - paying for secure multistorey as opposed to on-street in a rough area).

I just can't understand why the Mk2 Focus is so horrifically expensive to insure for me now.  I've just checked figures again in case I made a mistake yesterday:

2021 Focus insured for £25k - £250 a year. 
2010 Focus insured for £2.5k - £550 a year.

🤔

[StephenFord]

9 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Basically, they expect people driving newer cars to take more care while driving and take less risks when parked (for example - paying for secure multistorey as opposed to on-street in a rough area).

Maybe it's because I'm an old man now, my premiums have become mores sensible, and I really do take more care when driving, I have no idea how I made it to this age without killing myself on the roads previously. I use to be a dreadfully, arrogant 'boy racer'! But for example, now when tailgated, I simply pull over at the 1st opportunity and let the eejit overtake so they can crash further up he road out of my way LOL Before, it was foot down with an attitude of, "I'll show them...".

[alanfp]

50 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

2021 Focus insured for £25k - £250 a year. 
2010 Focus insured for £2.5k - £550 a year.

That's incredible!  I knew premiums go up when YOU get old (discovered this when looking at insurance for my late father in his late-80s).

I assume you've checked other insurers on comparison sites? I find them really helpful and I've just saved £50 a year AND got 12 free car washes as a reward.

[TomsFocus]

19 minutes ago, alanfp said:

I assume you've checked other insurers on comparison sites? I find them really helpful and I've just saved £50 a year AND got 12 free car washes as a reward.

Well, this is the problem.  I only want the Mk2 insured to get it MOT'd & sold, hopefully within the next month.  It seems daft to cancel the Mk4 insurance, losing 1 years NCB for the sake of 5 weeks, and having to pay about £50 in cancellation fees.  So the idea was just to transfer the insurance from the Mk4 to the Mk2 for the remaining 5 weeks.  I don't want to pay for another full year of insurance for the Mk2.

The alternative is temp insurance just for the day of the MOT, and then the day of the collection/delivery (however it gets sold).  That would cost around £10 per day for temp insurance.  But of course, if it fails MOT, that could then add at least another £10 for a retest, and if the sale falls through (WBAC or similar) that would be another £10 lost.  

In theory, swapping the insurance for the remaining 5 weeks should be the most simple and cost effective method...

[alanfp]

8 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

So the idea was just to transfer the insurance from the Mk4 to the Mk2 for the remaining 5 weeks.

sounds like the best solution (even if there's an admin fee).  Have you got a quote for the transfer?

[TomsFocus]

1 hour ago, alanfp said:

sounds like the best solution (even if there's an admin fee).  Have you got a quote for the transfer?

Yeah, it's about £45 which is a lot for potentially two days use out of that 5 weeks.   

Also just realised that if the car sells before the end of the month I'll end up paying the £50 cancelation fee on top of that as well.

Looks like a there isn't going to be a free way to do this so it's just working out the most cost effective choice.

[Wino]

We got the renewal for the "Noddy car" yesterday, gone up by £30 from £165 to £195 fully comp. Same policy and excess so will be ringing them when we get back to sort it one way or another. Already have a quote from CTM  like for like policy at £162. It only did a tad over 1k miles last year.