Ridiculous Insurance Quotes..

[RCJ]

If you really believe that then you're as deluded as Colonel Gaddafi. Back here on planet earth it's the boy racer community that's hit hardest with insurance premiums because they cost the insurance industry the most money.

I've lived all over the country and never once have I witnessed the boy racer community as safe drivers - I've certainly witnessed them as the worst drivers though. My evidence? I used to be one! Thinking back to the things I did, the amount of accidents I could have caused or the damage I could have caused to myself and others travelling at speed now sends shivers down my spine. But life isn't as precious when your younger basically because you know nothing about life.

By all means defend yourself against high premiums, but talking !Removed! will get you nowhere.

I think the words "boy racer" is getting confused here, maybe i should use the words car enthusiasts.

The stereotypical "boy racer" in which you are talking about i referred to as immature drivers.

[mitch84]

It's really hard to say although it's obvious to say making no claims would be the best solution but that's not always a possibility. If you've still got your full NCB then it shouldn't be too bad.

I'll give a little example.

Last Oct my car got nicked after they broke into my house and took the keys, was found an hr after I reported it due to a tracker and was told it had no damage, they leave them to see if the Police pick it up, ie, it's got a tracker. if it's there the next day or so, they'll take it again presuming no tracker is active.

So, I thought, no damage, I've £600 excess, I'll not claim, it'll only cost me more. How wrong could I be.

The Police impounded the car and kept it for forensics for two weeks, because my house was broke into. I thought they'd have it for a couple of days max. So, I used the Fiesta for a week but I had to have a courtesy car for the week after, as I still needed to go to work. I was also told I would have to pay £150 to release my car from the recovery place that had my car whilst the Police we're dealing with it. I would then have to replace my iPod that was in it. So we're already on £200+ VAT for courtesy car for a week, £150 for recovery, £130 for a new key and the stolen key decoded out so they couldn't start the car but could still get in it and £100 for a second hand iPod. So it would cost me £20 more than my excess to get my car back with a key still out there and those who had it knowing my address, so I had to claim. They changed all my locks, EWS system that the keys are coded to, a set of new keys, a valet after the Police left it full of fingerprint dust and all in I had a courtesy car for 5 weeks whilst it was sorted.

My insurance was due start of Feb and I was dreading the increase, even thinking about selling the car as I wasn't prepared to pay an astronomical amount. My premium last yeat was £470 fully comp with protected no claims and full NCB, my renewal came through with my claim well and truly there and the premium had risen to £580, so all in all, a £110 increase from the previous year. I was more than happy with that as insurance has risen dramatically over the last 12 months due to all sorts of things, including the 2 bad winters and was expecting it to be not far off £1000.

So, it's fair to say I'm much better off in the long run having made a claim.

thanks , your a credit to these forums with your detailed posts :)

[mitch84]

I think the words "boy racer" is getting confused here, maybe i should use the words car enthusiasts.

The stereotypical "boy racer" in which you are talking about i referred to as immature drivers.

the way insurance companys look at it is if you are a young driver and have a modified car they automatically class you as boy racer?

[RCJ]

the way insurance companys look at it is if you are a young driver and have a modified car they automatically class you as boy racer?

Which is wrong IMO

[Chan19]

You need to add older drivers as named drivers, even if they will never drive it, I added my mum and grandad who have and will never drive my car but saved me £400!! It spreads the "liability" as such...

[Chan19]

Oh & I work for LV lol in claims though. Admiral always come up cheapest for me!

[calmcdermott]

Oh & I work for LV lol in claims though. Admiral always come up cheapest for me!

Haha so do I, for the 100% fault team in the Leeds office!

[Magenta]

i agree that younger drivers can be more of a risk due to the immature drivers among them. But elderly drivers are just as bad.

i can understand someone 30-60's having cheaper insurance.

As one of those well above that 30-60 year old band you quote, you might be surprised to hear that I do agree with you to a certain extent. I consider myself 'older' but not 'elderly'. Not just age is a factor though but also practice. I won't call it experience as that is a different thing, I have plenty of that. I used to be on the road in my job as a service engineer every day, sometimes all day, fighting through congested motorways etc. covering up to 30K a year. Now I'm retired, I maybe cover 5K max a year and rarely go on motorways. When I do go on a busy motorway now, I am immediately aware that I have become out of practice in that highly charged environment even after two years retirement which comes as quite a shock. I haven't particularly noticed my premiums being higher due to my age but I do expect it to happen eventually. The annual renewal of driving licenses at 70 can only be a good thing but I think an eye test should be compulsory, not just a ticked box. There are a lot of older drivers out there that can't see properly.

As I keep saying, it is the SCALE of difference in premiums which I think is unfair. Perhaps twenty or even fifty percent more but not two or three hundred percent more, that's just profiteering.

[RCJ]

As one of those well above that 30-60 year old band you quote, you might be surprised to hear that I do agree with you to a certain extent. I consider myself 'older' but not 'elderly'. Not just age is a factor though but also practice. I won't call it experience as that is a different thing, I have plenty of that. I used to be on the road in my job as a service engineer every day, sometimes all day, fighting through congested motorways etc. covering up to 30K a year. Now I'm retired, I maybe cover 5K max a year and rarely go on motorways. When I do go on a busy motorway now, I am immediately aware that I have become out of practice in that highly charged environment even after two years retirement which comes as quite a shock. I haven't particularly noticed my premiums being higher due to my age but I do expect it to happen eventually. The annual renewal of driving licenses at 70 can only be a good thing but I think an eye test should be compulsory, not just a ticked box. There are a lot of older drivers out there that can't see properly.

As I keep saying, it is the SCALE of difference in premiums which I think is unfair. Perhaps twenty or even fifty percent more but not two or three hundred percent more, that's just profiteering.

This is exactly the point. It's no wonder people are driving without insurance.

Its not even like a older smaller engine car are reasonable to insure! Thats why younger people are getting newer cars, for an extra £500 on their premium they can get a brand new car insured.

I also want to point out i wasnt calling anyone over 60 elderly! B)

[kevin lancelott]

I was with Swintonns till very recently and I was paying £315 with all the bells and whistles when I had a mk6 ghia.When I bought the mk7 titanium it went up £118 so I was paying £433 for a year.Come renewal Swintons wanted £670 which I told them I was not paying so I shopped around.The best I found for me with all the extras and low excess was £448 with Hastings so I only paying £15 more than last year.Dont know what Swintons was thinking.

[KeithC]

This is exactly the point. It's no wonder people are driving without insurance.

Its not even like a older smaller engine car are reasonable to insure! Thats why younger people are getting newer cars, for an extra £500 on their premium they can get a brand new car insured.

I also want to point out i wasnt calling anyone over 60 elderly! B)

I've already shown that you can save a considerable lump by going oldish car and TPF&T compared to new and fully comp. Don't forget, brand new cars cost considerably more than a 10 yr old one. Thing is, some kids of today want it all, well if you do, pay for it.

[RCJ]

I've already shown that you can save a considerable lump by going oldish car and TPF&T compared to new and fully comp. Don't forget, brand new cars cost considerably more than a 10 yr old one. Thing is, some kids of today want it all, well if you do, pay for it.

My last car was 14 years old. It was more expensive TPF&T to insure than fully comp. My fiesta is also cheaper to insure than it!

I agree some kids do want it all.

I'll admit like nice things, and i do pay for it, and if it was a problem i wouldn't have bought the car for example.

If I'm honest the thing that annoys me the most about car costs is petrol, but again thats a joy of driving.

My insurance is dropping by nearly £700 this year, so i'm quite happy, but i can see why many are angry.

Back on topic, i still think that its an interesting way of judging driving, Younger drivers have normally passed their tests more recently, so the knowledge of the law is still in their heads. Some more "experienced" drivers seem to not understand the road law... BUT unfortunately the younger generation is let down by the minority.

[Liverpool-S]

agreed, ime 19, and after coming of the phone to admiral this afternoon, newer cars are seen as safer, and are cheaper to insure than older cars.

Its a real eye opener when playing around with insurance, and ime now considering changing my car to the new astra.

I bought my white titanium-s 6 months ago, i cudnt afford a car when i was 17 as the insurance was near enough £5000 for me (i live in liverpool) so went as second driver on my dads insignia.

When i had turned 18 and had a year driving befind my belt i got my fiesta and insured it for £3080 fully comp with 2 addidtional drivers on the policy.

My renewal is soon and have been getting prices of £1900 as i now have a years no claims.

I purely bought the fiesta for insurance reasons, as it was the cheapest car to insure ( i literlly spent weeks researching how insurance computers generated quotes)

But now, i thought ill try and insure the new astra as this was the car ive had my eye on, 1.7 120 CDTI SRI with all the bells and whistles. I was very supprised to find that it would save me nearly £200 on insurance. Surely this could not be right, so i rung admiral and were told as its a new model with 5 star NCAP safety etc that is why its cheaper.

I experimented more. 1.8 Vectra SRI NAV (£5000 to buy) (OLD MODEL NOW AS INSIGNIA REPLACED IT) £5800 a year fully comp

2.0 INSIGNIA SRI NAV CDTI (£15000 say) (NEW REPLACEMENT MODEL OF THE VECTRA)£4200 a year fully comp.

It really is weird how these quotes are generated. Another weird thing with admiral is, by putting my car on the road it saved me £300 as opposed to garage and £280 opposed to path.

When getting quotes, play around with all of the different variables, you will be supprised.

[KeithC]

You seem to be missing the point. I'm talking of the overall cost when you're starting your driving career so to speak. If you buy a £10,000 car, you have to pay for it so it's obviously going to cost you a damn site more than say a car for £2000 or £3000 for the first 2 or 3 years, this will more than subsidise the costs for insuring a young driver.

That's what used to happen years ago, you built your bonus up on a cheapish runaround then when you get a bit more discount from your no claims, then you go for the better type of car.

[PumpkinSteve]

Insurance prices are off the scale now, it's ridiculous. When I was 21 I bought a brand new 1.3 Yaris, It cost me £470 to insure fully comp with 2 years NCB...I then bought a 1.0 Aygo because I thought it would be cheap to run, the insurance cost £90 more per year. Then I bought a Swift Sport and paid £600 the first year, the second year I couldn't find any quotes under £1000.

Now I have a 1.8 Yaris SR, costs about £650 a year to insure fully comp with 4 years NCB...weirdly only £100 more a year to insure than my 1.0 Aygo was ???

[Liverpool-S]

You seem to be missing the point. I'm talking of the overall cost when you're starting your driving career so to speak. If you buy a £10,000 car, you have to pay for it so it's obviously going to cost you a damn site more than say a car for £2000 or £3000 for the first 2 or 3 years, this will more than subsidise the costs for insuring a young driver.

That's what used to happen years ago, you built your bonus up on a cheapish runaround then when you get a bit more discount from your no claims, then you go for the better type of car.

Yes Keith, i agree with nearly everything you have posted in this section, all of it making perfect sence. Ime fortunate as i left school and went straight to work so was fortunate to buy my fiesta, but my dad always said, get a cheap run around car that will then offset the price of insurance.

I didnt miss your point, i was just raising a few slightly off topic things.

Like i said ime 19, and do notice paying high amounts for insurance, and notice a large amount of my wages being spent just on car insurance but now i feel after getting one years no claims, its is becoming far more reasonable. Basically take the pinch for the first year and get some no claims.

I often though of a good way to provide insurance for young drivers would be say "a 17 year olds quote may be £4500" it seems a bit unfair having to pay such a large amount of money, especially if your fortunate enough to have a year of driving with no accidents. Its a sickening feeling when you know youve just paid thousands on insurance and didnt have to use it. Although a large percent of young drivers may have to use there insurance as they are high risks.

But what about having policies which are say £1200 and having an excess of say £2000 - £3000 for instance. This way if you dont claim you have not cost the insurance company any money therefore should not be pi**ing £5000 lump sum up against the wall.

If you are one of the drivers that do crash then you have to pay the heavy excess.

It would encourage people to drive safely maybe and mean the good drivers that dont claim are not paying thousands for insurance !!

Anybody see some logic in this?

[sparticus5]

Insurers have been adopting that very model albeit not with such large sums. I've been insuring cars for over 25 years and only recently have found that some of them are charging £500 excess even for old farts like me with max NCB and living in low risk areas. (I normally pay £100 excess). In fact a £500 excess is more than double what I'd pay to insure my car!

However lets take the figures you quote. Say an 18 year old pays £1200 in insurance. He parks his car at the supermarket, opens the door to get out, a gust of wind takes the door away from him and dents the car in the next bay. What happens then? Let's assume it causes £200 worth of damage to the 3rd party and your bloke obviously offers to pay cash out of his own pocket. What if the 3rd party says no way, my insurer will guarantee the repair job for 5 years if I use their approved bodyshop therefore I want the claim to go thru my insurance. What happens then? Your man is going to have to pay £3000 for a job which costs £200.

There's nothing wrong with your theory but in reality I reckon they'd be all sorts of issues raised asking someone to pay such a large excess.

[RCJ]

@Liverpool-S

I agree with your theory of young drivers insurance. Though i also agree how the excess of 2000-3000 a bit bad, as an example was given how it doesnt work.

I think something like an incentive of, if the insurance is going to cost £3000, if you make no claims or have an accident in your first year, they give you half back... thus insurance only costing £1500.

[Michael P]

Driving is a privilege, a luxury. It doesn't (in most cases) get handed to you on a shiny plate. I pay a ridiculous amount for car insurance, but that's because i'm 19 and driving a Mazda MX-5, when really i should be driving a 1.0 Corsa.

But, i choose to pay £1,900 for car insurance. I don't see the point in moaning about how much i have to pay for it. I moan (occasionally) about the difference between Male and Female insurance quotes, but the way i see it, i'm in a position to be able to afford to pay the money for insurance (just) and i shall continue doing so.

[Magenta]

This is relevant to this thread. Had a very bad day yesterday. I caught the front bumper and wing as I was reversing out of the garage - what a horrible feeling it is when you do it through your own carelessness - my shins are bruised to hell now. Still, as my wife says "It's only a lump of metal - just a car". Now I've calmed down a bit, I look at my insurance policy and damn - my NCD isn't protected and I've got a £250 own damage excess You don't think it's important until something like this happens. I am awaiting one (Ford approved) quote and they tell me that the bumper alone is £280. Apart from the wing damage, the scrape bent the corner of the plastic bumper in the wheel arch and they said that it can't be guaranteed to bend back in place so a new bumper is probably needed.

Only now do I realise that insurance companies only quote NCD these days in years and not percentage. Unless you get multiple quotes from the same company, you can't work out how much you could lose when making a claim. So, the big choice for me now is to claim or not to claim, that is the question. I've got 4 years NCD which would drop back to 2 years but how much in £££ does that mean I wonder ?

[lufc_lad]

Now I have a 1.8 Yaris SR, costs about £650 a year to insure fully comp with 4 years NCB...weirdly only £100 more a year to insure than my 1.0 Aygo was ???

I previously had a 51 plate 1 litre suzuki swift, it cost me £16 extra to insure my 1.6 Zetec S TDCI.

[johnH]

lufc_lad - if i have read your posts correctly you say your in the forces and said about your postcode...i know from personal experiance if you change your insurance address to the camp you are posted to (your work address) you insurance will drop more. a few lads i work with have done this...i got a quote to cut my insurance down by £1000! from the general sky high online quotes i get for my home address. just a little tip to anyone in forces out there.

myself i now drive a 1.8TDCI 5 door focus and pay £1600. fully comp. all option extras free. 21 years old. pay 9 months get 3 months free. i first started driving when i was 19 and had a peugeot 307 1.6, which i wrote off (link in sig) last august. on my initial insurance for this peugeot they gave me 3 years NCB (on the day i passed my test aswell) to cut the price, added my dad who has been driving since 84 with no personal insurance claims. on my renewal even after the crash last aug they gave me a further 1 years NCB back. another point to note aswell... in an attempt to what i was saying above about the postcode, they replied back to say i was on a forces policy which means i get business use automatically added and the postcode does not affect my policy.

for those interested its a company called "towergate risk solutions oxted"

[Magenta]

Not quite the way this threads title was intended but as you will see from my post on 10th March, I had a little argument with the garage doorpost recently. It bent the corner of the plastic bumper at the wheel arch joint with the metal and also scraped/dented the steel wheel arch. Started at the Ford garage for estimates who initially gave me the name of a local recommended bodyshop until I pointed out how new the car was when they gave the name of the local "Ford Approved" repairer. At the Ford Approved bodyshop I intimated vaguely that I MAY go through my insurance company and got an estimate of £756 which took my breath away a bit. Tried the other recommended bodyshop who quoted £250 after I suggested I may be paying for it myself ! Now we know why we pay so much for insurance. This proves that the insurers are being ripped off by repairers which I have suspected for many years.

As I have a £250 excess I may well claim even though I will lose half of my NCD. Having only just renewed the policy, I will worry about that in 12 months time and shop around then anyway. The "Ford Approved" repairer should do a 100% job at that price and there can be no warranty issues.

[AndrewL]

Couldn't agree more magenta.

I had a courtesy car from a company called Drive Assist who charged the fault insurers £1600 for lending me a 1.2 Corsa for 14 days! What a complete joke - with the prices companies like that actually pay for the car it would have paid itself off in 2 months!

[kevin lancelott]

Another driver opened his door onto mine putting crease lines in mine and he was good enough to own up and gave me his details.The garage I allays use said £620+vat which I thought was a bit much but I was not paying.Also the company that are supplying me a curtsey car and taking mine to the garage will be having a cut which I think is also a bit unfair as my car is still drivable and the garage has its own curtsey cars.Also the guys insurance phoned me asking if they could do anything to help so they are also trying to have him over.The poor guys premium going to shoot up next year just for a small accident.So yeah I can see why we pay so much for car insurance.