Just because its a frequent subject here, I thought I'd mention that Direct Line just managed to beat my Norwich Union renewal by £1000.
Somewhat of a dramatic saving, so perhaps food for thought. Norwich Union, seemingly until now, have always been rather good on foreigners with foreign licences but Direct Line appear to be better - at least for me.
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Mark,
As I mentioned in another thread...DL were the only major (online or direct) insurer who were prepared to take on myself+wife to insure a car when we returned from 5 years abroad...both with > 18 years full UK licences and almost 10 years NCB history (UK+Oz). NU didnt want to know. I have only recently managed to beat DL using Esure....but they do have a 4 year UK full licence rule.
btw...check one the rules for using a foreign licence..I think it has been covered elsewhere but said driver might have to visit Chile every year to reset the counter or take the UK driving test after 12 months.
regards
Ian L.
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She has to take the UK test within 12 months of becoming "normally resident" here. We haven't reached that deadline yet.
Quite how they would tell, I am not sure, since we mantain homes in both countries. Nonetheless, she will be doign the test anyway. I may leave home for a while.
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Nonetheless, she will be doign the test anyway. I may leave home for a while.
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I understand......both wife and I had to take the Oz (NSW) driving testwith the threat of a return L plates if we failed. We staggered the tests so that if the first failed we would not be left without a legal driver. We both took a refresher lesson with a local instructor to get a heads up on the local test circuit. Process drove (literally) us mad trying to unlearn bad (UK) habits and learn new systems just for a test. We were both extremely bad passengers for a while!
regards
Ian L.
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"maintain homes in both countries" - watch out for the UK inheritance tax trap Mark it greatly restricts how much you can leave to a non-UK domiciled spouse.
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depends who owns, and pays for, which house.
But thanks for the note.
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esure (also) has a 4-year no-claim rule!
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"Just because its a frequent subject here, I thought I'd mention that Direct Line just managed to beat my Norwich Union renewal by £1000."
Bloomin heck Mark! How much is your insurance?? Wish DL would do that for me - they'd owe me £837!
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Just thinking the same thing Phil - maybe HJ's paying a bit more these days and Mark's got himself a really flashy motor :)
By the same token though, what do you drive that costs only £163pa - a petrol lawnmower? :)
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VM,
My maths was a little out - it costs me £173 for my Berlingo HDi, 03 reg, 9 years NCB. Just renewed insurance and paid another £40 for NCB protection. So it ain't a petrol lawnmower - but you were close - it's a diesel van with lots of windows!
Phil
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esure (also) has a 4-year no-claim rule!
Not sure what is meant by this ?? won't quote if claim within 4 years?? If so, then they also have a 5 year 'points' rule.
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martin - as I understand it, if you have <4 years NCD, they won't insure you - simple as that. At least, that is what their literature and their website say.
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OK Andrew - I never got that far, my 3 year old 3 points locked me out.
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£173 would be over the top for a lawnmower. My tractor insurance is £26 with NFU! (Any driver, any age, any kind of use, any number of passengers (!), any legal number of trailers, whatever that is)
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Cliff,
Well, your tractor may be very similar to my Berlingo in many ways but I bet it hasn't got a Modutop, so there!!! (You can't see this but I am sticking my tongue out and pulling a very funny face - and in a very superior way!!)
Phil
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martin - I was wondering what they do when you claim? Are you immediately excommunicated?
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Not sure at all if this will help anyone, but, after a ghastly experience with another insurance company, I changed my policies over to Budget, an online company, a few months ago. They, for me, were way cheaper than anything else, and I have to say that so far I have received exemplary service.
HF
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Just because its a frequent subject here, I thought I'd mention that Direct Line just managed to beat my Norwich Union renewal by £1000.
Mark,
Could it be that such a big difference comes about because you are insuring a potentially high-risk car that Norwich Union prefer to avoid? I would sooner use a company that is a bit 'picky' if it means a better service if I do need to claim.
My daughter is with Direct Line and, co-incidentally, was recently in an accident where the other party was insured with Norwich Union. The cost of repairing her car, a 1996 Peugeot 106, turned out to be almost £1600 + VAT, which can't be far off its market value.
She telephoned Direct Line to report the accident but they didn't even take her name or policy number because "if it wasn't your fault you need to inform the other party's insurer, not us." !!! I advised her to keep a record of the call in case liability came to be disputed.
She then telephoned Norwich Union the next day and they said "the accident has been reported to us and we won't be disputing liability. We'll contact you tomorrow to arrange a courtesy car and repair". The bottom line is that she was given a courtesy car (a Micra, which she hated!) and had her fully repaired car back less than two weeks later.
Guess who she is going to obtain a quote from at her next renewal date?
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I have always had excellent service from Norwich Union; including the time a year or so ago when we were hit by a turkish artic !
The have always (years and years) been good at foreign citizens and indeed were the best when we first came back to England.
The cars are not particularly high risk, probably the highest being the Landcruiser.
I would rather user Norwich Union for their service, but its not £1000 better. I'll put up with an awful lot of hassle, if DL turn out to be difficult, for that kind of money. Not that I have any reason to suppose that they would/will be.
Certainly the quotation/purchasing experience was very good.
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I agree that £1000 is worth saving but I know you'll agree that service should always be considered along with cost.
The extra cost with someone like Norwich Union or Royal Sun Alliance for the average punter with only one car, or perhaps two, is unlikely to be anywhere near £1000 so I don't think Backroomers should avoid asking them for quotes.
If Direct Line is so penny-pinching that it has to save costs by not bothering to take details of an accident reported by one of their policy-holders then this doesn't inspire me to even ask them for a quote. What next, a courtesy push-bike while your car is being repaired?
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Hello Dizzy. Some comments, no bias intended.
Had been with Norwich Union for years for their trade insurance but some of their premium rises for various aspects of cover have been truly staggering. One policy had a 40% increase at renewal, another 500% (yes really!). Neither involved a claim or circumstance change.
It was a pig to sort alternatives because there are lot of very odd looking outfits involved with the trade side of things. Did find a balance of price and quality in the end, I never go for the cheapest if I don't know the company.
Pleased to report the old Land Rover policy I'm renewing this week with the NFU was about £3 cheaper than last year, just £62 tp,f&t inc tax. Strangely (£26 for yours Cliff!...excellent) my tractor was £76 but that includes a fair element of substantial third party liability for "contracting".
Amazed they paid out £1600 to repair the 106. Just done a post purchase inspect/service of a very smart 1995 106 1.0 Mardi Gras. Bought with tax, MOT and a genuine 66K from a caring owner....just £695!
Bit wet in The Fen today!
M.M
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M.M, Nice to hear from you again.
I think that hiking up premiums by the amount you describe when there has been no claim or change of circumstance is very hard to justify and it would annoy me immensely.
You appear to have had no problem with Norwich Union's service, just their premiums. I suggested trying NU and RSA for quotes rather than saying "insure with them" and I think this advice still stands as their service does seem to be very good. However, if the quote is unrealistic that's another matter.
My daughter's Peugeot 106 was one of the first of the face-lift models and is a P-reg 1.4i Roland Garros (leather seat facings, electric windows, etc). It has about 90,000 on the clock and I would have thought this would make it a candidate for writing off. My daughter is very pleased it wasn't as she is very attached to it.
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