Insurance cover is up for grabs next month so, although DirectLine has been excellent for the past two years, I've still undertaken the annual Internet hunt for the best prices and overall cover.
First stop was More Th>n which initially requires only basic details.
However, my 1999 VW Bora 1.6 16v SE wouldn't come up under the Year of Manufacture other than the 8v version so, as it's a November 1999 registered example and has the 2000 year specification, I keyed in 2000 at the YoM.
Up came the right specification but at an increased premium, so I e-mailed More Th>n last night querying this point.
The response was:
"Thank you for your email to MORE TH>N.
"We can confirm if the vehicle was registered in November 1999,
then this is classed as a 2000 model.
"We trust we have clarified this for you."
In turn, I've replied:
"Thank you for your reply.
"No, it doesn't clarify it for me - in fact it's completely illogical.
"The website states: 'Year of Manufacture'".
Am I being pedantic or do you agree that if you are requested for the year of manufacture then that should apply to the insurance cover cost calculation?
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they just have a poor database and are doing their best regardless
if it turns out DirectLine are best for you, then you should try Tesco as this is just DirectLine rebadged as Tesco, however Tesco is undercutting DirectLine to try and gain market share, DirectLine do the work and Tesco get a commission for use of their brand or some such, same call centres anyway
so its much the same policy just cheaper and printed on tesco notepaper
i seem to remember the only policy difference was on hire cars after a smash, but you could check this out and compare, upgrade cover if you wanted
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All the supermarkets insurance cover whether car, house etc is underwritten by a major insurance company - it's the same for other financial services they offer.
It's similar with Virgin Mobile - it's T-Mobile but a lot cheaper again in this case...:-)
But, on the other hand, I always understood that it was UK Insurance Ltd which was Tesco's underwriter....
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UK Insurance are I think owned by RBOS and do DL, Priv, tesco and others.
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It's a complicated world in which financial institutions operate...:-)
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I suggest you have a look at
www.moneysupermarket.co.uk
and
www.confused.com
They both trawl round 40+ insurers and seem to come with good quotes from companies you have heard of! Good hunting
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Thanks, but I don't really want to use the brokers (which is really what such websites represent) - I prefer to deal direct...:-)
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Admitedly my cover is alittel more complicated for business reasons, but I alwasy use a broker. In the event of a claim, they act for you to help deal with the aftermath and are better than an accident management company.
--
Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Re " don't really want to use the brokers (which is really what such websites represent) - I prefer to deal direct"
yes but you can use these web sites simply to list best quotes from leading insurance companies, there is nothing to stop you then ordering the insurance directly from the relevant company
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Stuart, a good quote is a good quote however you get it! It doesn't cost you anything to look!
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>> "We can confirm if the vehicle was registered in November 1999, then this is classed as a 2000 model.
Are you saying this is wrong? Looks right to me, VWs model year starts after the August factory holiday, so 2000 models are produced from August 1999 to July 2000.
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>> >> "We can confirm if the vehicle was registered in November 1999, then this is classed as a 2000 model. >> Are you saying this is wrong? Looks right to me, VWs model year starts after the August factory holiday, so 2000 models are produced from August 1999 to July 2000.
"Year of manufacture" can't be 2000 for a car registered in 1999 even if it was a 2000 model. I had the same experience - very infuriating as you need to be sure you have submitted correct details for insurance to forestall any problems with future claims.
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Have I missed something here?
Does it not make some sense that a 16v version might be a bit more expensive to insure than the 8v version irrespective of year of manufacture, also being a 2000 model makes it worth more than a 1999 model everthing else being equal.
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The actual age of the car will have very little to do with the premium. Take my brother's recent quote for example, 7 year old Pug 306 diesel = £2450, brand spanking new Mini One D with more options than you can shake a stick at = £2,700.
Considering the difference in value is in the region of £12,000 that's not a big quote difference.
What I reckon has far more to do with it is insurance group, unfortunately in this case it looks like the 16V 2000 model year is a higher group than the previous model.
Therefore I reckon the actual age of the car doesn't play a lot of part in the quote.
Blue
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The actual age of the car will have very little to do with the premium. Take my brother's recent quote for example, 7 year old Pug 306 diesel = £2450, brand spanking new Mini One D with more options than you can shake a stick at = £2,700. Considering the difference in value is in the region of £12,000 that's not a big quote difference. What I reckon has far more to do with it is insurance group, unfortunately in this case it looks like the 16V 2000 model year is a higher group than the previous model. Therefore I reckon the actual age of the car doesn't play a lot of part in the quote. Blue
What insurance group is the 306 in? I always thought that the 306 range were in low insurance groups for the class of car (the 306 was always in a lower group than an equivalent ZX). I think it must be more to do with your brother than the car itself. How old is he?
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What insurance group is the 306 in?
306 DTurbo is a group 5
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I think Stewartli understood that a later better specced model might cost more to insure. His grouse was that the site asked for year of manufacture (ie build year) without recognising that it may differ from the model year.
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I think Stewartli understood that a later better specced model might cost more to insure. His grouse was that the site asked for year of manufacture (ie build year) without recognising that it may differ from the model year.
I can understand the issue, I guess if the spec had not changed he could have said 1999 genuinely though was being honest in reconginsing the difference between the model years, reckon most people who buy on-line would not be so careful. Reckon there is probably a caveat in the small print, something like " .. can not be responsible for all model variants being listed, if unsure call ... ".
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As you suggest, I do recognise that my 2000 year specification is superior to the 1999 model year - my grouse is (or would be) that if I listed it as a 1999 manufactured vehicle, which would be correct, and by any chance I did have to make a claim, then More Tha>n could say that I have provided incorrect details.
Yet to state it is a 2000 Year of Manufacture vehicle is equally incorrect as this would, presumably, imply its value was slightly higher.
I would also suggest that this anomoly would also apply to many other car manufacturers as new specifications are usually introduced about three months from the end of the year.
In actual fact the difference in the premium was only £4 (£180 as against £176, the latter being DirectLIne's premium for the past 12 months); it's the principle that I'm arguing about as well as More Th>n's apparent assumption that I should be aware that a 1999 car's YoM should really be stated as 2000...:-)
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Just got the reply from More Th>n's customer manager to my point that its YoM explanation was illogical:
"Thank you for your further email to MORE TH>N
"We can confirm we have referred this to our car group query
person who confirmed that anything registered after August 1999
is registered as a 2000 specification.
"We trust this is of assistance."
As Richard Littlejohn would so rightly say: "You couldn't make it up."
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Now sent my response to this remarkable piece of information:
"Words almost fail me. As Richard Littlejohn would say: "You couldn't make it up".
"So what happens in the case of vehicles produced before August of each year (i.e. the outgoing specification) that are sold AFTER August and usually at much lower retail prices?
"Are you also implying that anyone who buys a car after August and declares its Year of Manufacture as that year (quite correctly) would not/may not be covered because they would have, completely unknowingly, not put the following year down on their application form?"
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If an insurance company wished to reject a claim due to new information becoming available they would have to show that such information would have caused them to refuse the policy in the first place. Where that is not the case then they must show how they would have treated those facts, and may then do so. i.e. if they would have charged a £500 additional premium then they may deduct £500 from the claim.
So, if you said "my car is 1999" and it turned out to be a 2000 vehicle, it would work like this -
We would have charged a £10 higher premium for a 2000 vehicle therefore we have deducted £10 from the claim.
If, on the other hand, you said "no, my car is not modified" and it turned out to be a twin-turboed Panda, it would work like this -
We would have refused this risk had we known the facts in the first place, therefore we will not be paying any accidental damage claims and will be seeking recovery of any other amounts or expenses we do have to deal with.
So lets not get carried away with the overly dramatic stuff. Unless it would have made a material difference, it is not regarded as material.
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??So let's not get carried away with the overly dramatic stuff...>>
Hardly overly dramatic. Downright confusing.
This is the latest reply I got:
"May we take this opportunity to apologise for mis-wording
my previous email.
"As our system works on a yearly basis and not March until August
and then August until March when the new registrations are released, we class anything that is registered between August and August as the year following.
"For example: The car was registered in November 1999, we class this as a 2000 specification.
"Once again we apologise for any confusion."
This state of affairs is not, as far as I can make out, explained on the website.
My car is V-registered, so is prior to the current system.
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If they simply changed "year of manufacture" to "model year" all would be fine.
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Final words. I've got the DirectLine renewal quote a few minutes ago.
Decided to follow up rtaylor's advice about trying Tesco (as it is operated by DirectLine) and got a quote of £237+. Hardly a competitive effort...:-)
DirectLine's annual premium renewal cost?
Just £175.35, including the NCD of 70 per cent. That's a second successive reduction, although only by about £1 this year compared to £18 last year...:-)
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PS
At least Tesco is happy to list/accept my Bora as a 1999 manufactured model....:-))
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