Anyone had any luck with 'online' quotes?
We pick our new car up tomorrow (some hope!) and for the last few days we've been trawling the net for quotes.
Out of about a dozen companies, we've had just two offers, one sensible and one astronomical. All the other sites either didn't work, had 'page errors' (impossible to enter all our details) or had never heard of our model (the new Corolla T-sport).
Most of the major companies have out-of-date cars listed, and some even object to the new style of reg no!
What's up with these guys?
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Nothing is up with these guys. That's how they operate. Cheap quotes for sensible cars and risks. Nothing for anything else. Go to a good broker.
HJ
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Got a quote from Tescos, then went to Direct Line for comparison. They admitted that Tesco/Direct Line were basically one and the same, but DL would'nt match the Tesco's quote. Be warned, though, on previous threads Tesco's aftercare has come in for criticism. I've nothing but praise for DL when it come to the crunch...... (sorry).
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It may be worth asking whoever insures your buildings/contents if they'll quote for the car as well. When I worked in the insurance business some companies offered home/motor policies with 'protected' bonus once you reached the maximum level provided you didn't go crazy and have 10 claims in one year or something.
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www.eaglestardirect.co.uk was the cheapest for me...
-David L
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I agree. They have been cheaper by far (both for my old BMW 323Ci and my new 330Ci). And it has (unfortunately) been used in anger due to being rear-ended by a brick wall (must have been travelling too fast). Their repair service was good (under a fortnight), and I got a courtesy car (although it wasn't a BMW - more like a 2 door Corsa!).
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with tesco's, be aware that you don't get a courtesy car if your's is being repaired. many others do.
try the AA web site,
seemed ok when i last tried it
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Andy wrote:
>
> Anyone had any luck with 'online' quotes?
Like you, not really. Impossible to get quotes you could have confidence in - some sites would not quote as we'd made more than one claim in the last three years, others would just 'reject' the request without saying what criteria we had failed to fulfil.
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I have had quotes recently from Direct Line, Tesco, CIS, Churchill, Screentrade, Norwich Union, Hill House Hammond, Quoteline, Auto Direct, Morethan & Nationwide Building Society.
No problems with any of the sites except Elephant whose site was down for maintenance.
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Elephant seem to be a waste of time. I actually found their quote was the cheapest but by the time their site had buggered up a few times I had no confidence in their sites ability to remember the insurance they had just sold me. Found AXA to be the second cheapest and bought their insurance online. No problems and worked first time. I note axa and the RAC use the same quote engine.
One of the best things about the online quote engines is the ability to play with the details to achieve the best figure. I found that adding £100 to the excess reduced my quote by more than £100 so quids in unless I have two claims. Also noted that my insurance was cheaper with SWMBO as a named driver (???).
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Speaking of Elephant, here's how they describe themselves on their website:-
"Part of the Admiral Insurance Services Limited stable, elephant.co.uk will target the 20-35 year old urban-dweller with its competitively priced policies."
Funny that I'm a 25 year-old living south of London and got a fairly better quote on my 2.0 Focus from Admiral themselves!!!
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Endsleigh have been continually hundreds of pounds cheaper for me over the last few years - they give big discounts for students. They have a decent online quote system at www.endsleigh.co.uk. Never claimed tho as I subscribe to bangernomics and only have third party cover so I couldn't comment on their care ;)
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Phil wrote:
>
> Endsleigh have been continually hundreds of pounds cheaper
> for me over the last few years - they give big discounts for
> students. They have a decent online quote system at
> www.endsleigh.co.uk. Never claimed tho as I subscribe to
> bangernomics and only have third party cover so I couldn't
> comment on their care ;)
You have to watch Endsleigh as when they think they've "got" you, your premiums go up and up. I was insured with them as a student and they were the cheapest by far on third party insurance for my 100 quid Austin Maestro. I paid 800 quid the year before last for 12 months third party fire and theft on a 93 Cavalier - When I changed this car for a nearly new 2.2 Vectra, they wanted over 2 grand to insure me comprehensively and said this quote was "unbeatable".
Am now at Tesco where I am paying the same price for the Vectra as I was for the Cavalier...
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thanks for all your help, chaps. We're insured with AXA via Swinton at the moment, but on Saturday they couldn't give me a quote due to the car being so new. I've just found TSB insurance, which has so far come up with the best.
Thanks all.
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try axamotor.co.uk, I bought a policy from them just before Christmas.
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I was with the AA two years ago, then I switched 'cos they were too expensive now I've gone back to them this year, and stayed with the same insurance company, Royal Sun Alliance. Everytime I questioned the rate, the girl lowered the price - they seem to have quite a bit of leaway with prices.
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The problem is, it can take a surprisingly small difference in risk to make a large difference in insurance premium.
Each insurer decides which is the risk they wish to be competitive in. And they do this in a very detailed and sophisticated way.
However, speaking simply, they may decide that they want group 6 car, rating area 3, 1 accident, 4 years ncd, 35-41 yrs, female.
They will then ensure that they are competitive in this specific area. This is important since their entire reinsurance approach and action will be dependent on a market balance oriented around their predicted type of risk.
This means that if you change even one of the details above, then you may well come up with a non-competitive quote, even if that change *improved* the risk (older, smaller car, more ncd etc.).
This is supposed to tbe the function of a broker, since the appropriate insurer can change simply because you are a year older.
Therefore, when someone recommends an insurer's premiums this could only possibly be valid given a high degree of similarity between the risks.
In addition, Insurers regularily, although usually not dramatically, rebalance their chosen target area. They can have made a miscalculation in their rating structure and their risk profile is not balanced int he way that they hoped. They will then use their rating structure to become less or more competitive in various areas to sort this out.
Everybody should always get competing quotes at every renewal. It is the only way. The difference in using a broker is that whist it may be neccessary to consider upto 50 insurers, it is usually only neccessary to consider 2 or 3 brokers.
However, if you have the time and patience and you don't mind doing these things yourself, don't use a broker - ever. They are in business to make money. They make a lot of money. Guess who that money comes from ! It is only worth using a broker if you are not prepared, or not able, to do this yourself and are willing to pay for the service.
A gut, and perhaps out of date, reaction would be that two similar insurance policies, the one from the broker will cost you 10 - 20 per cent more in a year than the direct one.
The Broker, however, may well obtain a better/cheaper policy because that's his job, but unless you are a particularly unusal risk, so can you.
Also, with a few exceptions you should not regard your broker as any more than a broker - he may know the process of buying it, he may know where to buy it, he may even understand the implications of risk assessment, but most of the people will know no more about insurance cover and its restrictions than you do.
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Remember, this all began with Andy looking for quotes for the very new Toyota Corolla 190bhp T-Sport and not being able to get them because the direct insurers he tried did not have this high performance version of the new Corolla in their systems.
HJ
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Honest John wrote:
>did not have this high performance version of the new Corolla in their systems.
'cos you're dealing with customer service people, not underwriters. If you are on the phone, insist an underwriter deals with it and calls you back.
If you are dealing with a composite, then ring Toyota and tell them the problem. This really works, honestly. Composites take a huge amount of grief from insurers about car grouping, and it does make a difference. Mind you, its not quick.
I remember Jag getting two of their cars down-rated because the grouping made their cars too expensive to insure.
Also, it is unusual for an insurer to make an motor underwriting profit. Their profit comes from either associated business, +ve cash flow or investment.
M.
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Just got my renewal notice from Eagle Star £408. Called The AA, £412 then Tesco £ 319. Guess who gets the business?.
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But the Tesco (Direct Line) cover is inferior to Eagle Star e.g. Legal Cover costs extra, Breakdown Cover costs extra, £21 per week after change of car to retain cover on old car while selling it - Eagle Star give a month's parallel cover free, no courtesy car. I suspect you're not comparing like with like. Tesco were more expensive for me than my existing Eagle Star policy on my 330d but for my 2nd car (Saxo) Tesco were very cheap for a policy with a named teenage driver.
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Take Mark ( Brazil) 's advice. I had similar problems with inept operators earlier this year and Mark helped me save about £300. I went to a broker and told them exactly what I wanted and what it was for ( write it down is a good idea ). They took a day or two but were brilliant.
I actually received best quote from What Car! Insurance services.
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