Any - Car insurance for someone over 80 years old

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Thu 19 May 2011 21:37
Any - Car insurance for someone over 80 years old - richardcroft

My mum is just over 80 years old and had a substantial proposed premium for her car insurance sent through the post. Can anyone recommend an insurance company for this age group?

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Thu 19 May 2011 21:40
Any - Car insurance for someone over 80 years old - unthrottled

um...Saga?

tbh, she was lucky to get to this age before the premium started soaring. The over 80s are, statistically, as accident prone as teenagers.

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Fri 20 May 2011 00:03
Any - Car insurance for someone over 80 years old - jamie745

Elderly drivers are a big risk category, i feel its partly due to the lack of proper assessments for them. Currently at 70 you just sign a form promising you're fit to drive, i feel if some kind of proper assessment to judge reactions and alertness was done (maybe not specifically a driving test as such). Perhaps if insurance companies knew these people were assessed and confirmed to be fit to drive then they'd know that silly events like a pensioner going the wrong way down the M6 wouldnt be happening.

I agree with unthrottled Saga are probably worth a look.

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Fri 20 May 2011 10:36
Any - Car insurance for someone over 80 years old - oldroverboy

I would think that if you ask lucybc, her network of brokers could probably help. it is sometimes worth going to a specialist broker, or as someon else proposed, get a driving school to check her out for a couple of lessons and approach her insurer with proof. An old friend of mine drove till he was in his 90's, i am fairly sure he was with nfu.

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Fri 20 May 2011 10:40
Any - Car insurance for someone over 80 years old - veryoldbear

Don't forget, all insurance premiums have been soaring, due to factors outside of this thread ... if her premium has gone up by less than 40% she probably isn't doing too badly ...

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Fri 20 May 2011 10:42
Any - Car insurance for someone over 80 years old - Bobbin Threadbare

My husband's grandad drove till he was 91; he was with NFU Mutual.

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Fri 20 May 2011 12:06
Any - Car insurance for someone over 80 years old - martint123

One thing to consider is an insurers refusal to quote or insure. I think it can be a bit like after a house subsidence claim - you often have to stick with an existing insurer to get cover.

Edited by martint123 on 20/05/2011 at 12:06

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Fri 20 May 2011 12:57
Any - Car insurance for someone over 80 years old - LucyBC

Premiums go up massively sonetimes at 80, sometimes at 81 depending on the company. An identical driver can expect to pay up to 70% more if ther are 85 rather than 75.

Many insurers have refused cover in the past for older drivers but The Equality Act (2010) means that they should no longer do so. However there is nothing to stop them charging a prohibitively high premium and thus effectively refusing the business.

A broker with a knowledge of the market is probably your best option.

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Fri 20 May 2011 13:09
Any - Car insurance for someone over 80 years old - unthrottled
Another example of ill thought out legislation.
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Fri 20 May 2011 14:15
Any - Car insurance for someone over 80 years old - turbo11

My father is eighty years young and still drives about 12,000 miles pa.. He is certainly a far better driver than I will ever be. No fault accidents in sixty years, and one SP30 in 1980. As a former CEO, and before that area sales manager, in the 70's and 80's he was driving 35000 miles a year.

When he retired he insured his cars with Saga for many years, but like most insurers they gradually increased his premium to a ridiculous amount. We recently rearranged his renewal online with Go compare and Marks and Spencers came out cheapest. They were a third the price of his Saga renewal for exactly the same cover.

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Fri 20 May 2011 20:02
Any - Car insurance for someone over 80 years old - richardcroft

Thanks for all the responses and suggestions. Mum's car last year was insured with Saga at just over £350. The renewal for next year a whopping £608! Earlier today I phoned Fish and Chartwell. The quote from Fish was £396 with breakdown cover. Chartwell's was £380 but didn't include breakdown cover. The guy from Chartwell thought Fish's quote was a very good one which we might find hard to beat.

Thanks turbo11 for your suggestion. I'll look on the Go compare website to see if M&S is any better.

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