Car Insurance woes

[Tengu]

This years quote is beyond the pale.

It doesnt help that

a) I am a student
b) Have two addresses
c) One of which is on a holiday camp. (Never mind its gated and so fairly secure.)

I am insured though a broker (Kwik fit)

What do you suggest?

 

[santaman2000]

If you were over here I'd say use your parents address (it's allowed over here as long as you're a student) but I don't know if that's normal there are not. I stayed on my Mom's policy for the first two years in college.

 

[bopdude]

Have you tried gocompare, daft as it sounds, you will get them calling you up ( companies ) play them against each other ? as for the 2 addresses, surely if you chose one, the one your registered ? at, that must make a difference ? what car make and model and how much are you talking about ?

 

[Toddy]

Get on the net and search for quotes.
We saved over £600 by changing ours.

Failing that, contact the one you have and tell them you're going to change because you can get the pretty much the same deal (the devil's in the detail, and they'll try to fudge things like windscreen replacement and different excesses. Work out what you can live with as a basic and check that) pretty much standard that they'll offer you a better deal.
They make their money from folks who don't complain, check and threaten to go elsewhere.

You're not just a student, you are a "Mature" student, with years of no claims behind you, and you are living on site (could you claim it's your place of work too ? even as a part time thing?, so more like working away from home, and find your annual mileage and be prepared to quote it to them )

M

 

[Toddy]

Try something simple like this, just to see if it makes a difference ?

https://www.google.co.uk/compare/carinsurance/form?p=home

M

Sorry Bopdude, rather cross posted with you there

 

[wingstoo]

Try a real broker not Kwik fit who are well known for over charging for most things.

A decent broker will get you the very best deal for your circumstances, and often make sure of things that online brokers really don't care about so long as they get your money.

The insurance clerk I used was so good at getting me the best deal that I married her 18 years ago...

 

[greencloud]

Try the main comparison sites to find the best handful of quotes. Also try non-comparison brokers like direct line etc too. A few of my friends got good prices from one called Adrian Flux (specialises in young drivers and modified cars etc.

Once you're down to the best 2-4 quotes, get on the phone. Ring the others and ask if they can beat your best quote, then repeat repeat repeat! If any won't give any more discount, phone back and ask them again a day or two later (sales agents usually have a 'pot' of discretionary discount to use and its pot luck who you get on the line, someone who's used up their discount and already hit their target will give you nothing but their colleagues with targets to reach and discounts to give will save you some money. )

It's boring and repetitive, but it works and remember, every penny saved is cash in your pocket. If you spend an hour and save just £20, thats one of the best paid boring and repetitive jobs in the UK!!

EDIT: Oh, and don't be tempted to lie to get the price down. Insurers are b@$t@rds and in the event of a claim they will usually find out, refuse to pay and leave you f****ed.

 

[dewi]

I had been with the same company for years, and despite having years of no claims and multiple vehicles with them at any one time (I get giddy with cars) they decided to quote me silly earlier this year.

Despite being against the whole comparison sites, for whatever reason I didn't have, I used one for the first time and managed to get a years insurance at an incredibly cheap price. I had to pay the year in advance which was the only catch really.

Well worth shopping around as different insurers specialise in different age ranges and circumstances.

 

[wingstoo]

If you check your last couple of MOT certificates it should tell you your annual mileage, I had one vehicle that was used very rarely but had 12,000 as average mileage on the insurance, cutting it to 6,000 made a good difference, doubling your excess will also make big savings.

But remember that saving a few pennies here and there sounds good, until you make a claim and find that the computer says no because that five pound saving took out glass cover or courtesy car etc etc, it is the small print you need to watch out for, some places now charge more for Third party, fire and theft than they do for Fully comprehensive... They all have little quirks so a good broker may have half a dozen different insurance companies under their belt and can do all the leg work for you with playing one off against another.

 

[Old Bones]

Pretty much what everyone else said - hit the internet and the comparison websites. I know its a bit of a slog, although if you've done it once and copied out all the essential details on a bit of paper, it makes it much easier for all the other sites. We've just saved £120 from our car insurance by just using Compare the market (Ok, we have a meerkat on the way), and we've used Compare.com in the past.

Car milage should be on a form somewhere, and its important to get it right - all the info you give has to be correct, so its worth making sure its right, rather than guessing.
You can go on the cashback sites, but that can be even more of a hassle. Greenclouds advice sounds really good, although I really couldn't be bothered to do much ringing around (my current insurance company said that their online quote was the best the could do - £100 more than the one we went for).

There is some good advice here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/car-insurance/

Its not just car insurance - we saved loads when we looked at our last quote for house insurance by going elsewhere (discount helped). the crazy thing is that they rely on inertia, which is OK for a couple of years until it gets silly, and then they give you a much cheaper rate as a new customer, and then rinse and repeat. Just give us a decent quote and there would be far less churn.

 

[dewi]

If you check your last couple of MOT certificates it should tell you your annual mileage, I had one vehicle that was used very rarely but had 12,000 as average mileage on the insurance, cutting it to 6,000 made a good difference, doubling your excess will also make big savings.

But remember that saving a few pennies here and there sounds good, until you make a claim and find that the computer says no because that five pound saving took out glass cover or courtesy car etc etc, it is the small print you need to watch out for, some places now charge more for Third party, fire and theft than they do for Fully comprehensive... They all have little quirks so a good broker may have half a dozen different insurance companies under their belt and can do all the leg work for you with playing one off against another.

Good points... I should have said with mine that I got an incredibly cheap price, but with all the same benefits... the benefits are what makes the policy in my opinion. Why just give money for the sake of driving on the road? You want the insurance to make your life easier, so if you do end up in a bump, the last thing you have to worry about is whether you have a car, whether you have to stump up cash and all the rest of the problems that go along with a bump.

 

[tombear]

The wife says start here http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/car-insurance/ but that the address bit may be stickier.

 

[Mesquite]

The wife says start here http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/car-insurance/ but that the address bit may be stickier.

Not really, the second address is immaterial as it's temporary so the insurance should be registered at the OP's main address.

 

[petrochemicals]

Become a named driver on somone elses quote, students are known for there bohemian lifestyles

http://www.topgear.com/videos/cars-teenagers-part-13-series-13-episode-2

 

[Gaudette]

All good advice Tengu. Ditch Kwik Fit and find a good local broker it will save a lot of hassle filling in forms on the Internet. Also you won't get bombarded with emails and phone calls.


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[dewi]

All good advice Tengu. Ditch Kwik Fit and find a good local broker it will save a lot of hassle filling in forms on the Internet. Also you won't get bombarded with emails and phone calls.


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I don't want to advertise the comparison site I used, but I can say that I haven't been bombarded with emails or phone calls as they offer you opt outs as you go through the process. Simples.

 

[Gaudette]

Ah very true. I always forget to tick or untick the boxes.


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