Insurance - a moan, but advice also needed (bit of a read)

[Neat]

Bought 182 mid 2008, completely standard.

Year 1, Sainsburys insurance - around £440 (best deal at the time.)
Year 2, Sainsburys insurance - around £540 (best deal at the time.)
Year 3, renewal has arrived from Sainsburys - £642 (initially I thought this was really expensive.)

However, two changes to brakes since car bought - brake lines and fluid, then later on front pads and discs.

On each occasion phoned to let Sainsburys know about changes to brakes (to keep them updated) - seemed a bit clueless. I remember when I told them about the pads/discs the person on the phone had to go and have a discussion about them. Conclusion - not a performance upgrade so no extra charge. Good, but never had anything in writing from them as proof so always a bit concerned.

Renewal pack had about two pages of ammendments to policy.
Three stood out -
1. Have to tell them if you use the car for anything not covered by them - everytime I do a track day? But ok, could probably live with that.
2. If I chose to have the car repaired at an establishment of my own choosing, then I would have to pay an extra £200 excess???
I could not accept that, seems ridiculous.
3. They reserved the right to use non-original parts for repairs - think this may be fairly normal, not sure, but bit of a concern.


Additionally, I think exhaust is starting to go - so perfect time to change it and add it to new policy from the start. I think it would have added about £80 to that £640 (the renewal price.)

So, to the comparison sites. Admiral and Elephant coming out best. Basic details as follows -

Early 30's
Manchester postcode (which is apparently a bad thing, even though I live in a nice area.)
11,000 miles a year
Car kept on drive
12 years ncb (never claimed, ever!)
No convictions (ever!) I'm sure to have jinxed myself with those statements.

Mods selected on Admiral online quote form -
exhaust (not yet fitted - but soon),
spoiler (rear) and spoiler/airdam - front (these to cover cup spoiler pack)
exterior decorative changes (de-badged, bullets smoothed and painted)
sports/active suspension (opt. extra) (to cover cup suspension pack)
brakes - uprated

P.S. - exterior stuff makes no difference to premium.

Also one, female, named driver.

£150 voluntary excess (tried either side of that and this was the best option.)
Ncb protected.
Hire car cover (adds £29.95)



Final premium - £779.85!!!!!!!

This seems really high, I know insurance has gone up - but????

Also tried -

Greenlight - can't cover Manchester
Sky - again, can't cover Manchester
Brentacre - about £800, with a total excess of around £500 (iirc)

If the above price is what I'll have to pay, then so be it. But before I accept I thought I'd see on here if anyone else had any suggestions for bringing the price down. I'd rather stick with bigger companies that I've heard of - I pay anually so would be concerned about handing over such a large sum of money to a tiny company that could go bust and leave me with nothing. Given the time I've spent on it - can't honestly see how I can get it any cheaper though.

 

[bigup7]

tbh i would pay a bit more and go with brentacre, they dont charge you admin fees for mods you declare within the year and unlimited mods unless you exceed your agreed bhp limit. replace modded parts like for like.

nice people to talk to and they are 7 of them who are car enthusiasts, they also a clio track car

 

[rogueneo]

moneysupermarket

 

[Neat]

Thanks for the replies.

Yeah Brentacre seem ok. Probably get a much more personal service somewhere like that. But the premium is higher and, iirc, the total excess for Admiral came out at £250 - so quite a difference there as well. I think they're great for those who are going to be constantly modding there car, but I'll be done with the above mentioned (no, seriously!)

Tried Moneysupermarket, Gocompare, Confused and some random one that Greenlight gave me a link to. Each year Confused always seems to produce the best prices for me.

I think I've exhausted all avenues.

For someone my age, with my driving record it seems really expensive - but I suppose it's only money.........isn't it?

 

[Neat]

Based on my experience with Sainsburys, I guess I should also point out - read the policy before you hand over your money. You may get a nasty shock if you need to claim.

 

[Revels]

Give APlan a try too mate.

It's your postcode that's causing you the problems

 

[jenic]

It's your postcode that's causing you the problems

This, manchester sucks for insurance since the more competitive companies just point blank refuse to quote.

 

[Neat]

Yeah, that's what I figured unfortunately.

Just completed the online form for APlan, see what comes of it - cheers.

 

[jenic]

Yeah, that's what I figured unfortunately.

Just completed the online form for APlan, see what comes of it - cheers.

Your probably best ringing too btw

 

[Neat]

Will do.

Really unfair on the postcode thing - Manchester's a bloody big place.

I'm no expert on insurance. I would have been gutted if I'd handed over that much cash.........and then discovered that if I'd just done such and such a thing - I could have saved loads. But none of you have reacted with surprise at my quote.

Ho hum

 

[Da]

Seems very high that, but you've already tried the specialists I would suggest.

I'm in the NW too and pay just over £500 for the 200...oh and I'm not 30...yet

Greenlight use a company called KGM insurance, maybe try getting in touch with them direct?

 

[Neat]

Thanks, I'll check them out. Only got a few days left to sort it though now.

Can only be a postcode thing. Out of interest, I take it yours isn't an 'M' code?

Looking at other insurance threads on here I don't know whether to laugh or cry - twentytwo year olds with hardly any ncb complaining about paying a similar price to me.

 

[Da]

No mine isn't an 'M' code, but nearly as bad being a 'BB' one :dapprove:

To be fair, main stream are going to want around that price for you being in the area you are - Aviva wanted £900 from me for the 200!
I'd strongly suggest getting a list of specialists from the back of Max Power/Autotrader etc etc and spending a couple of hours phoning round. I'm sure you could get it close to the £500 mark.

 

[Neat]

Cheers for the advice, only problem is finding the time for the phone calls, what with work - that's one of the reasons why I tend to do it all online with the bigger companies.

But if I can find the time, I may as well try a few - can't hurt.

 

[bigup7]

its strange how Sky couldnt cover you, even with an M postcode, they still should of given you a quote of some sort

do you have a cat 1 alarm on the car? that could help, but with the amount you pay for one fitted and the amount you will save on insurance, its not worth it lol

have you tried without the named female driver?

 

[Da]

All non-imported 182's have a CAT 1 alarm and CAT 2 immobiliser as standard.

 

[jay s]

i glad someone started a thread on this I'm basically in the same position as yourself mate owned my car for donkeys years and quite old now with a few ncb and had a nasty shock when i got my renewal quote a few weeks back. i will quote my last few years below :

July 2008: Hasting direct , 27yrs old , 7 yrs ncb, Mk1 clio 2.0 16v, fully comp :£300 ( london postcode on all of these btw )
july 2009: Hasting direct , 28yrs old , 8 yrs ncb, Mk1 clio 2.0 16v, fully comp :£350:S
July 2010: Hasting direct , 29yrs old , 9 yrs ncb, Mk1 clio 2.0 16v, fully comp :£502:dead:

i was listening to a local radio station the other day and they basically said the reason everyone will feel the pinch come renewal time is because insurance tax premium has increased a massive 36% this year:dead: i then spoke to my insurance company who confirmed it has gone up but wouldn't tell me by quite how much. i said i will be looking else where and i have done just that but the cheapest i can get it down too is £600 so will have to go back to them and kinda agree that £500 is ok this year

 

[jenic]

Insurance premium tax is still 5%, has been for ages.

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channels...uides&propertyType=document&id=HMCE_CL_001224

 

[jay s]

hmm maybe it wasn't premium tax then but he 100% said insurance , tax and 36% increase since last year. I'll have a look through the pod cast tomorrow and find out exactly what he said/meant ..... not sure if anyone else listens but it was nick ferrari on lbc 97.3fm who was talking about it.

 

[jaysjetski]

omg im glad i dont live where you do.

i pay £440(£35ish paid monthly) fully comp, im 26 with a female driver on the policy who is 25.

all mods told. exhaust, remap, and brakes.

with only 1 years ncb.(have a imreza wrx stolen a few years ago)

no points.

 

[Neat]

its strange how Sky couldnt cover you, even with an M postcode, they still should of given you a quote of some sort

do you have a cat 1 alarm on the car? that could help, but with the amount you pay for one fitted and the amount you will save on insurance, its not worth it lol

have you tried without the named female driver?

I've deleted the email now, but Sky couldn't cover my postcode. They did say if I phoned they may be able to refer me to someone else. The link Greenlight gave me produced a quote of £1300 and an unwanted phone call from some company I hadn't been in direct contact with and had never even heard of - so that kinda put me off. I'd rather try and be a bit more selective.

Having said that I've put together a list of a few others, that I don't really know, to get in touch with as and when I get the time.

Standard alarm and immobiliser.

It would be convenient to leave the named driver on. Also, with Sainsburys, Admiral and Elephant at least, it reduced the premium with her on - bizarrely. But if it turns out it would cost a lot, then no obviously it wouldn't be worth it. I'll take it on a case by case basis with each company and see how much, if anything, it costs to leave her on.

 

[Neat]

i glad someone started a thread on this I'm basically in the same position as yourself mate owned my car for donkeys years and quite old now with a few ncb and had a nasty shock when i got my renewal quote a few weeks back.

Know what you mean.

This was meant to be the first rung on the performace car ladder. Compared to other performance cars these are relatively cheap to buy and run - could be some time before I move on to a more powerful two-seater. It's never really going to be logical to buy something like this - but it is costing me more than expected.

Worth it though

Dread to think what it costs to run something like a Porsche.

 

[Neat]

Update (if anyone's interested.)

Swinton found me their best deal - £1700

Direct Line - £960

Performance Direct, did an online quote - £1154 with £700 excess. Then they phoned to see if they could do any better - ran through the details.......and I'd missed the exhaust - now £1200odd.......gee thanks.

Aviva - £680 (best so far), but not sure if everything is on there that needs to be (cup packs I'm thinking - some insurers list those kind of things as mods, others just as original factory fit items that make no difference. Need to phone them.) Also, only had a quick look but they appear to have the same clause that put me off Sainsburys - extra £200 excess for using non-approved repairer. And I although I've selected £150 voluntary excess, not sure (actually, absolutely no idea) what the standard excesses are.

A-Plan - had an intersting call. Phoned up and was asked a few brief questions. On the basis that it's a modified car was put through to a particular branch that would seemingly be able to sort me the best deal...........er.........no. It was coming out at around £1200/£1300/£50000 (can't remember now - my brains fried) - he reckoned the renewal from Sainsburys was a really good price (as I told him - "£640 with about £80 added for the exhaust, so about £710"..............like I said brain fried.), couldn't get anywhere near it. So I had a brief conversation with him about the high cost. No surprise - my postcode. If I lived somewhere else it could easily be £400-£500. I went on to suggest the bad winter may have had an impact (what with lots of claims) - apparently not. Whether it be floods or whatever, there's usually something like that - normal. The two main things he mentioned were lots of claims for injuries and the like - fraudulent or otherwise, it's costing a lot more to cover them than it used to. Secondly, as an example he said that previously if an insurance company took £600 off you for your premium - they could then invest that and make it into say £700. With the way the worlds finances are they can't do that anymore.

Ultimately all costs get passed on - as you'd expect, that's business.

I don't think insurance companies necessarily rip people off as is often suggested. There are so many of them there is a lot of competition. Yes there are massive variations in prices - but a lot specialise in certain areas so that will always happen. With the comparison sites it's never been easier to shop around - so that's just what we all have to do.

I'm down to two options - Admiral or Aviva? I need to clarify exactly what i'd be getting with Aviva - may be worth paying the extra to go with Admiral.

So, back to that £779.85............bit of a bargain really............

 

[Neat]

Sorted - Aviva £681, £150 excess (for either fire, theft or damage), £200 additional if I use non-approved repairer.

 

[JoedotwasT5phy]

IPT is th same for now. Will be going up 1 %. the biggest thing is the charges for the FSA. their chrges have gone up 8 fold. ours went from £500 last year to over £4k this year

 

[Craig.H]

just curios, but why insure the cup suspension and spoiler? if its a renualt sport car it could have come standard with that? im not sure the laws etc but my car has the cup pack and when i insured i didnt mention anything about that?

 

[twingors]

its an standard option dont have to declare that i'm sure?:S

 

[@Spoonie]

its an standard option dont have to declare that i'm sure?:S

You should as if its a write off they may only pay out as a standard 182.

 

[Neat]

I don't think there's much difference value wise.

Some insurance companies just look at them as being standard, factory fit items and aren't fussed. Whilst others, being an optional extra, view them as being an upgrade.

When I did my Admiral quote there was an option in the modifications list for suspension upgrades as an optional extra, as well as other options for aftermarket suspension.

I told Aviva - but they weren't fussed as the car left the factory with them on.

When I first insured with Sainsburys they actually insured my car as a '182 Cup', presumably to help keep the price down and secure the business.

Basically it varies from one to another - but my approach is always to tell them everything, it's not worth the risk of finding out you're not covered in the event of an accident (not that I'm saying either of you were trying to hide anything - it didn't occur to you.)

I think you'll usually find the spoiler pack isn't an issue, and the suspension pack may or may not be (think it added about £30 to my Admiral quote.)