Insurance Tips!

paddymph · Feb 22, 2004

We seem to be getting a load of insurance related threads lately so I thought Id put this on to see if it helps anyone!

For a cheap quote.

1) Get lots of quotes - i mean like 20 or more, last year i got around 40!

2) Consider increasing excess to say, £500.

3) Be mature! Dont come over as a timewaster or the operator will blow u out, they cant be arsed quoting a good price if they think youre wasting their time.

4) Dont lie! Most clued up people can tell - some insurers even have lie detectors built into the phone lines (I kid u not).

5) Always do your ringing around about 9.30AM. Calling 10 minutes before the office shuts is never going to get u a good price - again, youll just get blown out, avoid Fridays as well!

6) Be realistic when they ask what youre best price is - take your best price so far and knock £40 off (most brokers add about £30 - £40 charge on which they can deduct).

7) Play the big companies off against each other - eg Adrian Flux vs Performance Direct, they know each others rates and will know if youre blagging them - refer to above as well.

8) Call specialist insurers.

9) Consider limited mileage - sometimes youll get a good discount.

10) ALWAYS get a reference and someones name.

11) When you do get your best price, call them back and say if they knock a bit more off youll take the policy there and then, it works 99% of the time, usually about £30-£40 will get deducted!

12) Never accept the renewal price! Call them up and quote number 11!

Good luck!

Matbrown · Feb 22, 2004

Cheers mate,

Insider information!

Mat.

172gal · Feb 22, 2004

Think it would be a good idea to pin this topic!

Nice work Paddy.

cat171 · Feb 22, 2004

nice one !

what about adding your parents as a second driver, i will & it goes down loads !!

Daz · Feb 22, 2004

Sometimes.. some companies charged me £400 for adding people.. others took it down by £100 - £200.. heh.

Illusion · Feb 22, 2004

Nice one mate, ill keep this in mind.................or just come back and read it when I need to get a quote.

edde · Feb 23, 2004

Ive had a bit of an idea today after getting rediculous quote for 172. Insuring my dci is ~£700/yr now and I paid £880 almost 6 months ago. What do you all recon to cancelling my old insurance and getting ~£400 back and getting a new policy? Ive got the cash and paying 300 for 6 months insurance is quite good IMO.

I know it sounds stupuid but it just came to me the idea after jokingly putting my car back into the insurance companies site

(Im getting quotes for £1700 for a 172 I need to take one for a test drive before thinking about changing as with other cost included its ~£3.5k over 3yrs more expensive for a 172 than my dci not including the cost to buy a 172)

EDD

Illusion · Feb 23, 2004

Are u on ur own insurance or are u a named driver mate?

Cos if ur not a named driver, u gotta ask yourself is it worth losing the 6 months NCB uve got?

edde · Feb 23, 2004

Im on my own name. Thing is if I get another policy then next yr Ill have 2yrs NCB next yr. If I stay as I am then in 6 months Ill look for insurance and have 2 yrs ncb and quote wont be much lower than what I am a the monent. Ive been driving for just over 2 yrs now which helps lower quote.

Iain C · Feb 23, 2004

deffo play inurance companys off against each other! I saved £200 this year doing that! My cup cost me £570 to insure (im 26 with 4 yrs ncb)

Matty · Feb 23, 2004

Also,

Surf the net if you can. Elephant, esure, more than are 3 good sites to try and usually cheapest. Give you a fair idea of quotes before ringing around.

Elephant gives you an option to fiddle about with your quote so you can higher/lower excess, value of car, add drivers or take them away etc. Found adding my bro actually lowered it when I went with them a few years ago but adding my dad made it higher.

KDF · Feb 24, 2004

Good stuff.. lots of valuable info come insurance renewal time.. cheers.

McBunny · Feb 24, 2004

just got my renewal through from tesco down from £960+ £701 lol then told them about points

it went upto £796 best renewall i have ever had lol

Dave · Feb 24, 2004

I would suggest ringing in the last week of the month also. Sometimes they ahve targets to meet and will quote you a little cheaper.

N8_172 · Feb 24, 2004

Pretty sound advice really!!

scooby stu · Feb 25, 2004

) Always do your ringing around about 9.30AM. Calling 10 minutes before the office shuts is never going to get u a good price - again, youll just get blown out, avoid Fridays as well!

------------------------------------------

I know a number of people in the insurance business and they say the complete opposite - best time is often late afternoon. As mentioned above, they all work to targets and this definitely reflects in the quotes, although it does depend on your age, the car and postcode, etc - Im not sure if they still do, but apparently Admiral used to target guys over 25 but less than 30 - I often phoned 20 odd companies at renewal, but stayed with Admiral for over 5 years coz no other company came close (I insured Clio RSi then Ibiza Cupra at the time).

Yep...........always make a point when the renewal quote comes thru. Ive done this the last 2 years for the missus with her Golf 20vt and pointed out how much business Ive put their way, how much they cream off me each year for a range of policies, etc and the policy premium was frozen for 2 years when I called last year (unless a claim warranted a review).........I certainly wasnt expecting that !

paddymph · Feb 25, 2004

stu, usually most sales people have hit their target by late afternoon, hence them not being overly fussed if u take the policy or not.

But youre totally right, bottom line is its all about risk - ie postcode,vehicle, age + claim history etc.

visceral · Feb 25, 2004

Fuggin Postcodes!!!

Try WA13 on for size!!!

KTR-CLIO · Feb 26, 2004

Have Adrian Flux and Performace Direct got websites?

boyced · Feb 27, 2004

quote : "5) Always do your ringing around about 9.30AM. Calling 10 minutes before the office shuts is never going to get u a good price - again, youll just get blown out, avoid Fridays as well!"

So if you phone 5 mins before closing time then its going to cost more, I dont think so!

wongy008 · Feb 27, 2004

paddy

can i just ask what is meant by calling and quote number 11 !!!

paddymph · Feb 27, 2004

yeah wongy, i meant refer to number 11 on that list fella!

and boyced, do yourself a favour and learn to read things properly!

Squirt 172 · Feb 29, 2004

Lie detectors built into the phone lines...I dont think so & when I checked with work collegues they agreed this was a definate no no.

paddymph · Feb 29, 2004

Squirt, i promise you.

Highway insurance use them - mainly to detect fraud claims. Theyve told us its over 80% Accurate.

R3OBC · Feb 29, 2004

Nice one paddy, my insurance renewal will be on its way to me very soon.............and being with HIC, they use Highway lol. Im hoping to get another good price from HIC and give them the credit card details

Squirt 172 · Mar 1, 2004

Quote: Originally posted by paddymph on 29 February 2004

Squirt, i promise you.

Highway insurance use them - mainly to detect fraud claims. Theyve told us its over 80% Accurate.

Paddy my apologies, I checked & you are indeed correct....Printed the article off & shoved it under my bosses nose...

jaine

paddymph · Mar 1, 2004

I AM the insurance Master!

Moby · Mar 1, 2004

lol - gonna try your tips mate come april - cheers.

GR7 · Mar 2, 2004

Regarding the above "Call at 9.30am" what is the significance of that? A guy I know who works for the CIS said the opposite - call late in the day!!

Paddy?

gavquiet · Mar 2, 2004

jus got insurance on my 172 - £620 with protection on my NCB!!! - 4 years NCB with Norwich Union Direct - just joined!!! wicked - last year was £850 with Direct line

paddymph · Mar 2, 2004

Quote: Originally posted by GirlRacer on 02 March 2004

Regarding the above "Call at 9.30am" what is the significance of that? A guy I know who works for the CIS said the opposite - call late in the day!!

Paddy?

Either way, calling at a certain time will help. Youve got to remember all the phone operators are targeted. In my experience people have more energy in the morning, therefore more willing sell, therefore more willing to reduce price - help u out.

U could look at it the other way though, and the operator wants to make as much bonus as they can and will help u out 5 mins before he finishes.

u get it?

JonK · Mar 2, 2004

Hope this is not a silly question, but, with the 182, if youve ordered the car with th cup suspension and spoiler packs, do you have to declare it as a modification when you insure it?

Ive got a 206gti at the moment with dealer fit mesh grill and spoiler, told the insurers when I got the policy and they wacked about £35 on my premium.

Are they taking the piss?

paddymph · Mar 2, 2004

in a word yep, although theyll probably its increasing the risk of it being nicked it it looks better.

Re - the 182, no, both versions will be Group 16 as far as Im aware/

GR7 · Mar 3, 2004

Quote: Originally posted by JonK on 02 March 2004

Hope this is not a silly question, but, with the 182, if youve ordered the car with th cup suspension and spoiler packs, do you have to declare it as a modification when you insure it?

Ive got a 206gti at the moment with dealer fit mesh grill and spoiler, told the insurers when I got the policy and they wacked about £35 on my premium.

Are they taking the piss?

Probably, is the answer to your question!! When I told my insurers that I had put new wheels on they added a further £32 ~ just for one more inch of wheel!!

KDF · Mar 3, 2004

well your lucky.. my insurers want £115 for less than an inch ride height drop..

coolspot007007 · Mar 4, 2004

is there a minium NCB you have to have before you can protect it?

paddymph · Mar 4, 2004

usually 4 years.

HellFire · Mar 7, 2004

I dont suppose someone could find me some decent insurance...

im 19, getting a cup and want to pay between 1,000-1,500?

ive been driving for 2 years under someone elses policy with no claims. i need to go under my own name this time.

any help greatly appreciated.

Chris.

edde · Mar 7, 2004

Quote: Originally posted by HellFire on 07 March 2004

I dont suppose someone could find me some decent insurance...
im 19, getting a cup and want to pay between 1,000-1,500?

ive been driving for 2 years under someone elses policy with no claims. i need to go under my own name this time.

No chance unles you go under someonelses policy but that gets a bit dogy as you will drive it most of the time and the policy holder should be the main drivers.

On your own name your looking at best £3k on limited milage living in the safest area in the world.

You may have some more luck at about £1.5k on someone else name.

If you do find a cheap insured make sure you tell us all Il love a 172 but can think of better things to do with an extra £70 a month insurance alone

lon5dale · Mar 9, 2004

Try http://www.confused.comwww.confused.com !!!!!! - they check bout 20 different companies at once

I was paying £1100 early this year with co-op insurance on my 1.8 16v,

put it through that website - with another named driver, 15,000 miles a year,

confused.com came back with £550 for admiral, i went on admirals website put exact same details through, came back with £470....

then got a phone call that afternoon,pestering me to take the policy, kept putting them off, saying i was still looking around, ended up paying £445!!!

Insurance Tips!

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