Should I Just Go For The Cheapest, Nastiest Insurance Quote?

[mysticbertie]

Hi Guys, my insurance is up at the end of the month, i know the cheapest companies leave a lot to be desired but how much do you need to pay to get a good company, does it not become too expensive to the point your as well going with the cheaperst and hoping you never need to claim? The cheapest i got last year was with octagon, someone run me off the road, their fault, dealing with octagon was a total nightmare, words cannot expplain how bad they are to deal with.

So on moneysupermarket are my latest quotes, the usual cheap and nasty companies at the top, so I'm thinking do i pay to go with e-car or do i pay double for what might be an equally bad cpmpany to deal with.

don't suggest phoning places as any time i have done this in the past they quaotes are stupidly high.

[sprintmini]

On the comparison sites don't put your registration number in and the quote will be cheaper!!
Try it, I was told the same thing and when I tried it worked.

[monster]

Is your car over 18 years old and do you do low miles? If so you should consider classic car insurance, usually cheaper than the regular insurance companies and often the classic policies carry agreed valuation which i had to make use of recently and got a fair pay out. I can highly recommend footman james.

[composimmonite]

Are you getting quotes for third party only, third party fire and theft or fully comp ? How many years no claims do you have ? Clean licence ? Value of car ? Age of car ? Usage ?
All these can affect quotes. For example both myself and my wife are early retired so we don't need commuting and that actually reduced premium as we don't leave the cars parked in town unattended all day nor drive (unless necessary) in peak "rush hour" traffic. If you take bus to work, walk, cycle or get lift then why pay for commuting ? Often fully comp is similar price to third party only ! In my case it's around £5 CHEAPER for fully comp than third party last time I asked insurer how much to drop level of cover. Many years ago I changed from a 1982 1600 Cortina to a 1984 962cc Steyr Puch Panda 4x4 of similar value. At the time the Panda was 5 years old. Despite the drop in engine size, and vehicle ins group, premium increased. I was told that older cars get a discount - not sure why.
Nothing wrong with CONSIDERING the cheaper companies but read small print carefully and if possible Google other customers reviews about how they deal with claims and such.

Paul H

[Dez]

i don't think its really matters a great deal tbh, this year i was with one of the biggest out there (admiral, multicar) and its hard to put into words how incompetent they were. i rang them 28 times over 3 weeks and never once got to speak to the only person there who would deal with my case.
long and short of it was they managed to get my details wrong, 'loosing' some points i had(even though it was a renewal, go figure), they cancelled the policy because of this when i tried to make a claim against someone who drove into me 8months into the policy, but then when i was expecting them to screw me over and leave me with nothing, instead of paying out the claim of about 600 quid gave me a full refund for all 3 cars on the policy for their entire term, which came to about 1300 quid.

I'm going to stick to the specialist from now on, no matter how much more they want!

[dave21478]

I hate insurers.
Over the years, I have had the cheapest cover I could find. I have had average cover from mainstream household brands, I have paid a premium for tailored cover from specialists for the vehicle type. You know what? Completely indistinguishable. Of the dozens of companies I have been through, none have ever given what I would call "good" service, it has been on the low side of mediocre at best. Obviously I have never had to claim from every company I have ever used, but I have had claims through the three types I listed above and none were satisfactory.
Now? I get the cheapest I can possibly get away with, with every possible option removed to bring the price down as low as possible. At least this way I am saving a bit of money and if I do ever need to claim, well I know what to expect and anything better than complete curse word will be a pleasant surprise.

[spandelly]

I agree with dave. Only had to claim a couple of times and both times were a ballache. they try there best to weasel out of everything
and make it as difficult as possible to claim until you get to the point of giving up.

[ThePollitt]

Having worked for the company that provides eCar, I would advise you steer clear. The staff do.

It's near impossible to make a claim with any degree of ease. If you want to talk to a human being to sort something out, forget it. Want to make changes to the policy? No way, Chico.

I can't speak for any others I'm afraid, but I thought it might be worth throwing my two cents in.

Chris

[oddball]

I agree with dave as well. Pay the least amount to make you legal.....

[cobblers]

eCar are absolutely the worst of the worst - The only way to actually speak to someone is on a mega premium rate phone line, and they purposefully make every interaction as hard as possible, other than taking out a policy initially online. I wouldn't use them if they insured my car for free.
Ballbags of the highest order.

I know you don't want to, but call Adrian Flux or someone and say you can get it online for £470, and you'd go with them if they could get anywhere near. It's always worked for me.

[composimmonite]

FWIW I have three policies with NFU. I've been with them for something like 15 years now. Not the cheapest but a local office I can drop in to speak in person who are my agents and keep paper records about me as well as on the computer. No charge for change of vehicle etc. Might not suit others but just thought I'd give my 2p's worth of who I'm happy with.

Paul H

[SamR380]

Never had to claim, but Adrian Flux have always beaten online comparisons and are generally helpful on the phone. UK call centres too.

[theheap]

Personaly i always go for the cheapest for one simple reason. I only get insurance because the law says i have to.

[guslopez]

When i moved here spanish insurance was very dear compared to the UK . Now it appears cheap!!
I pay 375€ for 7 seater mpv, full comp; includes recovery, legal defence , fines defence,full EU green card, etc.& that is for 50k kms/year, not that anyone bothers. I have a stand alone policy for any vehicle that covers a replacement vehicle @ 19€/year.

Just been quoted 380€/year for 50k kms/year on a 6 year old transit , full comp; full EU green card, recovery, legal defence , etc. & this is full commercial vehicle insurance , even though I don't want, it as all vans or car derived vans are classed as commercial & have commercial insurance !

[mysticbertie]

Many thanks its great to hear all the replies and stories, some going with my train of thought and some not. 'the pollit' thanks for your insider info on ecar, i also read the few other bad comments about ecar and these reflect my sentiments on octagon too, they make every simple thing as difficult as possible, the stress is unbearable, however as also said many other higher end companies have given the same amount of grief.

from my own experiences, i have had claims in the past, esure was quite good at dealing with things and so was direct line, when i had a claim and it was not my fault the claim procedure was made easy enough, with octagon i had to pursue everything and chase them regularly for updates and to try and get things moving.

I will try as someone sugested, phone flux and see if they can do something close to the £470. I would pay a bit more for a good company but not thousands more, at the moment going for one of the cheapest is the best bet to make it legal and pray nothing happens. My only gripe is i do tend to change my car during a policy, they all seem to rip you off when you do this.

my car is a Jaguar S-type 2.7d se 2005, i have 4 accidents in the last few years, 2 my fault and 2 someone elses fault, actually one was my fault by i have to accept it as 50/50 as there was no prooof the other driver was at fault, very unfair. I also have 2 convictions for speeding so 6 points.

I will try not using my registration on the comparison site.

[Deleted]

i used to use ecar alot,rolling monthly insurance and normal policy, never had a problem. my car was crashed into while parked and they sorted it out very quickly with no hassle. sadly they are no longer competitive on price for me.

[Deleted]

You get what you pay for and depends on what you want and what is covered in the policy, windscreen, 24hr accident management/ claim line (not all have a 24 hour call centre), legal aid, driving other cars etc.
Go for the cheapest at your peril and hop you don't have to make a claim, also don't rely on the internet, phone a few companies and don't assume that TTPT will always be cheaper than fully comp.

[mysticbertie]

Oct 21, 2013 2:12:58 GMT @1300dolly said:

You get what you pay for and depends on what you want and what is covered in the policy, windscreen, 24hr accident management/ claim line (not all have a 24 hour call centre), legal aid, driving other cars etc.
Go for the cheapest at your peril and hop you don't have to make a claim, also don't rely on the internet, phone a few companies and don't assume that TTPT will always be cheaper than fully comp.

often you do get what you pay for but with car insurance paying more does not mean better cover or a better service, going for the bigger names is more sensible but they are stupidly priced to the point you would have to be insane to pay 2 or 3 times more for your poilcy.

out of the top quotes i listed the cheapest known name is american express at £984, so is it really worth paying more than double?

there is a lot to be said for paying the least amount just to be legal and hope for the best.

[Deleted]

Oct 23, 2013 16:56:54 GMT mysticbertie said:

Oct 21, 2013 2:12:58 GMT @1300dolly said:

You get what you pay for and depends on what you want and what is covered in the policy, windscreen, 24hr accident management/ claim line (not all have a 24 hour call centre), legal aid, driving other cars etc.
Go for the cheapest at your peril and hop you don't have to make a claim, also don't rely on the internet, phone a few companies and don't assume that TTPT will always be cheaper than fully comp.

often you do get what you pay for but with car insurance paying more does not mean better cover or a better service, going for the bigger names is more sensible but they are stupidly priced to the point you would have to be insane to pay 2 or 3 times more for your poilcy.

out of the top quotes i listed the cheapest known name is american express at £984, so is it really worth paying more than double?

there is a lot to be said for paying the least amount just to be legal and hope for the best.

I wasn't suggesting that you pay 3x more just because it a known name, more the fact that there might be a lot of things not covered with the cheapest cover.
Look through the small print of what is or what is not covered before deciding to save a few quid. Do you drive someone else's car, is that covered, how much does a new windscreen cost.

Another add on that might not be worth it is cheap breakdown cover, often that cover is only roadside with limited (10 miles recovery) which is fine if you stay local but when you need a tow home over that 10 miles it can cost you upto £3 a mile.

[dreadnought]

I would say go specialist but they are all money grabbing, buck passing, thieves. Remember they make money by not paying out, so they will do everything in their power to avoid this. It's always going to be grief claiming, but if you know you got away with paying less to begin with it might make the pill easier to swallow.
Will add though that was once insured with the NFU, and because I could actually go into a local building and talk to a real person it was great, I had a which stolen from my land rover and they had a brand new one sent to my door within ten days and from me making only one visit to my local branch. Just a shame they don't do regular cars.