spursmaddave Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 (edited) Ok so I have got a bit fed up with the relentless 'Who is the best insurer for me' and all the recommendations, although obviously with good intentions.... Insurance varies so much depending on age, location, job, driving experience, inside leg measurement etc etc So here are my top tips 1. Ring as many insurers as possible 2. Declare all mods 3. Choose the cheapest that covers everything you want Simples For legal reason I have to include this bloke too.... Posts saying 'I got a great deal with (insert insurer here)' are pointless, I am not you, I don't live in your house and I don't do your job and I am not married to your wife, although if she fancies a change :wink: Edited January 11, 2013 by spursmaddave 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanted Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Some people don't know who to ring, and there are a few decent insurers that aren't plastered everywhere (Keith Michaels,a plan etc).so for the insurance nieve surely a list of insurers to try would be better. I'm sure when people post, they are looking for recommendations in general, and isn't that what these communities are all about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 Of course, the more you ring the better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
370Ad Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 You missed out this company! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 You missed out this company! Have you noticed all the women in those ads boobes bounce Even the fried eggs wiggle about.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyinsurance Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Perhaps it would be a good idea to include the affiliated club insurers? Ollie Sky Insurance Tel: 03303 331250 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 Good idea Ollie, I was going to add links but wasn't sure.... Although you have never been good for me personally you have for a lot of friends and offer loads of great advice I am on my phone but I will add a link to all the forum guys on the first post asap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 I might be old school, but I find it sad that loyalty in the insurance business counts for little (if anything) these days in place of 'we have got em on the hook guys now lets take em for all we can' at renewal time. So we are forced into the annual merry-go-round. Huge waste of time for us punters and frankly it just seems a complete a lottery - just doing the compare.com and seeing the vast range in quotes shows that, and then you have wade through the small print/reviews of what seem good quotes only to find the small print means it is not an insurance you would want to risk taking out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 I might be old school, but I find it sad that loyalty in the insurance business counts for little (if anything) these days in place of 'we have got em on the hook guys now lets take em for all we can' at renewal time. So we are forced into the annual merry-go-round. Huge waste of time for us punters and frankly it just seems a complete a lottery - just doing the compare.com and seeing the vast range in quotes shows that, and then you have wade through the small print/reviews of what seem good quotes only to find the small print means it is not an insurance you would want to risk taking out. Ditto house insurance, credit cards, bank accounts, phone contract etc etc etc 'New Customers Only' I once phoned up sky and asked about a new box & dish they quoted me £250!!!! cancelled, rejoined in Mary's name and as new customer at same address all replaced brand new for free and a £50 M&S voucher.... WTF???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioneabee Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 After doing the merry-go round yesterday (with the comparison sites) - I had 3 different quotes from the same company for exactly the same product 1. at £180 2. at £184 3. at £220 go figure - on entering the actual site, though it confirmed the 1st figure this price rather surprised me to say the least - as i thought it must be wrong !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 I might be old school, but I find it sad that loyalty in the insurance business counts for little (if anything) these days in place of 'we have got em on the hook guys now lets take em for all we can' at renewal time. So we are forced into the annual merry-go-round. Huge waste of time for us punters and frankly it just seems a complete a lottery - just doing the compare.com and seeing the vast range in quotes shows that, and then you have wade through the small print/reviews of what seem good quotes only to find the small print means it is not an insurance you would want to risk taking out. Totally agree. It all seems a game for insurance companies. Likewise, a lot of the "specialist" ones actually turn out to be more expensive than the mainstream ones. Its as if they think "if we say we specialise in sports cars or if we specialise in female drivers" people will assume we are the cheapest and not bother shopping around. Every single year I play the merry go round game and whilst very often i stay with the same insurance company, every single time you can guarentee their renewal quote will be about 40% more than I can get it else where but they will happily drop it by 50% after a phonecall to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 You'd have thought insurers were in it to make money or something. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim BW Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Ok so I have got a bit fed up with the relentless 'Who is the best insurer for me' and all the recommendations, although obviously with good intentions.... Insurance varies so much depending on age, location, job, driving experience, inside leg measurement etc etc So here are my top tips 1. Ring as many insurers as possible 2. Declare all mods 3. Choose the cheapest that covers everything you want Hi Dave I agree with you especially ringing car club specialist insurers. As regards point 3, I had one guy state that customer service was more important to him than price (even though price was relevant to him) so I suppose not everyone would agree fully with you!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
14N Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 With regards the merry-go-round of ringing insurance companies everytime your renewal is due, and the endless entering of details on different websites to get a quote (although the comparrison sites have reduced this), insurance companies are aware that many of their customers can't be bothered with this and this is where they rely on customer and brand lotyalty. Many (not all) insurance companies and brokers actually add a percentage to your renewal quote. So rather than your next rewal price being cheaper - it's more than the previous year. The insurance company/broker adds a percentage in the hope that you're one of the many that can't be bothered with the annual merry-go-round and just pays the renewal premium thinking "well they were the cheapest/best last year". It is ALWAYS worth trying different companies when it's renewal time, and even get a quote from your current provider as a new customer (rather than a renewal quote) to see what figure they come up with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyinsurance Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 (edited) I might be old school, but I find it sad that loyalty in the insurance business counts for little (if anything) these days in place of 'we have got em on the hook guys now lets take em for all we can' at renewal time. So we are forced into the annual merry-go-round. There's two sides to that though, you guys usually just see the bare-bones (prices). We work with a 70% average monthly renewal retention rate, we offer the best prices we can find at renewal but the thing that most people miss is that this is a cut-throat industry, there are often insurer who will undercut our rates to secure the business. That doesn't mean our rate is wrong or we are trying to take anyone for a ride but that is the common accusation. We often refer renewal rates back to our insurers at renewal state if our rates are undercut and quite often these rates (if like for like) are matched. This is as much as we can do in this situation. Edited January 11, 2013 by skyinsurance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 I would also add to your list. Try to haggle with bigger insurers you can usually get between £30- £120. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 Ok so I have got a bit fed up with the relentless 'Who is the best insurer for me' and all the recommendations, although obviously with good intentions.... Insurance varies so much depending on age, location, job, driving experience, inside leg measurement etc etc So here are my top tips 1. Ring as many insurers as possible 2. Declare all mods 3. Choose the cheapest that covers everything you want Hi Dave I agree with you especially ringing car club specialist insurers. As regards point 3, I had one guy state that customer service was more important to him than price (even though price was relevant to him) so I suppose not everyone would agree fully with you!!!! Very true and to be fair I would NOT stay with an insurer that I had a bad experience with and possible stay with a good one that was only slightly dearer maybe Insurance is one if those things that you can only really equate service when things go wrong unfortunately Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 My usual Process, which may or maynot help the novice insurance shopper Step 1 - Recieve renewal - swear a few times then leave on desk. step 2 - log on to go compare; pull up quote from last year, change things like the date etc resubmit step 3 - same as step 2 but this time on comparethemarket.com step 4 - same as step 2 and 3 but this time on gocompare.com step 5 - find the lowest possible quote from all 3 websites, step 6 - ring up original insurer mention new price; get them to match it, and sometimes they even drop by another £40 as well. tell them i'll think about it. step 7 - go direct to company that gave lowest quote tell them the renewal price see if they will beat or match, if not go back to step 6 step 8 - take this new figure which should be roughly the lowest quote available at this point. then ring round the independents. as a guide line i would suggest the following. Sky Insurance Prestige keep moving Insurance A plan Adrian Flux Chris Knott step 9 - decide on best policy. in most cases this might be the cheapest. but not always. you may need to take into consideration, like for like cover of mods, agreed value cover, and other addons like RSA and courtesy car etc. step 10 - ring chosen company to confirm new policy step 11 - if it is a new insurer remember to cancel old policy, especially if its set up on a direct debit. step 12 - relax for the next 11 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinjuku Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 +1 that's almost exactly what I do. Sent using Tapatalk, please excuse any typing errors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnH Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 step 2 - log on to go compare; pull up quote from last year, change things like the date etc resubmit step 3 - same as step 2 but this time on comparethemarket.com step 4 - same as step 2 and 3 but this time on gocompare.com step 5 - find the lowest possible quote from all 3 websites, That's just 2 websites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
14N Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 step 2 - log on to go compare; pull up quote from last year, change things like the date etc resubmit step 3 - same as step 2 but this time on comparethemarket.com step 4 - same as step 2 and 3 but this time on gocompare.com step 5 - find the lowest possible quote from all 3 websites, That's just 2 websites. I think he got confused (.com) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 (edited) step 12 - relax for the next 11 months. You forgot to add step 14 - realise that your old insurance company has just taken the full amount out of your bank for your renewal even though you told them you were not going to stay with them. step 15 - ring up insurance company who then try and charge you a fee for cancelling, even though you never wanted it in the first place, then finally agree they made a mistake and would refund your money in a few days. step 16 - realise company still hasnt refunded you your money so go back to step 15 and repeat..... This has happened twice to me now with 2 totally different companies. In one case they took the money straight out then paid me back by cheque 2 weeks later. Seemingly in order to make interest on my cash. I guess its probably a deliberate insurance company scam where they hope people wont notice the money being taken out automatically. Edited January 11, 2013 by rabbitstew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
14N Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Step 17. Aforementioned company now informs you that as your policy has been active for over 48 hours, there will be a cancellation of policy and administration fee'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
370Ad Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 If the admiral group is your cheapest provider go through confused first as it will be even cheaper. Also use a start date 30 days in advance. This brings the quote down, then you change the date to what you actually want when you goto the providers website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 If the admiral group is your cheapest provider go through confused first as it will be even cheaper. Also use a start date 30 days in advance. This brings the quote down, then you change the date to what you actually want when you goto the providers website. I will defo be trying that out! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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