Insurance Help (Sorry)

Dan1502 · Post by **Dan1502** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 11:01 am

It's that time again and I've had a bit of a shock with the renewal.

I bought the X5 (2004 3.0D Sport) in January and having previously had a 996 C2 I got a refund which meant that the annual premium on the X5 would have been around Â£600 - Â£650.

Anyway the broker wrote to me saying the insurer (NIG) has pulled out of the market and the cheapest renewal was Â£1700!!

The only thing to add is that I got an SP30 3 points/Â£60 fine in March but have no other convictions nor does my wife.

I've since found a quote of about Â£1,000 but this still seems crazy.

I had a long chat with Adrian Flux and they reckon the points should make very little difference and the problem is very few insurers will touch X5s as they were the most stolen car last year plus prices have gone up in general. The think is I only got my refund 8-9 months ago.

Further details are that I have Â£250 voluntary excess, 10,000 miles pa of which 3,000 are business use, proctected NCB (full 9 years +) and live in the M33 postcode area. Age 38/36. One non-fault claim 12/06 (car hit in car park whilst I was away from it and successfully claimed against other party).

Any ideas? Current best is Swift and I've tried a few price comparison sites so looking for other ideas really.

Thanks and apologies for another insurance thread.

scooby1doo1 · Post by **scooby1doo1** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 11:16 am

Seems abit high did mine on Thursday swift over, Â£710 mines doubled over the last 2 yrs.

3 points for speeding and a fault claim.

Next door, she just got hern done from just over Â£300 to just over Â£600 in one hit.

Thing is not much if oat can be done, we need it and it's law to have it.
so they got use by the danglys

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gobiman · Post by **gobiman** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 11:17 am

Unfortunately you just have to put aside a few hours and get on the phone keeping a log of prices and conditions. It's painful.
I'm not an insurance underwriter but from what you've said, my best guess on ballpark would be Â£600-800.
Admiral certainly cover my 4.8iS in central London without difficulty. If you speak to them, I would start by saying you have a quote of Â£800 and are trying to better it. I was cut off by accident in my last converstion with them and went to a new person and started from scratch agian but suddenly found them quoting Â£100 less!!

x555 · Post by **x555** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 11:30 am

I had to renew mine last month and was expecting a massive hike in price , but was pleasantly surprised to find out it was marginally less than last year

Me and the missus have no points and are with Swift.

IanP · Post by **IanP** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 11:45 am

Admiral was cheap for my 4.6, the quote came from the Meerkat, Â£600 odd against Â£1200 from my previous company. Guess mine was one of the stolen ones that raised the premiums last year, but I did get it back from the guys who took it

, so maybe you could let me off

Dan1502 · Post by **Dan1502** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 11:50 am

I have phoned a couple along with some brokers. I'll give admiral a try over the phone as I've only seen the prices on the comparison sites (which weren't the best). The only problem is if they ask who quoted the lower premium but I guess I can say it was a broker who didn't disclose the insurer.

Powercat · Post by **Powercat** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 1:22 pm

Ridiculous, I don't think I know anybody that hasn't received double the price on a renew,
it seems to be standard practice by the insurance companies these days

I got mine doubled a couple of years ago and as soon as I tried a different company(After Google research) I got a more realistic price,only Â£20 increase instead of double

I don't trust those comparisons websites.

A lot of these insurance groups are owned by the same companies, so you might think you're phoning a new Insurer but you're not

a lot of them also use the same databases for checking your information and quoting you

No I have never worked in the insurance business,as I work part time in the motor tradeI get to hear about what goes on.
Just remember they want to get as much money as they can from you, and if you make a claim

Dan1502 · Post by **Dan1502** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 1:35 pm

Yeh, I consider myself quite savvy when it comes to getting deals (on insurance and in general) but am struggling this time. I have a couple more things to try then it will just be a case of phoning some of the companies who've quoted on line and seeing if I can haggle. I was wondering if anyone knew of any spcecialist brokers who might be competitive. I'll have a look on pistonheads as I've only tried Adrian Flux and Elstree (who were previously very good) so far.

Powercat · Post by **Powercat** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 1:44 pm

I can only recommend one for motor trade,it covers you to drive any car including your own private car.

Dan1502 · Post by **Dan1502** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 2:07 pm

The thing that concerns me with Swift and is the same with Bell I think and probably others is that they say they may use recycled parts for repairs and may use equivalent non manuafacturer parts. I'm still not managing to get below that Â£1,000 barrier though.

CondorX5 · Post by **CondorX5** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 2:41 pm

Total madness, my 4.8 via the broker was set for a hike up to around Â£900 or so despite 9 yrs no claims, no points etc. Luckily fall into Saga age group now

and got a quote for under Â£400 from them, so I was very pleased to bite their hand off at that.

gobiman · Post by **gobiman** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 2:51 pm

One suggestion - there is a magazine called BMW Car (?) - it has quite a few adverts towards the back from specialist insurers.Usually a few good articles too for your fiver or whatever it costs.

Dan1502 · Post by **Dan1502** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 3:02 pm

I've not gone ahead yet but just tried BMW insurance and it seems pretty good. The basic premium is Â£837 but all options are itemised and cost extra. So, with protected no claims, legal expenses and Â£500 of car contents it's Â£903.

For the equivalent of the Admiral policy with foreign travel, legal expenses, hire car, NCD protection, Â£500 contents ,the premium is Â£1,052.59 so Â£68 cheaper. But, I don't need all these.

What I now have to consider is that the Admiral quote includes guarantees no claims discount wheras the BMW is protected which doesn't seem that great when you look into the terms but the BMW insurance is based on repairs using genuine BMW parts. Decisions, decisions!!

lezmtaylor · Post by **lezmtaylor** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 3:51 pm

I went with saga,am 68 so would expect some age related loadings shortly, any way this year cost is Â£331.
Have you got a sister, girlfriend, wife you can put on as 2nd driver, usually worth about 10% discount.
Lez

Dan1502 · Post by **Dan1502** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 4:46 pm

My wife is on the policy.

I gave Admiral a call and they wouldn't drop but if I go on the multiple car policy the premium comes down to Â£853 which on the face of it is good. But the quote for our other car is not that competitive (but does have g'teed NCB) so when I do the maths it works out that going with the multiple car policy vs the BMW insurance policy plus cheapest current price for the other car is about the same total cost. So I guess it boils down to whether I prefer BMW parts in the event of a repair but protected NCB or guaranteed no claims applying to both cars. I'm leaning towards the guaranteed no claims option at the moment but welcome others thoughts on this before I go ahead.

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