WHATS HAPPENED TO CAR INS

[Feight]

Insurance is stupid.
I was riding my 125cc bike for almost 2 years before taking my A2 (33bhp) licence. My insurance for the first year was £175, second year £154, after my test I got £6 back. They quoted me £197 for my third year. This is all third party fire and theft, stored in a garage and with a disk lock at all times.

I decided to get my bigger bike rather than keep the 125, GPZ 500 (restricted) and have payed £203 fully comp, legal cover, £100 of kit cover, breakdown, personal injury. Kept on the street, no locks, just immobiliser and datatag...

Seriously WTF?

I'm putting off buying a car as my cheapest quote was £1200 for a 1.2 '92 nova with all the mod cons of the era, keyed independant locks, window winders, tape player. Although it was alarmed with immobiliser. lol
Just what I imagined driving when I got to 27.

[bodgit]

Originally Posted by Si Coe

Its down to two things:

2) Uninsured drivers. The modern world is built around the car. In much of the country you need a car to get a job, go to the shops, have a life. So when youngsters who have just passed their test (which cost them every penny they had in driving lessons) get 4 figure quotes 10x their cars value for a knackered old 1L Corsa its no surprise a lot say stuff it. Even more accept, but then modify the car so it doesn't look like a 100000 mile shitbox, which invalidates their insurance so they are still technically uninsured. .

YEAH MAN INNIT NEAT BABE MAGNET

[mattybucks]

Uninsured driving costs an extra £15-30 on your insurance premium, and it's cheaper to pay £1000 insurance premium than it is to pay for a persons injury, vehicle damage, storage and credit hire, solicitors fees and disbursements.

In regard to a low speed impact, you've still hit the person in front, and a claim on your policy is a claim even if it's £5 or £50,000. If someone claims for an injury an independant medical expert provides a report, so although they do tests to see if someone is making an injury up, if the expert states that on the balance of probability they've suffered an injury then it's hard to defend.

[Si Coe]

True, except that my mother is a GP, and has told many a patient they are perfectly well only for some solicitors tame doctor proclaim they have whiplash. She is actually due in court in a few weeks time as in expert witness in just such a case.

If you tell the ambulance chasers you were hit, they'll find you a doctor who'll provide 'medical evidence', for the right cut of the profits.

Actually whiplash claims are even worse than that. Because they are so common these days insurers just expect you to take them. My wife was involved in an accident a few years ago where she was hit by a speeding driver who then bounced off her car and smashed into someone else. The police came, so it was all properly logged. Then the woman in the 3rd car started claiming for a broken wrist (which she hadn't noticed at the time, but realised 3 days later after catching a ball!) and it all got silly. Even now, 3 years on my wifes insurers keep ringing and asking if she suffered any injuries in that accident (she hadn't, so said she hadn't) because they'd already set aside £10K for her claim. So now insurers expect you to make a fuss!

[Chrislong]

My next door neighbour, a late 30's lady, with a 2litre Rav4 SWB and full no claims says her insurance has gone up £500 this year!!! On comparison site got it down by £200. She asked why, and was told "we've had quite a few claims this year for drivers of Rav4's". I didn't think this would be logged, or make any difference. Surely it is the owner?

My insurance drops significantly with my girlfriend named on it, although she has only been driving 3-4 years. So I do this, even though she may never drive my car. So what I don't understand, is why with me named on her policy - I reduce her premium too...

Ive been with Direct Line for 3yrs, have been cheapest for me for a while.

[Si Coe]

Its the fact its your partner as a named driver. I found quotes suddenly got lower the moment I ticked the 'children under 16' box. I guess they figure you'll drive more carefully with loved ones in the car!

But yes - insurance costs are down to claims on that type of car. If a wave of accidents or thefts started hitting every G-Wiz in the land they would suddenly cost thousands to insure. It means that obscure cars can often be remarkably cheap one year, than stupidly expensive the next.....

[Skodes]

My policy went up this year by a good 300 odd quid, from £600.

I thought the 3 points I now have the pleasure of declaring had done it, but even when I forgot to mention them it still went up by a couple of hundred or more. I was happy the points made sod all difference and shocked it was just plain 'going up anyway'.

...£950 for me, a 22 year old with 3 years NCB, to insure a 1.4L Ins Grp 2 Skoda Fabia? A telephone call was soon tendered telling certain people where to insert various pointy objects.

I pay insurance and get nothing from it year after year, I pay road tax only to damage my car on speed bumps and pot holes and I pay £45 for an MOT which isn't worth the paper it's printed on by the time I exit the garage it was tested in. Not to mention the ever increasing cost of fuel..... Can't have anything nice now days.

[bodgit]

[QUOTE=Skodes;412922]My policy went up this year by a good 300 odd quid, from £600.
...£950 for me, a 22 year old with 3 years NCB, to insure a 1.4L Ins Grp 2 Skoda Fabia? A telephone call was soon tendered telling certain people where to insert various pointy objects.

Thats quite high. My son is 23 with just 1 years ncb and will pay just £707.39 for his imported MR2 GTS turbo which I think is group 20 with his 21 yr old sister added for just 80pence. Do not accept the renewel price your ins co gives you shop around.

[matdodd]

Originally Posted by ben

Lucky for some!!! The cheapest quote i found when i was 17 on a " 1 litre corsa" was £1750!!!!
Paying a quarter of that on a traders policy

I remember that Ben, my first car at 17 was a 1.1 Nova and I was quoted £2000! to insure it

[Welshy40]

Do you actually shop around or are you one of those daft sods that stays with the same company. They always raise the costs. Heck im a diabetic and insurance companies charge double due to this, yet i still pay 300 a year fully comp for an audi tt quatro with all the audi extras including a 1000 stereo. I just shop around each year for the best deal as they all want your business.

[bodgit]

Also you buying the wrong type of car. The corsa and nova along with a few others are considered high risk. Typical driver will be some moron chav who thinks he can drive better than anyone else and can handle any corner at any speed and will have underage girls on board to show off to.
Your throwing yourself in with the high risk group. For some reason even though my lad gets relatively cheap ins on a 2lt imported turbo capable of 0-60 in 5.1 secs and 165mph they wont ins him for a FTO which is a tortoise in comparrison because more claims have been made on that type of car. he was quoted £5000 on a£2k FTO but got his first year on the MR2 turbo for £1069 at 22 years old. Go buy a polo or something less boy racer and you will save money.
I think most young kids are persecuted for the actions of a few morons. They should get a partial refund of their policy if they have made no claim in the term they have it.. Reward the good drivers.

[Kash]

Originally Posted by Welshy40

Do you actually shop around or are you one of those daft sods that stays with the same company. They always raise the costs. Heck im a diabetic and insurance companies charge double due to this, yet i still pay 300 a year fully comp for an audi tt quatro with all the audi extras including a 1000 stereo. I just shop around each year for the best deal as they all want your business.

You might get a shock next time then... I have never paid more the £300 on any car i've owned but the TT renewal is £600!!! I can't get it any cheaper the £480!!!

[Skodes]

Originally Posted by Kash

You might get a shock next time then...

What he said...

I haven't found anyone to be very helpful this year. In my experience no matter who you look at, it's going up and by a fair bloody amount.

[Si Coe]

I shop around every year, and yet I've been with Swiftcover for 4 years now, because everytime their renewal quote comes up less than any offer on Confused or Moneysupermarket - bizarrely including Swiftcovers own quote.

Very true about the car types. teens are better off driving frumpy estates than superminis because they have much less accidents.

[Kopite]

My insurance has gone up a lot this year, but that's probably because I harpooned a parked Nissan Micra. The Micra fell apart like a slow cooked chicken

[matdodd]

Thats not the only thing you have harpooned though is it mate

[Colinevan]

Originally Posted by Si Coe

I shop around every year, and yet I've been with Swiftcover for 4 years now, because everytime their renewal quote comes up less than any offer on Confused or Moneysupermarket - bizarrely including Swiftcovers own quote.

Very true about the car types. teens are better off driving frumpy estates than superminis because they have much less accidents.

Same here i use swiftcover and have just renewed again with them.

My insurance has rocketed as well, although they were the cheapest.

Last year My £7k 03 Bmw 320d touring was around £400 fully comp. I changed to a cheap £1500 runaround a 1999 206 gti 2.0 16v and its gone up to £500 fully comp.

Im 32, 9 years no claims bonus and that was by far the cheapest, every where else wanted around £700. Jees my M3 evo coupe was only £1170 fully comp a few years back.

I hate insurance companies

[SlowOne]

In the UK, you insure the car. In the US, you insure the driver (within a range of cars).

Insurance companies employ statisticians to work out the risk of insuring cars, which is based on all sorts of things. Primarily it is the claims associated with the car, and the claims associated with the age group and where you live. Things like repair costs are also included. (By the way, the stats job is not underpaid if you're inclned to maths and looking for a career!!)

However, the overall way an insurance company is run is that they take in premiums and pay out claims. Providing premium income exceeds claim payments, they make a profit. If they make a better profit, they can afford lower premiums. If they pick and choose who they insure, they can also afford lower premiums. So, researching the lowest risk cars and areas to live, and who's made the most money, often helps lower premiums.

For what it's worth, I've been with Direct Line for over 15 years, and they've never been beaten at renewal time. HTH

[matdodd]

We've had two cars with direct line for a few years now and they were a good price although not the cheapest I could find, but this year they wanted silly money
So I went to admiral who were hundreds cheaper!
I think you just need to make the effort every year and look around as much as you can!

[bodgit]

I found this on the internet this morning which explains the raise in car insurance. Last year they paid out 95p for every £1 they took in. Thanks a lot boy racers.
http://money.uk.msn.com/money-guides...ntid=154784081
Car insurance is cheap
Would you believe it? On average car insurance is actually cheap compared to what insurers have to pay out for us.
Typically, car insurers pay out 70p to 85p in claims for every pound they receive, but last year was a particularly good year for car owners. 2009 saw the payout rise to an average 95p.
This massive jump explains why car-insurance premiums have shot up this year, because car insurers need to get that ratio under control.
When you add in car insurers' other costs, such as rent and wages, car insurers made a loss in 2009. Indeed, they have made a loss on premiums for an astounding 14 years in a row at least.
Like life insurers, car insurers can invest our premiums to make more money and they also find it very easy to sell us other more profitable products once they have sold us car insurance. That's where the money is.

Having said that my lad decided he wanted to take his car to uni in cardiff . Parked on the street, fully comp 1years NCB, group 20 with full breakdown cover £51 and ins against uninsured hit and runs £21 Admiral only put his premium up by £102 to £880.