GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk6 => Topic started by: Rolfe on 11 February 2010, 17:07
-
Some time ago we had a thread on insurance costs, and I remarked that I thought somebody was robbing me blind. I've been insured through the RAC since about 1993, and just continued the policy when I got the GTi. They charged me about £60 at the time, for the change of car.
Now my insurance premium is due, and they're wanting over £600 for the privilege. This seems pricey to me. I've just run my details through Direct Line's web site and they came up with £340, which is quite a difference. I'm not convinced I was asked enough questions or given enough information though. The RAC policy included "business use" (only needed to be able to claim mileage for occasional weekend work and similar), added at no extra cost a year ago. There may be other advantages to the RAC policy I'm not aware of.
What think you guys? Any good recommendations? What should I be paying and what should I be getting for my money?
Female, 56 years old, most recent conviction was over five years ago, most recent claim was over six years ago, and I do about 11,000 miles in a year. Good postcode (Peeblesshire).
Rolfe.
-
As far as I'm aware the DirectLine policies all include business cover as standard.
I've been with DirectLine for a while now, they're pretty good but each year I start again as a "new" customer as you seem to get a better deal!
-
For starters check the detail of direct line - they didn't used to insure higher performance cars without trackers fitted, and they didn't cover optional extras, so if you wrote the car off they'd only replace in the first year with a standard spec car - not much god if you have £5ks of extras !
I'd try Chris Knott insurance - they beat the online price comparison websites by £30 on my Golf, albeit its a TDI. Truley excellent service , i had to sort mine out between Xmas and new year when there weren't many places open.
If you log onto vwaudiforum then they have a discount code there too.
-
Morethan beat the opposition in my case by "more than" £100. (similar details £300ish fully comp etc)
-
Thanks for the tips. I ran on a bit further in the Direct Line site, reduced the excess to its current level and added protected no-claims bonus (which I currently have), and it came up to about £420. I couldn't find a way to add business travel, but it did say in the pdf document that you had to inform them (via the web site!) if you wanted to add that.. They didn't say anything about a tracker.
I'll try a couple more. I'll also phone the RAC because they may come up with a better quote if I hassle them.
Rolfe.
-
Also, worth mentioning the online quote was much cheaper than over the phone. But it was possible to settle online quotes over the phone just in case if you don't like online payement etc.:cool:
-
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/compare-cheap-car-insurance
Worth reading what he has to say.
-
I've just run my details through Direct Line's web site and they came up with £340, which is quite a difference.
Female, 56 years old, most recent conviction was over five years ago, most recent claim was over six years ago, and I do about 11,000 miles in a year. Good postcode (Peeblesshire).
Cheapest quote I got at renewal time was elephant at £625.
Male, 27 years old, most recent conviction was <1 year ago, most recent claim was over five years ago (only 2 yrs NCB, though) and I do about 10,000 miles in a year. Bad postcode (Coatbridge).
Partner, female, 34 years old on it too... probably helped. :laugh:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/compare-cheap-car-insurance
^^^ He's right, these sites do work for some of us. Have you tried a more specialist insurer like Adrian Flux, or one of those 'women only' companies? AXA over-50's even...?
Just especially beware of comfused.com, because some companies they work with credit check you on just an enquiry.
-
Rolfe have you tried the usual gocompare, confused, and comparethemarket?
While not a definitive collection they will give you a good idea of what you should be paying.
I ended up not going for the GTI but I did a few insurance quotes at the time. It may help you with a comparison.
I'm male 41 and good postcode area.
No points and no claims.
£240 fully comp with business included with an excess of £250.
It was much dearer with me on my own but as soon as I added my wife it came down to that. Not sure if you have a partner but you could try adding a friend to see if it reduces the cost.
The good thing about the comparison websites is it lets you try loads of different options at your leisure.
-
Just about to renew ours, best quote is AVIVA £150x Fully comp, full NCD, 32 and partner 36. Make sure when you get your best quote you go through a site like Quidco or Topcashback.
We paid £237 and got £40 back through quidco, absolute bargain. . . . . . .
Ben
-
I haven't done any serious comparing yet, partly because I've been off sick all week and I realise I left my renewal documents (with the exact details of my present policy) on my desk at work. I'll have to do something quite soon though.
You're all quoting some very cheap prices, how are you doing it? Large excess? Not taking a protected no claims bonus?
I don't understand why it's so much cheaper to have another named driver. I always thought it cost more to do that. I'm the only person in our house with a driving licence, and I can't immediately think of anyone else. A girl-friend who lives 60 miles away? Why would adding another name with exactly the same demographics but a different (and much worse) post code decrease my premiums?
Rolfe.
-
OK, this is bizarre. I tried Comparethemarket.com, and got a range of quotes from £198 to £479. They aren't identical of course, the more expensive ones have extras.
The bizarre bit?
The cheapest one, at a whopping £198, is from
RAC Insurance.
My present insurer.
Who want over £600 to renew my current policy.
OK, I do have extras at present that aren't quoted for in the £198, but how ae they getting this up to £600+?
I think I need to have a little word with Mr. RAC Insurance Services.
Rolfe.
-
OK, this is bizarre. I tried Comparethemarket.com, and got a range of quotes from £198 to £479. They aren't identical of course, the more expensive ones have extras.
The bizarre bit?
The cheapest one, at a whopping £198, is from
RAC Insurance.
My present insurer.
Who want over £600 to renew my current policy.
OK, I do have extras at present that aren't quoted for in the £198, but how ae they getting this up to £600+?
I think I need to have a little word with Mr. RAC Insurance Services.
Rolfe.
£198: this is a an amazing price and seems too good to be true. :rolleyes:
I am going to do some checking tomorrow.
Will keep you posted
-
OK, this is bizarre. I tried Comparethemarket.com, and got a range of quotes from £198 to £479. They aren't identical of course, the more expensive ones have extras.
The bizarre bit?
The cheapest one, at a whopping £198, is from
RAC Insurance.
My present insurer.
Who want over £600 to renew my current policy.
OK, I do have extras at present that aren't quoted for in the £198, but how ae they getting this up to £600+?
I think I need to have a little word with Mr. RAC Insurance Services.
Rolfe.
£198: this is a an amazing price and seems too good to be true. :rolleyes:
I am going to do some checking tomorrow.
Will keep you posted
Have you checked Zurich Insurance?
They seem very competitive.
-
The cheapest one, at a whopping £198, is from
RAC Insurance.
My present insurer.
You've worked out the way that insurance companies try to max their profits. Most people elect not to change their insurer due to the hassle factor and don't mind paying a bit more each year to renew. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS shop around and NEVER accept a renewal quote. Often insurers will discount their "new policyholder" quotes just to get you on their books.
All a bit strange since renewing a policyholder is much cheaper than getting a new one (less admin, no commissions to pay, etc.)
Anyway, well done for shopping about, now just bag your 400 quid saving and you can stay with you current insurer, easy!! :grin:
-
I suspect I'll end up paying more than £198. That looked like an absolutely pared-down quote without some of the extras I currently have. I can't imagine what extras I could put on it that would put the price up by £400 though!
I tried the same thing with confused.com, and again the RAC was best, at £211. Slightly different package, I think.
Until 2007, I didn't ask too many questions, because my motoring costs were paid in full as business expenses. So I just paid what the RAC asked every year, and claimed it back. I thought it was a bit pricey, but then I had a performance car (stop sneering at Ariel the Peugeot GTi-6, that could go like a bat out of hell in its day!), and at the time I had a few points and a few claims. And the RAC package did claim to shop around for you and get the best quote, so I thought I was getting a fair deal.
However, the points are all gone - the last transgression happened in December 2004 so that's more than five years ago - and the claims are even older, and dammit, why did I have a protected no-claims bonus if that was making a difference anyway?
So, since none of them seem to care about points or claims that are more than five years old, I now have a clean record.
I'm female, and sorry guys, but that is an advantage in this game.
I'm not exactly a spring chicken either, but neither am I senile.
I live in a nice rural postcode with a vehicle crime rate close to zero.
I keep the car in my garage overnight (this time that's actually true, though the Peugeot seldom actually saw the inside of the garage).
I don't have a huge mileage - only about 11,000 miles a year.
I don't mind a reasonable excess.
I've got a complete rescue/recovery package (courtesy of VW at the moment) so I don't need those bits.
WHAT THE HELL ELSE DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET A GOOD RATE? ? ? ? ? ? ?
It seems to me they hiked the price up every time I collected any points, and maybe any time I had a claim in spite of that protected NCB, and they've never brought it back down to compensate. I'm going to have a serious heart-to-heart with RAC insurance, and if they don't bring that price right down, I'm just going to go round the revolving door.
I was right, they were robbing me blind.
Rolfe.
-
WHAT THE HELL ELSE DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET A GOOD RATE???????
I find (as a mid-30s bloke so this might not apply to you) that adding an additional driver brings my insurance premium down. Even adding my wife who is younger and has only had a licence for 2 yrs has brought down my premium. Theory I guess is that a "safer" driver uses the car instead of me, thus less likely to have an accident.
Also since I have use of other cars on a regular basis via work or friends, declaring this also brings my premium down. Theory being that I drive my insured car fewer times, less likely to have an accident.
Finally I am with Admiral and their 10 mth NCB accelerator will give me more NCB years quicker (I had to make a claim a few years back).
Hope this helps :)
-
I find (as a mid-30s bloke so this might not apply to you) that adding an additional driver brings my insurance premium down. Even adding my wife who is younger and has only had a licence for 2 yrs has brought down my premium. Theory I guess is that a "safer" driver uses the car instead of me, thus less likely to have an accident.
Also since I have use of other cars on a regular basis via work or friends, declaring this also brings my premium down. Theory being that I drive my insured car fewer times, less likely to have an accident.
Finally I am with Admiral and their 10 mth NCB accelerator will give me more NCB years quicker (I had to make a claim a few years back).
Hope this helps :)
Well, I'm trying to figure out who this "safer" driver might actually be! The car's still the same, and the mileage per year is still the same. I've got no points and no claims. Who could this mythical person possibly be who would be a better risk, on paper and on the facts available?
That's an interesting point about the work cars though. I do occasionally drive a pool car at work. It's a Focus estate. I didn't mention that because I don't drive it any more than I can help. But if it would bring the premium down, I should fess up!
Rolfe.
-
Some time ago we had a thread on insurance costs, and I remarked that I thought somebody was robbing me blind. I've been insured through the RAC since about 1993, and just continued the policy when I got the GTi. They charged me about £60 at the time, for the change of car.
Now my insurance premium is due, and they're wanting over £600 for the privilege. This seems pricey to me. I've just run my details through Direct Line's web site and they came up with £340, which is quite a difference. I'm not convinced I was asked enough questions or given enough information though. The RAC policy included "business use" (only needed to be able to claim mileage for occasional weekend work and similar), added at no extra cost a year ago. There may be other advantages to the RAC policy I'm not aware of.
What think you guys? Any good recommendations? What should I be paying and what should I be getting for my money?
Female, 56 years old, most recent conviction was over five years ago, most recent claim was over six years ago, and I do about 11,000 miles in a year. Good postcode (Peeblesshire).
Rolfe.
Just had a chat with my Broker.
£550 or less with Zurich.
You can go online and check with Zurich.
www.zurich.co.uk/personal
Am paying £580 at present for my Honda Type R GT which is in the same Insurance Group as the GTi.
They do not touch modified cars.
More accurate and hopefully lower quote nearer the time.
-
WHAT THE HELL ELSE DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET A GOOD RATE? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Rolfe.
If you read the link i posted earlier it tells you everything you have asked since the start of the thread :wink:
Why the RAC are quoting such high renewal
How to get it cheaper, job discription, cash back etc etc
Why sometimes adding a second driver helps
etc.
In your case a second drive will probably not help as your already female of a more responsible age.
-
Remember to give your forum sponsors a go aswell. I was with Greenlight and cant comment on their services as I never had to use them, but they were considerably cheaper than other company with regards to my MK5.
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=136178.0
-
Some time ago we had a thread on insurance costs, and I remarked that I thought somebody was robbing me blind. I've been insured through the RAC since about 1993, and just continued the policy when I got the GTi. They charged me about £60 at the time, for the change of car.
Now my insurance premium is due, and they're wanting over £600 for the privilege. This seems pricey to me. I've just run my details through Direct Line's web site and they came up with £340, which is quite a difference. I'm not convinced I was asked enough questions or given enough information though. The RAC policy included "business use" (only needed to be able to claim mileage for occasional weekend work and similar), added at no extra cost a year ago. There may be other advantages to the RAC policy I'm not aware of.
What think you guys? Any good recommendations? What should I be paying and what should I be getting for my money?
Female, 56 years old, most recent conviction was over five years ago, most recent claim was over six years ago, and I do about 11,000 miles in a year. Good postcode (Peeblesshire).
Rolfe.
Tried GoCompare, MoneySupermaket and the others.
All too expensive. Ridiculously so.
Then they start calling me to beat the on-line quotes and e-mailing me!
I have no time for this nonsense.
Will stick with Zurich.
The difference, (if found, though this seems very, very unlikely), will probably be a good meal for 2 in a top restaurant.
Therefore, I am not too fussed!
I have been through this insurance merry-go-round before.
My sanity is much more important!
-
Some time ago we had a thread on insurance costs, and I remarked that I thought somebody was robbing me blind. I've been insured through the RAC since about 1993, and just continued the policy when I got the GTi. They charged me about £60 at the time, for the change of car.
Now my insurance premium is due, and they're wanting over £600 for the privilege. This seems pricey to me. I've just run my details through Direct Line's web site and they came up with £340, which is quite a difference. I'm not convinced I was asked enough questions or given enough information though. The RAC policy included "business use" (only needed to be able to claim mileage for occasional weekend work and similar), added at no extra cost a year ago. There may be other advantages to the RAC policy I'm not aware of.
What think you guys? Any good recommendations? What should I be paying and what should I be getting for my money?
Female, 56 years old, most recent conviction was over five years ago, most recent claim was over six years ago, and I do about 11,000 miles in a year. Good postcode (Peeblesshire).
Rolfe.
Tried GoCompare, MoneySupermaket and the others.
All too expensive. Ridiculously so.
Then they start calling me to beat the on-line quotes and e-mailing me!
I have no time for this nonsense.
Will stick with Zurich.
The difference, (if found, though this seems very, very unlikely), will probably be a good meal for 2 in a top restaurant.
Therefore, I am not too fussed!
I have been through this insurance merry-go-round before.
My sanity is much more important!
Could not resist one more go! :rolleyes:
Just applied to Greenlight Insurance on-line for a quote.
Awaiting reply.
Have time today as I am at home with 'flu. :sick:
-
Churchill where £700 odd pounds, but switched to swift cover which was about £300 and included business cover
-
Churchill where £700 odd pounds, but switched to swift cover which was about £300 and included business cover
Awaiting for Greenlight to respond. :rolleyes:
Will try Swiftcover too.
Thanks. :smiley:
-
I'm with admiral at the minute. Will just transfer over to the MK6 when it arrives as i'm halfway through the policy year. Be interesting to see how much of a change it makes, currently driving a MK5 Golf GT Sport TSI 170.
-
.......However, the points are all gone - the last transgression happened in December 2004 so that's more than five years ago - and the claims are even older, and dammit, why did I have a protected no-claims bonus if that was making a difference anyway?
Rolfe.
Protected No Claims is a bit of a con.
If you claim while with company X and stay with company X for your following years insurance, they naturally put it up like you have noticed with your current RAC insurance as most companies put the costs up every year with their present customers. That is why it is best to put a new quote in as if you were a new customer.
Anyway back to the Protected No Claims, so you have claimed with company X and then find their renewal is too dear so you try company Y but you have to declare with them that you have had a claim so your Protected No Claims means jack sh!t with them.
-
Rolfe I insured mine with Admiral on their multi car policy. £585 for a year's cover with protected no claims for my Gti and her Saab 93 convertible. They don't split it so don't know the individual totals but at renewal and when I bought my car last July our then insurers were quoting more for her Saab than mine despite its being a lower insurance group. So God knows how they work it out.
Anyway if you have another car to insure Admiral's multi car policy might be worth a call. You can actually insure as many as you want. And I spoke to a nice bloke in Wales (or who was Welsh) who at least understood everything and did everything he was supposed to in an efficient way. Can't imagine there's many Welshman in Delhi!!!!! So I was perfectly happy with them and their price.
-
Churchill where £700 odd pounds, but switched to swift cover which was about £300 and included business cover
Awaiting for Greenlight to respond. :rolleyes:
Will try Swiftcover too.
Thanks. :smiley:
are you really James Gould in disguise?!
-
Could not resist one more go! :rolleyes:
Just applied to Greenlight Insurance on-line for a quote.
Awaiting reply.
Have time today as I am at home with 'flu. :sick:
[/quote]
Still waiting for Greenlight to respond! :rolleyes:
-
Well, this is kinda interesting.
I checked my renewal details from the RAC. "The best price from our panel of insurers is £609.88"
Be still my heart!
I went directly to the RAC's own web site, no intermediaries. The quote has expired now so I can't see it but it was just slightly north of £350.
I went through confused.com, and again the RAC came out best.
£191.08
With a slightly lower excess.
Sold to the lady in the Blue Graphite GTi.
Rolfe.
-
Mine is up for renewal very shortly. AXA are the cheapest at the moment at £280 with a £250 excess.
-
I upgraded the cover to RAC-plus, mainly to get the vandalism cover, but it also includes a courtesy car as well which is handy. This was actually included in my original quote to renew my policy, so it's a fairer comparison. And I also added legal protection, which I think I had before also.
Altogether, still a smidgin under £250. Compared to over £600 to renew exactly the same coverage with exactly the same insurer. Or about £350 to take out the same cover de novo going directly to the RAC site without involving confused.com.
I have to say, I'm a very confused bunny indeed.
Rolfe.
-
I upgraded the cover to RAC-plus, mainly to get the vandalism cover, but it also includes a courtesy car as well which is handy. This was actually included in my original quote to renew my policy, so it's a fairer comparison. And I also added legal protection, which I think I had before also.
Altogether, still a smidgin under £250. Compared to over £600 to renew exactly the same coverage with exactly the same insurer. Or about £350 to take out the same cover de novo going directly to the RAC site without involving confused.com.
I have to say, I'm a very confused bunny indeed.
Rolfe.
So it was cheaper through confused.com for the same cover?
-
So it was cheaper through confused.com for the same cover?
Yes. Significantly.
The other day I only looked at confused.com and comparethemarket.com. The former gave me a better choice of options, although it was a few pounds dearer, so that was where I went to make my final selection. I'm not that fussed over a few pounds here or there, but when it gets to hundreds of pounds that's a different matter.
Both comparison sites identified the RAC as the best quote. So obviously it wasn't that my original insurer was a hugely expensive outlier as such. I noticed that the very low prices (around £200) were for a very basic option though, and bringing it up to "RAC Insurance Plus", which is what my original quote had been for (includes things like courtesy car and vandalism cover) added about £50. It's possible I could have got similar cover for a bit less from one of the other companies, but all else being fairly equal I decided to stick with the RAC.
I've always been suspicious of these price comparison sites though, because I imagined they'd have to get their cut from somewhere and that's usually the customer. So I went to the RAC directly. Registering for a quote as a new customer got me about £350 for the very basic option and about £400 for the Plus version (the page had expired before I noted the exact amounts).
I went back to confused.com and got £191 for the no-frills option and about £249 for the very same policy as I already have - the one they quoted me a "best price" of £609.88 for, as a renewal.
This is all completely insane.
Rolfe.
-
I upgraded the cover to RAC-plus, mainly to get the vandalism cover, but it also includes a courtesy car as well which is handy. This was actually included in my original quote to renew my policy, so it's a fairer comparison. And I also added legal protection, which I think I had before also.
Altogether, still a smidgin under £250. Compared to over £600 to renew exactly the same coverage with exactly the same insurer. Or about £350 to take out the same cover de novo going directly to the RAC site without involving confused.com.
I have to say, I'm a very confused bunny indeed.
Rolfe.
Rolfe if you go via an affiliate link like quidco.com http://www.quidco.com/insurance-finance/insurance/motor/rac/ (http://www.quidco.com/insurance-finance/insurance/motor/rac/) you may also be able to get £70 back.
It states its for new customers but I have had similar back with More Than when I was also a present customer.
Its always good to factor in an affiliate site as you can literally save hundreds.
I'm sure there was a story on moneyexpert.com about a female that went via an affiliate link and the way it worked out for her she was actually given money to insure her car with someone :laugh: I'm sure someone wil be along with the actual link.
-
I've always been suspicious of these price comparison sites though, because I imagined they'd have to get their cut from somewhere and that's usually the customer. So I went to the RAC directly. Registering for a quote as a new customer got me about £350 for the very basic option and about £400 for the Plus version (the page had expired before I noted the exact amounts).
Rolfe.
The comparison sites get their fee from the insurance company so at present if you go via confused.com, the RAC will give confused a rather large sum.
If you go via an affiliate like I mentioned above quidco.com, rather than quidco getting the fee, they pass it all to the customer. At present the RAC is offering £70 cashback.
-
Well, I've done it now, because I only have 5 days left on my current policy. I had decided I'd be happy enough at around £250.
I'll try that next year though!
Rolfe.
-
5 days! You're keen :laugh:
Mine is always done last minute, sometimes letting the insurance lapse for an hour or so while it is sorted. :grin:
Do have a "proper" look next year especially at those affiliates. Like I say it can take a considerable amount off and it is no hassle or extra paperwork :smiley:
-
So, if I stayed with my present policy like nice loyal customer, the RAC would get £610, all to themselves.
If I ditched the existing policy and came in as a new customer, the RAC are happy with about £400 all to themselves.
If, however, I buy exactly the same cover but click through from a comparison site, the RAC are happy to get £250, and then pass a chunk of that on to the third party.
This is some new definition of rational business dealing I was previously unaware of.
Rolfe.
-
Pretty much so yeah.
Here was the story I was mentioning.
I thought the woman was paid for her insurance but it cost her 96p :laugh:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/insurance/2009/10/i-bought-car-insurance-for-96p (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/insurance/2009/10/i-bought-car-insurance-for-96p)
A grandmother has broken the MoneySavingExpert.com record for the cheapest-ever annual car insurance policy.
Barbara Wakerell (pictured, right) paid just 96p this summer for fully comprehensive cover for her 12-year-old Vauxhall Corsa.
Had she renewed her previous policy she would have paid £145.
This smashes the previous £14 record, and shows that by playing the system you can make huge savings (see the Car Insurance guide).
How's this possible? The MoneySavingExpert.com cost-cutting system
* Step 1: Combine the power of comparison sites. These zip your details to a host of insurers' and brokers' websites in seconds, scraping their data to report back the cheapest. No site lists every provider so the key is combining searches to give yourself the widest range in the least time to find the cheapest policy of those that contain your required cover.
By using just the top comparison site you'll search 97 providers, but add three more and, in minutes, you search another 51 (full analysis in the Cheap Car Insurance guide). Also note Aviva and Direct Line do not appear on comparison sites.
* Step 2: Grab cashback. Once you know the cheapest provider, check whether you can grab any money back via a cashback website. These pay a cut of their commission if you click through to insurers' or brokers' sites via them (see the Top Cashback Sites guide).
* Step 3: Remember next year. Just because you got a super-cheap quote this year, doesn't mean you will next year. So diarise a note six weeks before renewal so you don't pay your insurer's expensive renewal price.
How Barbara did it
Barbara, a civil servant from Kent, found the cheapest policy at £120.96 from broker Swinton, which came with its own £70 cashback, making the true cost £50.96.
One reason she got a decent-priced policy to start with is she is considered a relatively low risk, which is crucial in cutting costs.
Barbara then bought the policy via cashback site Quidco.com, which gave her a further £50 discount, meaning the net cost was just 96p.
She says: "I'm always looking for a bargain so when I found my car insurance for £120.96 I thought I was doing well.
"But when I also got £120 cashback I realised I had done really, really well. Can anyone beat that?"
What's more, her cover is good. It is a comprehensive deal that includes a courtesy car if her motor is out of action and a protected no claims bonus.
Additionally, there will be no voluntary excess to pay if she makes a claim (the amount deducted from any payout).
Barbara also paid a voluntary £2.42 credit card charge, but that fee would have been waived had she paid by debit card.
Martin Lewis, creator of MoneySavingExpert.com, says: "While many report getting insurance for under £100 following the system, we thought the previous £14 record was near invincible, so it's wobbly legs time to see Barbara's 96p price."
"The real hope is to find someone who gets PAID to get motor insurance. This has happened many times with home insurance (see the Cheap Home Insurance guide).
"The current record is a £67 profit as the cashback was higher than the policy cost."
-
This is batsh!t insane!
Rolfe.
-
Its dog eat dog out there Rolfe :laugh:
-
96p bloody hell.
-
So it was cheaper through confused.com for the same cover?
Yes. Significantly.
The other day I only looked at confused.com and comparethemarket.com. The former gave me a better choice of options, although it was a few pounds dearer, so that was where I went to make my final selection. I'm not that fussed over a few pounds here or there, but when it gets to hundreds of pounds that's a different matter.
Both comparison sites identified the RAC as the best quote. So obviously it wasn't that my original insurer was a hugely expensive outlier as such. I noticed that the very low prices (around £200) were for a very basic option though, and bringing it up to "RAC Insurance Plus", which is what my original quote had been for (includes things like courtesy car and vandalism cover) added about £50. It's possible I could have got similar cover for a bit less from one of the other companies, but all else being fairly equal I decided to stick with the RAC.
I've always been suspicious of these price comparison sites though, because I imagined they'd have to get their cut from somewhere and that's usually the customer. So I went to the RAC directly. Registering for a quote as a new customer got me about £350 for the very basic option and about £400 for the Plus version (the page had expired before I noted the exact amounts).
I went back to confused.com and got £191 for the no-frills option and about £249 for the very same policy as I already have - the one they quoted me a "best price" of £609.88 for, as a renewal.
This is all completely insane.
Rolfe.
Thanks Rolfe.
This is so good of you.
I will certainly follow this through now.
Still waiting for Greenlight to respond!
More like Redlight! Hopeless.
-
If the other posters are right about quidco.com, then it's possible I could have had the same policy for about £180. As opposed to £610.
Makes you think.
Rolfe.
-
Insurance companies having been using brokers as distribution channels for their products for years and years. Its equivalent to having an army of salespeople travelling the country selling insurance.
These price comparison sites are just acting like a super efficient version of the traditional high street insurance broker (eg remember hill house hammond?). So nothing new as a concept, just executed in a different manner via the magic of the internet.
I learnt a little about cash back sites last night talking to a friend in online marketing. Apparently they will act much like a broker and will pass back the commission they would normally get to the customer. What's in it for the cash back site then? Well apparently that site you go to pay for your insurance will actually result in payment to the cash back site who then sit on the cash for a while before passing it on. The interest earnt on that cash is retained by the cash back site.
So all in all its perfectly rational business really :)
(Though the 96p example is a cool outlier that highlights where the left hand (underwriter) doesn't know what the right hand is doing (sales) much to the annoyance of the brain (the Board!))
-
Cashback sites like Quidco also make money by charging their customers £5 per annum from their cashback which would be a considerable amount considering the amount of customers it has.
I know it is the same end result but if quidco charged me £5 before joining I probably wouldn't have joined but the fact they only take it off your earnings means you have nothing to lose.
In the 3 years or so I've been with them I've had £452 back.
-
Cashback sites like Quidco also make money by charging their customers £5 per annum from their cashback which would be a considerable amount considering the amount of customers it has.
I know it is the same end result but if quidco charged me £5 before joining I probably wouldn't have joined but the fact they only take it off your earnings means you have nothing to lose.
In the 3 years or so I've been with them I've had £452 back.
Thanks p3asa.
Quidco is truly amazing.
My car insurance keeps getting cheaper and cheaper.
-
No bother.
There are a few other affiliate sites that might give even more back than quidco.
I also use quidco for buying from ebay. Its 40% from what ebay makes which doesn't work out that much but it isn't long in building up.
The best deals on Quidco seem to be phones and insurance. Buying a Three Mobile got me £100 back ;)
-
No bother.
There are a few other affiliate sites that might give even more back than quidco.
I also use quidco for buying from ebay. Its 40% from what ebay makes which doesn't work out that much but it isn't long in building up.
The best deals on Quidco seem to be phones and insurance. Buying a Three Mobile got me £100 back ;)
6 weeks to go before my renewal.
It is going to be a full time job this weekend.
Great fun!
-
Update, a year on.
RAC quoted £350 to renew the policy I took out last year, which is a 40% increase. Not impressed.
I went through comparethemarket.com, and the RAC policy was only about £25 cheaper than their direct quote. So I took one from Sheila's Wheels for £225.
Rolfe.