Insuring the Mk VI

[Rolfe]

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.

[VWKev]

Mine is up for renewal very shortly. AXA are the cheapest at the moment at £280 with a £250 excess.

[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.

[am1w]

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?

[Rolfe]

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.

[p3asa]

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/ 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    I'm sure someone wil be along with the actual link.

[p3asa]

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.

[Rolfe]

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.

[p3asa]

5 days! You're keen 
Mine is always done last minute, sometimes letting the insurance lapse for an hour or so while it is sorted. 

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 

[Rolfe]

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.