HARD EARNED KNOWLEDGE :-
I used to think that insurance brokers scanned every insurance company for the cheapest insurance possible - WRONG - they simply scan those which they deal with i.e. those that pay them a worthwhile commition. So, although they are useful they may well not be the cheapest option. REMEMBER! they are there to earn a good living they are SALESMEN They are not only there to save you money.
Norwich union direct was the cheapest for my f reg mk 2 16v.
Heres how it works :- take N.U.D. for instance, there is an apsolute minimum that they can insure you for based on the risks involved, i.e age, postcode etc But they will not tell you this figure up front, you have to dig it out off them. So before you phone them up (they have a freephone number by the way) Get a ballpark figure on the amount you will have to pay, this is where the broker comes in - get a quote from one of them - then phone another and tell them that you have a price for your insurance from *********** and it is ?*** ask them if they can better it.
You get the idea, right, now you have a rough price, So phone N.U.D. or any of the phone based companys as then you get to talk to a real person (better than online). Tell them that you wish to insure your car, when they have your details and give you a price this will NOT be the cheapest they can do it for.
You need to work on them a bit more, you now take about 20 % of of the quote they have just given you and tell them that you already have a quote for this amount - they may well match it or get close to it saving you 20 % or so.
Dont stop there as they really do want your custom, ask them if they could do any better for a first time customer, they may well then put you on hold as they speak to their supervisor to give you an extra discount which may well be a cash back cheque, I got ?20 cash back.
You should now have the cheapest quote you have been able to get, if you do not take it out there and then ask them for the quotation number and write it down
You can now, either phone another company for another price or take out the one you have, If you phone another you will be unlikely to beat them down another 20% as you have already got quite a good price anyway, but you never know!!!
You can also save money by parking your vehicle on a driveway, even if you don't all the time, if you see what I mean and you can elect to not have a curtesy car or windscreen replacement etc etc as you will only benifit from these if you make a claim and most people never do.
Cheers
Steve
