The Annual Car Insurance Rip off!

[mcmaddy]

Just had my renewal through and it's 30% more than last year! Phoned them up made a few tweaks and managed to get them down to £258 which while it's more than last year is still loads cheaper than I've found on all of the comparison sites. The thing that really got me annoyed was I asked for the market value to be more realistic and not the 29k they have down and also asked to increase my voluntary excess to £200. Believe it or not the price actually increased because they couldn't use the same level of discount. After laughing so hard I nearly dropped the phone I asked if she was being serious, yes she was. It's unbelievable how companies work out insurance policies. Undid the changes and settled on the original price 

[dubber36]

Last year I changed my Passat for an Amarok. I was about 3 months into my policy with Direct Line which had cost just over £200 for the Passat. They wanted a further £300+ to cover the Amarok. I cancelled that policy got a refund for the remaining 9 months and took out a new policy with Aviva for £230.

As my renewal is coming up soon, I did an online quote with Direct Line as a new customer. The result £189. Go figure.

[Watts]

It's the ultimate unfathomable beast. I'm with DL and got stuffed with an extra £130 last year due to an zccident which hasn't even been resolved - even now. A foreign lorry, pita. I'd have been better off fixing it myself. God only knows what this year will bring after someone drove into the back of me last September, even though it has been resolved in my favour....

[I wanted a GTi]

Another thing I don't get is that if I insure my car on my own it is nearly twice the price of insuring it with my wife as a named driver.

[Gulfstream11]

55yrs old and just enrolled with Flux for £425. I left Sky because they wanted to put it up to £610 due to the theft of my bumper last year.
Has anybody any experience with the agreed value thing. They want 7 photos and if the car is a total loss an agreed value will be paid out. its £15 but is it worth it.?

[mcmaddy]

Another thing I don't get is that if I insure my car on my own it is nearly twice the price of insuring it with my wife as a named driver.

That's all about the risk factor. With two drivers on the policy the risk is halved even if that person will never drive your car.

[buddfridge]

Just had my renewal through and its a bit high, anybody got a good deal with a pedal box fitted.

[dubber36]

Has anybody any experience with the agreed value thing. They want 7 photos and if the car is a total loss an agreed value will be paid out. its £15 but is it worth it.?

My Mk2 Golf GTI is on an agreed value policy. It cost £102 inc the £15 this year with a mileage limit of 3000. With 'classics' it's better to have an agreed value, in my case £8000, as otherwise in the event of even the slightest scrape, it would be considered as an other 28 year old hatchback. Sent to the crusher and a £50 cheque in heading my way.

I'm guessing you are talking about your Mk7 here. In that case it's quite easy to negotiate a value with the insurers in the event of a claim as there are so many similar cars out there for sale as a guide. I'm not sure that agreed value is necessary. With my Mk2, well, just try and find another.

[Gulfstream11]

Has anybody any experience with the agreed value thing. They want 7 photos and if the car is a total loss an agreed value will be paid out. its £15 but is it worth it.?

My Mk2 Golf GTI is on an agreed value policy. It cost £102 inc the £15 this year with a mileage limit of 3000. With 'classics' it's better to have an agreed value, in my case £8000, as otherwise in the event of even the slightest scrape, it would be considered as an other 28 year old hatchback. Sent to the crusher and a £50 cheque in heading my way.

I'm guessing you are talking about your Mk7 here. In that case it's quite easy to negotiate a value with the insurers in the event of a claim as there are so many similar cars out there for sale as a guide. I'm not sure that agreed value is necessary. With my Mk2, well, just try and find another.

Exactly.. Sounds good for a classic,but for a standard car maybe not worth the while. Thanks.

[SRGTD]

Agreed value car insurance policies do tend to be primarily for classic cars, for the reasons dubber36 has outlined in his post, or for supercars with a particularly high value.

I'm guessing you are talking about your Mk7 here. In that case it's quite easy to negotiate a value with the insurers in the event of a claim as there are so many similar cars out there for sale as a guide. I'm not sure that agreed value is necessary. With my Mk2, well, just try and find another.

Agree, either negotiate a value with your insurer, or buy GAP insurance so you won’t need to go through the hassle of negotiating with your insurer, as the GAP policy will kick in.