Insurance rip off (again-sorry)

[thatfatbloke]

My insurance renewal is coming up later this month. Not yet got a quote from current insurer (Saga) but have tried the three major 'compare' sites. The cheapest range from £234 to £294 for Privilege on two different sites!. I've never paid anywhere near this amount before. As some of you may remember, my last LS was written off last December after being rear ended by a 1967 Mini. My car was parked by the side of the road legally and I was 20 miles away at the time. I have always had protected no claims bonus,but feel I am being loaded for this 'no blame' incident. Seems pointless asking the insurance company if I am in fact being loaded because of this,because I know I won't get a straight answer.

Also,when entering the cars value onto the compare sites,a box comes up saying that the 'maximum forecourt screen price for this car is £595' and 'that would be the maximum an insurance company would be liable to pay out in the event of a claim'. Combine that with the £500/£600 excess and it would make a claim completely pointless.

I can see why so many people try to get away with having no insurance. I would never try it as I would get about 200 yards down the road before I saw the flashing blue lights in my rear view mirror!. Strangely enough,I was recently considering buying a Saab 9000,and the quote for that was £150.01. Are any other LS owners experiencing high quotes like this?. Is it the car or is it me?. 

Sorry for going on,but my blood is now nearing boiling point. Ta.

 

 

 

[lex - eleven]

I paid £246 recently for mine and it's the cheapest I've paid but perhaps it's because it's a 430?

[thatfatbloke]

Just phoned my current insurer,Saga,and got it for £234. Still seems a lot compared to the Saab 9000.

[Foulsbane]

My quotes for the LS430 are around the £300 mark, just about to start trawling the web ready for new insurance.

Awful, time consuming job.

[MLW]

Mine is £244. The problem is that anyone who has experienced an accident (even though they are totally innocent) is more likely statistically to make a claim. Insurance companies have this built into the algorithm which calculates premiums.

Maybe try classic car insurance. You maybe right on the edge of that. 

[Malc]

............. there's never any rhyme nor reason for the insurance quotes, well, none that one could believe and give credibility to !

Just despair and go with the best for you, not worth agonising over, if and when you have a claim you just know you're going to be totally screwed 

Malc

[Bluesman]

You dont get totally screwed until it comes time to make a CLAIM.

[runsgrateasanut]

I'd be happy to pay £294.  No accidents reported, and fifty years licence,  though Wing mirror kiss with another car (his fault though he lied) was reported and no claim entered by either party.  Could however be on the record.  Ruined my New Year worrying about it i recall a couple of years back.  Pay more to get  International Breakdown cover which for cars over a certain age is not available.  Whats £300 today?  Comp essential for peace of mind.  

[harrylime]

Never had protected no claimsbonus. I may be wrong, take the view that if you have a claim, they'll get you somehow. Never had a competitive quote from Saga, they always seem expensive

[sorcerer]

1 hour ago, runsgrateasanut said:

 Pay more to get  International Breakdown cover which for cars over a certain age is not available. 

Any idea what that age cut-off is - we never had any problems getting full European breakdown cover for our old Nissan which was 14 years old.

Of course, the problem may well be that as the car was only worth about £1200, any breakdown that came anywhere near that figure, they may just write it off or refuse repair - and then how would we get back from Poland/Czech Republic? Hope we never have to find out in practice!

[Malc]

.............  I have a Nationwide FlexPlus account which includes ( for £10 a month ) EU wide breakdown cover for any age car BUT of course if vehicle repatriation is involved then no-one's going to do that if the cost of doing so is greater than the value of the car !

I have it for simple breakdowns in the EU like roadside punctures/wheel changing, starting issues and maybe recovery of me to the UK even if I had to just abandon the car .

But of course the Lexus doesn't ever breakdown 

Malc

[Colin M]

I think you are probably just the wrong side for classic car insurance. This seems to be available when cars are 20 years old.

I have got this on my 1996 LS400 (about £176 for 5000 miles with Footman James) but my 1997 car does not yet qualify with FJ. But it will next year.

I do have my 1997 car on my classic car insurance policy with Richardson Hosken (for my Armstrong-Siddeley Sapphire) but it costs me about £260.

[harrylime]

Not so. My 99 model has been on classic car insurance for over two years now. Around £200 including free European recovery.RS Specialist Insurance. You can also combine sveral classic cars onto one policy

[39buss]

Premium Choice of Fort Dunlop,  B24 9FD   0121 749 8901 insured my 1999 Legend on agreed value £1000, 3000 miles for £220 FComp.  I sold the Legend this week.

[runsgrateasanut]

19 hours ago, sorcerer said:

Any idea what that age cut-off is - we never had any problems getting full European breakdown cover for our old Nissan which was 14 years old.

Of course, the problem may well be that as the car was only worth about £1200, any breakdown that came anywhere near that figure, they may just write it off or refuse repair - and then how would we get back from Poland/Czech Republic? Hope we never have to find out in practice!

I think if you check one of the search engines (Compare the meerkat possibly) for cover it show the age of vehicles they will cover.

[runsgrateasanut]

3 hours ago, harrylime said:

Not so. My 99 model has been on classic car insurance for over two years now. Around £200 including free European recovery.RS Specialist Insurance. You can also combine sveral classic cars onto one policy

I filled out an email request for a quote and they never came back to me, possibly because my Car is six years older than yours.

[steve2006]

I think I've mentioned this before but everytime you obtain a car insurance quote they do a credit reference check for each one, this apparently doesn't affect your credit rating but why is it done at the quote stage and not when you actually take out a policy.

I always pay my premium in one go so don't require credit so shouldn't be checked.

Because I have the credit monitoring as part of my bank account the mobile has a fit of texts if I ask for quotes online.

Makes me wonder if the quote is based also on your credit rating!

[Bluesman]

43 minutes ago, steve2006 said:

I think I've mentioned this before but everytime you obtain a car insurance quote they do a credit reference check for each one, this apparently doesn't affect your credit rating but why is it done at the quote stage and not when you actually take out a policy.

I always pay my premium in one go so don't require credit so shouldn't be checked.

Because I have the credit monitoring as part of my bank account the mobile has a fit of texts if I ask for quotes online.

Makes me wonder if the quote is based also on your credit rating!

I have often wondered about that. Trying to find some logic in how they arrive at the figures they do is just an impossible task. I have given up trying to work it out and as long as my premium is around the £250 mark I'm happy. Mike.

[mikeyv]

I don't have a lot of time for the insurance industry, as a whole, but I think a figure in the 200s is reasonable for a 4 litre V8.

Incidentally, I do comparisons every year, and that is the kind of figure I pay, as well.

[harrylime]

4 hours ago, runsgrateasanut said:

I filled out an email request for a quote and they never came back to me, possibly because my Car is six years older than yours.

I never contacted them by email, only ever by telephone, for renewals and the odd query. They always seem pretty efficient

[ambermarine]

Having just moved down to the Lancashire coast from Scotland I informed my insurer who I have been with for ten years.They promptly asked for an increase of £180 for the last six months of the policy and warned me my quote for next year would be £500 wheras it as been about £230 annually for years .

I gave the guy at Churchill bleeding ears for 10 or so minutes and vowed never to buy from them again.

The insurance was mentioned to a friend yesterday and he recommended Direct line.

Quote of £230 with legal and NCD cover.

At the time of changing postcodes the insurer seems to use this as a trigger to rip you off ,

BTW I also got cover on the house and contents which was very competitive.

[The-Acre]

Insurance premiums have risen for all drivers this year but it also depends on postcode (as well as age) so I can't complain that my LS and my Volvo premiums this year were both below £200.  For over 40 years I've paid the extra for no claim protection but never made a claim, but I bet if I did claim my premium would go up next time, so you have to wonder how much of a con it is.

[Malc]

....  it's NOT a postcode lottery, there's absolutely no luck about it at all ...........  in my experience insurers ALWAYS  load the premium mid stream when you move, simply coz they can, and DO. AND what's more they are not obliged to justify the loading either.

This happened to me with SAGA a few years ago now. I used another insurer the following year and then this current year back to SAGA who actually quoted me a sensible price .....  and at my miscreant postcode that they so solidly loaded when I moved home !

There's absolutely no rhyme nor reason for insurance premium understanding, they do absolutely what they want and are totally unaccountable and secretive and can get away with it.   ( rant over ) 

Malc

[runsgrateasanut]

20 hours ago, harrylime said:

I never contacted them by email, only ever by telephone, for renewals and the odd query. They always seem pretty efficient

I couldn't find a number for them online, as i recall.  Is it RS Specialist Insurance or perhaps RH Specialist Insurance which does have a listing phone number?

[harrylime]

It's Rh and the numbers on their wbsite contact page 0333 043 3911