RX400h crazy insurance quote

Barry14UK · December 25, 2020

I was LV who had been good with my BMW and before buying my 450h I asked them how much my premium would increase by with the Lexus. They gave me a figure which I thought was reasonable bearing in mind the much higher value of the Lexus. However, when the full renewal became due, and without any claims or incidents in the interim, they bumped the price up by 51%!! So having done a search, I went with Saga who where considerably cheaper. Then when renewal time came they also bumped up their price, although no claims or incidents in the intervening period. So I again I compared the market on comparison sites and went with someone called autonetinsurance.co.uk, part of the autonet insurance group. This turned out to be a broker and they arranged a yet less expensive policy wit Ageas Insurance Limited a well established insurer. Out of curiosity, I completed my profile for a quote directly with Ageas and this was almost double what autonet gave and which I accepted!! I know the policy was lodged because Ageas Law are representing me regarding legal expenses in the recent incident where I was rear ended. Strange.

There is a lack of consideration for existing clients in the insurance business who often work on the basis that policy holders will just renew without checking if increased premium is excessive. Some will lower there quote if you complain and say you are going elsewhere.

Incidentally, I did ask 'A Plan' for a quote on the Lexus but they could not find anything competitive. I asked them because they were very helpful some years ago when I wanted paperwork at very short notice and I collected from their office somewhere near Epsom as I recall. It was for cover on my BMW and 'A Plan' were a Site Supporter of the BMW forum I was on. So I can confirm they were and probably still are nice people to deal with.

DAN@ADRIAN FLUX · December 27, 2020

Hi.

Please feel free to give us a try for insurance if you wish.

Regards,

Dan.

Stefan213 · December 30, 2020

I pay around 1000£ with 5 years ncb and i'm 34... i would love to pay 300£ but maybe when i get to 60 LoL

Lydiamight · January 11, 2021

Another example of insurance "madness" i have been a very happy customer of Direct Line for many years----2008 Lexus Rx400h, drivers aged 74 and 76, garaged, semi-rural area, £300 total excess, protected NCB and 8 years NCB.

Last year I paid £308.00 and the renewal has just come in at £694.40 !!!!! A phone call to Direct Line elicited the response "I'm sorry but that's the best we can do"

Went on line to Direct Line and got a quote as if I was a new customer----£548.80

Shopped around and ended up with John Lewis Insurance for £384.62 with exactly the same provisions as my previous insurance.

MrNizibs · January 11, 2021

1 hour ago, Lydiamight said:

Another example of insurance "madness" i have been a very happy customer of Direct Line for many years----2008 Lexus Rx400h, drivers aged 74 and 76, garaged, semi-rural area, £300 total excess, protected NCB and 8 years NCB.

Last year I paid £308.00 and the renewal has just come in at £694.40 !!!!! A phone call to Direct Line elicited the response "I'm sorry but that's the best we can do"

Went on line to Direct Line and got a quote as if I was a new customer----£548.80

Shopped around and ended up with John Lewis Insurance for £384.62 with exactly the same provisions as my previous insurance.

That's crazy, surely it makes better sense to keep an existing customer?? Maybe not, but that's what we were told in sales years ago...

I threw my toys out of the pram after my last post and started looking at imported JDM Mitsubishi Delicas for a while. Then confused.com sent me a quote for 400-ish which is much more doable so I'm hunting for a Lexus again. What a palaver! Anyway, lockdown's put paid to current progress but I'm hoping I'll be a fully-fledged Lexus OC member once the plague abates...

Illogan · January 12, 2021

9 hours ago, MrNizibs said:

That's crazy, surely it makes better sense to keep an existing customer?? Maybe not, but that's what we were told in sales years ago...

I threw my toys out of the pram after my last post and started looking at imported JDM Mitsubishi Delicas for a while. Then confused.com sent me a quote for 400-ish which is much more doable so I'm hunting for a Lexus again. What a palaver! Anyway, lockdown's put paid to current progress but I'm hoping I'll be a fully-fledged Lexus OC member once the plague abates...

Hang on in there Lann - - - be patient, research the insurance - it will be possible! !

MrNizibs · January 12, 2021

7 hours ago, Illogan said:

Hang on in there Lann - - - be patient, research the insurance - it will be possible! !

Thanks for the encouraging words Dave 👍

Saw a clean 400h SE-L with only 75k and cam belt already done y'day... it was 05 though which is stretching it a bit unfortunately...

Herbie · January 13, 2021

I've literally just put the phone down after getting a call from my brokers, A-Plan.

I'm currently insured with LV and the lady at A-Plan said that they were still coming up as the best price for me this time (due on 2nd Feb) at £636.70, which is roughly about what I paid last time if I remember correctly.

My wife and I both had business cover but have now both retired so I expected quite a drop in premium and it was a bit of a shock to find out that having business cover or not is making absolutely minimal difference to the cost.

Because we also have our house insurance with A-Plan, she gave me a small discount (just at her discretion) to bring the renewal price down to £598.70.

I thanked her for her efforts and said that I'd get back to her in a couple of days after trying Direct Line, Saga, and one or two others that they as brokers don't deal with.

By the way, this is for a 63-plate RX450h Advance, 11 years protected NCB, and with one SP30 conviction. I had hoped that it would have dropped under £500 after getting rid of business cover - how wrong was I?

Ken Crawley · January 13, 2021

Try getting a quote from The AA on line, then ring them to speak to a living person and ask if they can give you a better price.

It worked with me - it seems they have access to another group of insurers they can call on - I ended up paying just over £400 for a 63 reg RX450 Premier 14yrs protected NCB and business use, drivers 72 and 68 living in Staffordshire, originally over £500.

Also, the earlier you get quotes before the renewal dates, premiums tend to be lower than just days before renewal, it appears the insurers consider you a lesser risk???

Herbie · January 13, 2021

8 minutes ago, Ken Crawley said:

Also, the earlier you get quotes before the renewal dates, premiums tend to be lower than just days before renewal, it appears the insurers consider you a lesser risk???

Yes, that's true. According to Martin Lewis http://www.moneysavingexpert.com about 21 to 25 days is the sweet spot. Leave it to the last minute and they think you are unorganised and prone to making rash decisions that will translate into your driving.

I'll try that trick with the AA, thanks.

Illogan · January 13, 2021

8 hours ago, Ken Crawley said:

>>>>>

Also, the earlier you get quotes before the renewal dates, premiums tend to be lower than just days before renewal, it appears the insurers consider you a lesser risk???

I'll second that, three to four weeks before due date has frequenty appeared to be a "sweet spot" for quotes.

It could show that one is organised, and also less desparate for quotes.

Create your spreadsheet, then look at Compare the Market (etc) and get your quotes in, and also get quotes from the various insurers for different levels of voluntary excess levels too - and you'll start to appreciate their premium structure.

It'll take a few hours - but it is your money your spending!

Barry14UK · January 14, 2021

This taking advantage of existing customers is not limited to Insurance. We have the Radio Times delivered through their Subscriptions people each month and have just received a letter saying the price will be going up to £91 for 6 months of issues. This was quite an increase, so I checked on Internet and found W H Smith cheaper. I rang Radio Times Subscriptions on this and they immediately dropped the price to £65 which I accepted. (It was a little less than W H Smith even). Seems you need to haggle these days. Now must look at that subscription to SKY.............

Herbie · January 14, 2021

After some time spent this afternoon:

LV renewal initially £636.70 down to £598.70 at discretion of lady at A-Plan
Direct Line £506.24
AA £541.17
Co-op £660.41
Saga £675.89

This is for me and the wife, both 63 within the next 10 days, both retired, 12k miles/year, me with one SP30 speeding conviction, blue underpants, yellow/black stripey socks, 15+ years NCB (protected), comprehensive cover.

MrNizibs · January 14, 2021

Well, that's not too horrific I guess... clearly pays to shop around! Although if you have modified those socks in any way you must tell your insurer!

Ken Crawley · January 14, 2021

AA's quote of £541.17 - now ring them and negotiate, you may well get it for under £500.

Give it a try.

TouringRob · January 26, 2021

Was interested to see if insurance has gone up this year due to the cat thefts. Owned car for 2 years, 33 this year with 11 years NCB. RX400h.

Cheapest was firstcentral at £330, average seemed to be £400.

All I can think is that the car is generally parked on the drive and I have lots of NCB, I own and drive other cars so perhaps thats taken into account (less seat time so lower risk?) price found via gocompare.

EDIT*** Just to say that I've always found area to be a large factor. I am in SE London in a medium risk area.

MrNizibs · January 26, 2021

16 minutes ago, TouringRob said:

Was interested to see if insurance has gone up this year due to the cat thefts. Owned car for 2 years, 33 this year with 11 years NCB. RX400h.

Cheapest was firstcentral at £330, average seemed to be £400.

All I can think is that the car is generally parked on the drive and I have lots of NCB, I own and drive other cars so perhaps thats taken into account (less seat time so lower risk?) price found via gocompare.

EDIT*** Just to say that I've always found area to be a large factor. I am in SE London in a medium risk area.

Yeah, sounds about right Rob. Best I've found is with 1st Central. £400.

Shame about lockdown though - can't get to see any cars now...

Stay safe all!

TouringRob · January 26, 2021

6 minutes ago, MrNizibs said:

Yeah, sounds about right Rob. Best I've found is with 1st Central. £400.

Shame about lockdown though - can't get to see any cars now...

Stay safe all!

Glad you got a reasonable quote in the end!

We use ours as a family car and honestly its been great, I've not regretted buying it at all so goof luck with the hunt!

MrNizibs · January 26, 2021

13 minutes ago, TouringRob said:

Glad you got a reasonable quote in the end!

We use ours as a family car and honestly its been great, I've not regretted buying it at all so goof luck with the hunt!

👍😉

royoftherovers · January 26, 2021

On 1/14/2021 at 6:10 PM, Herbie said:

After some time spent this afternoon:

LV renewal initially £636.70 down to £598.70 at discretion of lady at A-Plan

Direct Line £506.24

AA £541.17

Co-op £660.41

Saga £675.89

This is for me and the wife, both 63 within the next 10 days, both retired, 12k miles/year, me with one SP30 speeding conviction, blue underpants, yellow/black stripey socks, 15+ years NCB (protected), comprehensive cover.

T`is all a joke Herb. Mrs Roy and I are 10 years older than you and Mrs H. We are with LV and have been for 10 years. We both have max 9 years NCB and I have one Speeding offence. We have Fully Comp, £250 excess and full Euro cover. We pay £800 for four cars-Lexus, Merc, Mazda2 and Toyota Yaris.

BartLexusFan · January 31, 2021

£66 a month with Admiral for RX450h. Been their customer for 5 years. Driving licence held for 18 years (10 in Poland then changed over to British 8 years ago). 10 years of NCD as of now (esure company only accepted 2 years of NCD from Poland). Admieal always gives me a new quote for renewal around £96 but then I call up retentions, I'm nice and caring and always get it down to around £60 which is interesting because I paid £72 a month for 2001 GS300 a year ago. I'm 36