Comparing Car Insurance

Oct 30, 2003 9 Replies

What are the main features to look at in order to ensure a (reasonably) like-with-like comparison. My list currently inculdes


-voluntary excesses



-no claims protection



-legal expenses



-windscreen excess



-provision of hire car



-restrictions on which garage/repairer can be used



Does anyone have anything significant to add?



My best quote so far is from esure. I've no experience of them (though I'm slightly put off by that dodgy director they use in their adverts). Does anyone have any experience of how they perform in a claim?



Thanks Pete


- Whether damage caused by joyriders Taking Without Consent is covered. Some don't as they don't consider it 'theft'.

- Impact of non-fault claims on NCD (e.g. scraped/dented whilst parked in a car park).

Best Regards, Alex.

compulsory excess

Which? magazines

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- also available at the local library) will probably do comparisons from time to time, as does The Daily Telegraph (). Although these comparisons are only likely to be useful if your situation is similar to blind tester, they can indicate which companies are more, likely to offer better value than others.

hth

Daytona

have you heard of insuresupermarket.com? thats got quite a few online comparison tools

In my opinion the only thing to consider is price. I know I will be shouted down for saying this, but:

  1. If you claim you have to declare it next year (even with no claims protection) so you will always end up paying for your claim even if you switch insurers.

  1. All insurance companies will try to avoid paying out if the claim is too large for them to have a reasonable chance of getting their money back next year. They all will use pretty similar tactics (they first try to find a mistake on your form that will invalidate the policy).

  2. The only time most drivers need their insurance document is for the tax disc and any valid certificate will do the job.

As I drive a car that cost me 450 several years ago I know I can be more relaxed about losing the car than a lot of people.

When I phoned around a while ago, Hastings Direct gave me the cheapest quote so you should get a quote from them too, although I would not recommend them on any basis other than price.

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And if you take your car abroad, will they cover you in full without additional premium? Most do, but some charge 20 or so.

Alec

I agree. I don't believe you'll be shouted down. Everything is crystalised in the price. The insurers can bullshit all they like, at the end of the day the price gives clarity.

aka 'you can protect your NCD all you like but we'll still raise the premium !' This is why I've never bothered with it - I have an in built suspicion of 'value added extras'. They inevitably appear to add value for the insurer and reduce value for the consumer.....

Same here, although I think many people now participate in the great cheap (

Do you actually know of any insurance company that don't cover for this? How could it possibly not be theft?

Please name and shame these insurers, although I can't believe you're not telling porkies!!

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