D2 insurance renewal time
 

It's that time of year that presumably makes us all think.

I've been with the same insurer (Direct Line) for several years and premiums have usually stood up well to comparisons, so I've not changed.
But this year the premium has gone up about 20%, I have absolutely no idea why and in fact for the last couple of years I think it has actually gone down a bit. :Confused:

So I started rummaging around via comparison websites and ended up favouring Privilege, who as many of you may know, are actually a "sister" company of DL.
(Sister as in twin sister in a slightly different frock!)

I already have some other insurance with them (house) which also helps a bit so tried to get a detailed online quote. Couldn't get in online which was odd and couldn't reset/recover my password either so I just phoned them up.

The quote over the phone was a bit higher than the comparison site suggested, but not bad, so I asked them to post it to me so I could review it. Arrived the other day.
This was for fully comprehensive, 2 drivers, protected (maximum) NCD and legal cover. No breakdown cover needed, we have that separately for us as individuals in any vehicle.

Meanwhile I managed to sort out online access (browser incompatibility issues!) and played with voluntary excesses etc. to get the best value for me.
Doing that it appeared that the online quotes were lower (by about 5%) than the phone equivalent. But I had also mentioned having two sets of wheels (winter/summer) as that is a specific item listed as a "modification" on the DL policy, so thought that might be the reason, illogical though it is.

Yesterday I decided I needed to get this sorted so phoned them up. Interesting points from that:
1. When I quoted my exact online premium and what options produced it they could compare it (they can't see my online quote directly) and immediately said they would match it.
2. When asked they said online was slightly cheaper but that they would always match the online quote if people called in to complete the purchase.
3. When I asked about the wheels they said there was no need to note them as they were only really interested in performance modifications. In contrast Direct Line even wanted to record that our old Ford Focus had (factory-fit!) aircon and ABS options on it!
4. The premium was a lot lower than DL for a virtually identical policy. The only difference I can see is that Privilege charge an admin fee if you make any changes during the term of the insurance whereas DL don't, though both can change the premium if relevant factors apply.

So the punch line: The Privilege premium was just 55% of the Direct Line one. :eek:

Has anyone else made such a saving on such a closely-aligned change?

And another little irony. When I first insured my PF S8 I chose Privilege, which I "think" at that time may have been separate from DL, or recently acquired by the same holding company. At the time they were marketed as being a specialist for rarer/premium cars.
Over time I was migrated by them to Direct Line, without any conscious choice of mine. I guess DL expanded their remit and this was all before online insurance took off.
Subsequently Privilege seems to have been rebranded as the Direct Line "face" that appears on comparison sites, whereas DL themselves stand "aloof" from that. :ROFL:

Apparently, according to a broker that I know, DL and Admiral control a fair chunk of the market between them. The whole sector is a sham, and ripe for the sort of mis-selling investigation that happened with PPI - there's no effective competition, no transparency and a range of pretty dubious anti-competitive practices across the board.

As a related example, my RAC policy premium - which is an insurance policy, just a different type - jumped by more than 50% on renewal, and I had to cancel my policy, leave the RAC after 17 years, leave a shi**y (but accurate... :D ) review of how they handled it before they responded properly.
End result: policy renewed by them at the same price as last year, but what a waste of my time and their management time, and so typical of the sector as a whole.

It's also worth noting that if you are in your renewal period, Admiral goup will not show up on the comparison site quotes as said quotes are for new customers only. I suspect Admiral are not the only ones who do this.+++

Oh, don't even get me going on my house insurance.
My buildings policy had been linked to my mortgage, repaid long ago, but I just let the insurance run on (inertia!) and paid it monthly so didn't really notice it creep up. This was despite having a separate contents policy with a different insurer, paid annually. Renewal dates were close but not identical.

When both went up significantly I reviewed it all and went for a combined "premium" policy with much better cover and lots of extra supporting services.
A bit of overlap due to non-synchronous renewal dates , but I didn't care!
The new combined policy was less than 30% of the other two premiums added together. :angry2:

We are with Zurich and they have warned us that they will not continue cover after my 80th birthday.
Ageism?
They were my first vehicle insurer ever. I was 18 and in Germany. I've been with others inbetween then and now.

I think insurance need to be regulated more! It’s unbelievable the difference between sister companies. I have max discount and ended up paying 20% more this year. Please do not be fooled by the multi car rubbish as sometimes it works out cheaper to do it individually. We had several cars with Admiral but went up by massive this year so had to break it all up. Esure came out decent this year. Another thing I don’t understand is the companies adding all these additional gimmicks like legal cover, You would think that with FC cover you should have that as standard, but no they say in case it’s a fault accident :mad: Also last year one of our parked car had been hit by a drunk driver, he damaged 4 cars, police caught up and the company took all liability but guess what our premium went up stating that it does not matter non fault, WTF. Also now if you claim windscreen then it becomes a actual claim. Jokes! Sorry that’s my rant:mad:

My renewal came in from admiral for wife’s and daughters car £1500. I did all the usual comparison quotes and got it down to £1000, I then phoned up to cancel twice due to my wife and daughter needing to speak on the phone. On both cancellation calls they said they would look at the quote, second time I said don’t bother your mate tried and was miles off. Anyway she was a lovely sounding Canadian girl so I gave her a couple of minutes and she came back with £883 for my wife’s 2.0 TDi a3 and my daughter 1.6 TDi Fabia who is only just 18 !

If they can offer 600 discount how much are they making ?

I wonder if you could get a D2 on a classic policy? Most of the PF are over 20 years old now? If not, you should be able to!

I wonder whether we could get a 'club' scheme for these? I am sure a broker somewhere would be interested in something like this?

I got a decent deal on my RS6 via another forum where a broker offers bespoke deals to members over the phone rather than some computer generated stuff, they do seem to focus on "special" requirements though:o

Have to agree on both points, as I consider them all to a shower of (insert appropriate word)! As well as the points made by everyone so far, the one I can't tolerate, or comprehend is insuring multiple cars.

Take for example my D2. I've had it insured since I bought it with the same company. Always a competitive quote compared to others, and usually when you go to renew, they drop the price bit. Car is insured fully comp, protected NCD and driver only. Fast forward to the S8 and phoned for a quote, and based on previous history with the D2, got an even better price than the D2, and same conditions. Not going to argue with that.

Less than a month ago, I phone them up and ask for a quote. They look through the existing policies I have with them, including house insurance and give me another good competitive quote. Based on that, I go ahead with the purchase and arrange flights, ferries, etc. About a week later, I phone up to confirm the quote and to get the policy started. I'm then told that they can't quote me for the car. But they did the previous week! Ah, but they made a mistake. They didn't check thoroughly enough, and shouldn't have quoted me at all. In fact, they wouldn't even quote me for the car because of its insurance group. Needless to say, I'm getting a bit miffed at this having forked out for all manner of transport relating to it. After about 30 minutes of let's say discussion, and some manager intervention, they agreed to honour the quote.

This is the bit that gets to me about insuring multiple vehicles when I'm the only going to be driving them. Despite quoting lower annual mileages (split between them), I can't drive them at the same time, so why should the premiums still be so high. Each car will be on the road for less time, so theoretically less likely to be in an accident.

Oh, there was one other area, occupation. When I renewed the D2 insurance last year, I just happened to look through the policy document and noticed that my occupation was down as retired. Now when I took out my first insurance with them back in 2012, I said I was unemployed, but somewhere along the line it was changed. Since I was phoning to renew, I pointed out their mistake in my occupation, to which he said 'that will be an extra £70'. It seems that retired people are less prone to having accidents, and since I told them I was unemployed and not retired, I can't change that, as any policy I had after that would be void because of providing false information.

If I had my way, they would be occupying the same spot at the bottom of the sea set aside for all lawyers/solicitors. Even bigger rant than M-H3 :angry2::angry3::angry2:

That's unlikely: I have one of my other older cars on a classic policy, and was told by the broker (who specialise in "modern classics") that the D2 wouldn't qualify - the renewal adviser even checked with their classic policies underwriter to see if they would change this policy for me, but they didn't.

You can with some companies. The Black FE I had in a while back is on a classic policy. The qualification is >15 years old and >£10K in value. The maintenance records were enough to convince them about the value apparently :D

I'm going to try it with mine next renewal, including agreed value. A new engine and rebuilt gearbox easily pushes it over £10K. Over £20K if you go with the list price! :ROFL:

I've had quotes for classic policies on my old FE, but the premium was at least double that of a regular policy with Admiral. I've found the same as previous poster about multi-car - insuring the S5 was much cheaper without using multi-car, and Admiral no longer seem keen to press you to try and align policies. When we bought the Golf it just went on a separate policy.

I almost moved to LV on the Golf in January, but they were a little more expensive but with a massively higher excess.

Speaking of windscreens, the Golf has cracked recently and I'm paying to have it replaced without going through the insurance. Will cost me about £300 rather than the £95 excess, but I want it done right and past experience with Admiral's preferred glass replacement company with our old A6 was not good.....

Let us know how you get on MJ. I don't see why you couldn't have a D2 on a classic policy? I've had all manner of Jaguars, including a V12 XJS on a classic policy in the past and that was about 13 years old at the time?

Talking of value, what would you put on a policy as a reasonable value for my D2?

It has no accident damage, is well-maintained (though due a service soon - ideally down in Devon if MJ has a workshop slot available sometime) and has had the gearbox fluid/filter and cam belt etc. done during my ownership (maybe due again before long?)

Mileage, just over 100,000. (100333 to be precise)

Not an FE, built in April 2002 but not registered until October 2003 (weird) so had a 53 plate when I bought it.
Has 2 sets of 5 wheels (if it makes a difference), the OEM FL Avus 18's and FE 20's.

I'm waiting for my policy documents to arrive but if I look online they've assigned a nominal value of £1.00! The question wasn't asked of me. :Confused:

The policy documents just say "Market Value" and I'm pretty sure they won't change that wording, so it's a debate to have if (hopefully never) the question arises!

The other odd thing is that it has the winter tyres down as a modification.
My current insurer has a clause saying "Wheels - Winter set to replace standard for season" and I don't need to tell them when I swap.
This lot, and I phoned them, insist that they are told every time I swap the wheels over, sounds crazy. :Confused:
They did say they do not charge for such changes.

Insurance is not compulsory here, and as a result there's a lot more competition (at least on the face of it).
Third party property and injury is compulsory and included as part of yearly registration (tax).
Third party vehicular and fully comprehensive are optional (though from a litigation perspective you'd be a fool not to have any).

The result is I currently insure the S8 for about au$800 and the only restriction to any driver driving it is a minimum age of either 25 or 30.

And a weird little follow-up to that. I took the winter wheels/tyres off a while back now and told the insurers.

Our daughter visited us for a few days recently and wanted a car to go house-hunting, so I checked what it would cost to add her temporarily to our insurance; the answer was absolutely nothing in both cases, so I did that.
She was mostly driving the Volvo, but I let her have a go in the S8 as well with me as passenger. She has driven all sorts of stuff from a young age, including borrowing my big company cars when just 17, and regularly takes quite large vehicles to/from construction sites.

As ever with insurers the paperwork didn't arrive until ages later, only just got the Audi-related certificate. On examining it, it still shows winter tyres, even though I told them when I took them off. Strange. :tuttut:

I did just phone to check, told them explicitly that I have standard tyres on now, and they said it was all fine as it was. That's just how they record it! :Confused:

Slight digression, but I've just renewed my policy with Privilege, including breakdown cover again.

BUT the question for people here is, who do you use for breakdown cover? For D2's.

We've actually continued with "Personal Cover" (via Privilege, i.e. Green Flag)which seems to be the most flexible and cost-effective way to cover 2 drivers and 2 cars, but that won't work at the next renewal.

They have an age limit on vehicles you're in of 16 years and (oddly) my D2 was first registered in October 2003 so will be fine up to the next renewal.

The other car is a Volvo so gets an element of breakdown cover via them as long as we keep maintaining it at a Volvo dealer.

You may want to test "Volvo Assist", both times my old man has tried to use them they have been useless!!!! Not even for complex issues, flat battery, when they hadn't arrived after two hours I drove to him (another 40 minutes) with jump leads!!!!

I am currently with rescuemycar on a vehicle based policy for each car, however looking at changing to these when renewal is due

https://www.autoaidbreakdown.co.uk/

their personal cover is cheaper than rescuemycar and includes spouse free of charge, lot's of good feedback on them on various other forums too. They don't have a vehicle age limit either, I phoned them to ask+++

Dont you lot still have AA or RAC any more?

Some of the car brands and insurers down here are offering roadside assist now on new cars, but a couple of owners down the line and its RACV almost universally fir breakdown cover (or NRMA in NSW).

Indeed we do but due to buyouts of one sort and another they are more into making money than serving customers.

Also many "mainstream" suppliers are not interested in older vehicles, which is why I asked. ;)

Hmm I have AA cover. It never occurred to check if there's an age limit since they cover me, not specific cars.

With mine (Privilege) it's far from obvious when taking out cover. Ours is a combination of specific car (Volvo, any driver, as we add our family onto it at times) and personal cover (both of us) when travelling in (or driving) any car.

The ONLY place I've seen it drawn attention to this time is in the covering letter sent with the renewal schedule, though I was already aware of it (not sure how). I guess it's buried in the full policy somewhere!

The letter specifies "under 16 years old and is privately registered and being used in the UK".

Edit:
The policy states the same thing but in a separate sentence says:
"What's not covered: Journeys in vehicles that are more than 15 years old"
This is confusing as "old" is not defined, though I'm assuming time since first registration not build date as they wouldn't know that.
And what happens in the 1 year period from the cars 15th anniversary to it's 16th? :Confused:

I'm with the RAC, which covers me personally for any car I'm travelling in. I've been with the RAC for probably 15 years or more. I was with the AA for years before that but they let me down on a number of occasions, one time leaving me stranded for almost the entire day. The RAC have never let me down but I do have very comprehensive cover (home start, free hire car, onward travel, hotel accommodation, etc), which costs about £260 per year.

RAC or not
 

Like Mark, I've been with RAC for many years, with some real highs and lows - this year's examples being as follows:

1) The low (May): failing to arrive after more than 2 and a half hours (they'd quoted 45 minutes... :( ) , leaving me stranded in a dodgy part of Wolverhampton at 11.30pm.

2) The high (September): arriving on time, taking a practical approach to getting me going again, involving driving another 30 miles to get hold of a replacement wheel and tyre for me and then bringing it back to refit it, saving me an unscheduled overnight stop and loss of a days work.

They cover me for all my cars for unlimited fixes (at home and on the road) for ~£90, which I think is good value: I think I may also have some sort of breakdown cover with my bank, but haven't used that...

I have breakdown cover included with my car insurance, but no idea who it is with.

Was surprised by the cost differences that Mark and Stephen posted, but then I suppose it all depends on what options you tick. I was curious about the RAC of ~£90 so went onto their site to check it out. Best I could manage with the options was around £120. The obvious question to Mark and Stephen then, is do you get some sort of loyalty/no claims discount with the RAC?

... and yes, I must check to see exactly what my cover provides.

I was with the RAC for years until I realised they were ripping me off on renewals so went to the AA instead. I have 'get me home from wherever I am' cover which is about £100 a year. I don't need home start or all the other shenanigans ;)

I'm probably doing everything wrong, in that I've always just let it roll over, year after year. I'm no doubt getting a little ripped off, but they've never let me down and I don't mind paying more for good service. I could probably get it cheaper if I phone around or threaten to leave but it could end up costing me more in lost time spent on the phone than I might otherwise save. I think it was cheaper for me last year, but I had to call them out recently when my (brand new OE) alternator died.

That's interesting.

RACV down here are very good. They cover both the person who takes out the cover (for any car they may be driving at any given time), and one or more specific vehicles (for whoever may be driving them at the time).
They of course have various levels of cover, starting with Basic (roadside assist in any state (reciprocal arrangements with RACQ, RACSA, NRMA etc) with 3 free tows a year to a max of 50km I think), to which you can add extras (caravans, trailers, accomodation etc) or increase the levels of cover (which may have extras included). I'd have to ask Mel the cost - around $100 a year I think for basic.

Had cause to use them a few weeks back when the Volvo's alternator failed. Got free tow home without bothering with roadside assist, no questions asked. There within 45 mins on a Saturday afternoon. Can't argue with that service!

They offer insurance too, but I've always found them expensive for cars I've owned - I'm sure they're cheap for Yaris owners!

It's a bit like the comment I made earlier on this thread re: insurance companies - i.e. they'll charge what they think they can get away with, and fleece anyone who they can. In my case, it's a mix of loyalty discount and playing a bit hardball when they get things wrong: It's just annoying to have to play these sorts of games to get a renewal quote that's reasonable value - a waste of time really.

So the time has come to change my breakdown cover and this organisation does indeed look interesting, especially as our Volvo has an element of cover via Volvo but that doesn't cover everything I want.
Does anyone have any experience of them? Brian, did you move to them?

I'm probably changing my insurers for the Volvo at the same time as Privilege have upped the premiums by over 30% with no changes at our end. :mad:
(Weirdly the S8 was renewed with them earlier this year and the premium was LOWER than last year! :Confused: )

For reference my current favourite for the Volvo is Aviva, their newish AvivaPlus Premium policy. It is not only cheaper but also has a few interesting extras, e.g.:
1. European cover included as standard (required to go to Irish Republic for example)
2. Comprehensive cover driving other cars, provided you notify them, max 5 days at a time (handy when on holiday with family and want to use their car); 3rd-party is standard without notification.
3. Manufacturer-fitted updates are NOT modifications even if they improve performance (so my Volvo Polestar upgrade is considered standard and has no cost).
4. Renewal guarantee that you won't be charged more than if you were a new customer.

I’ve been with AutoAid for over 30 years and had cause to use them a few times. No problems at all and I’d recommend them to anyone. They obviously don’t have a breakdown fleet, but have deals with a network of garages up and down the country. And they insure the person(s) on the policy in any car. So when I was driving my daughter’s car and it broke down, that was recovered without any fuss at all.

Thanks Jim, do you happen to have a discount code for use when signing up or a referral link? I have a few days yet to sort this out.
(The signup page has a space for a code, but I've not found one yet.....)

No , sorry. Just checked my documents and there’s no discount code for referrals.

I went with them Andrew, not used them yet however, but they do have lots of good feedback on a number of forums. And no I don't have a discount code either :D

I’ve called them out at least three times over the years: Christine called them first for a breakdown in Dunfries & Galloway; I called them from the M6; and again for the breakdown in Gemma’s car. There can be a wait for a a pick-up truck, but I suspect that’s the same with anyone, but they always sort it without hassle.

When I made the first claim (probably over 20 years ago) you had to pay the recovery costs and claim back, but now that
They’ve since sorted that out so the recovery truck turns up and yo have no need to part with any money and reclaim. And they took me from Manchester to Helensburgh once without a ‘relay system’ which some of the other insurers use, which can add hours to the journey.

Just signed up for them too +++

Was paying £121 last year for Britannia Rescue (with 'Boundless' membership for civil servants)

I honestly can't remember the last time I needed recovering - I suspect it was when my BX 16 Valve died with an ignition fault on the A3 near Kingston in about 2001......

Just swerving back to the starting point, insurance renewal...…..
I got an email from Privilege (who I switched to earlier in this thread) saying my renewal was nearly due and to review the paperwork with quote etc..
That of course hadn't arrived, but it did so today.

Gone up by almost 10%, so I did my usual rummage online. Couldn't actually find anything much better value. Cheaper yes, but not matching in cover.
I've also been thinking, as I guess many of us have, about SORNing the Audi for a while.

So I went online to see how their renewal process worked (I usually phone) and tried to find about insurance during SORN. No real guidance, just suggesting phone in but due to the current situation lines will be busy, prioritising etc. etc.

So I rang the number suggested (NOT the one on the paperwork) and it was answered within seconds by a cheerful chap with a Scottish accent clearly working from home, but with everything to hand.
After discussing the options around SORN, which is basically either don't insure (not a risk I'd take) or drop to 3rd-party, fire&theft (hardly any cheaper) he sensed my caution and said "lets see what we can do about a loyalty discount" which brought it down below last years. Then we discussed probable mileage which brought it down even further.
I think there are probably specialists who do "laid up" insurance but I don't see the point, being an optimist.

So I ended up renewing, with all features intact, for significantly less than last year, which I'm happy about.
And I'll probably SORN at the end of April, taxing again as and when I decide I need it. Online that's easy now. :cool:

I guess we're all different, but for a 2nd car that's cherished but not going anywhere for a while, it's worth asking the questions....