Insurance time again - saved loads!

[The_Laird]

So, the renewal notices for my S8 and my wife's mini came a few days ago and, at £364 for the '8 alone, I thought it was a bit expensive - so off I went to the home of the meercats!

A few questions later, up came a load of quotes. The cheapest was from Admiral at £154 but, 5th on the list was my existing insurer, Privilege, at £226!
So I gave them a call and they instantly dropped my renewal premium to £226.

My wife's renewal premium was £115 (with Legal & General), so I thought I'd give Admiral a ring and see about their multi car insurance (I'll come back to that in a minute).

I also called L&G for a quote on the Audi. They don't do multi-car insurance and wanted £372 for the '8!

So back to Admiral. They were very efficient and found my details from the meercats so I didn't have to answer all the questions again - just a few about SWMBO and the mini. The quote for both cars was £246.16; £117.90 for the mini and just £128.26 for the '8 (including business use and protected NCB).

So, if I's accepted the renewal premiums, I'd have paid out a few pennies over £480. A price comparison site and a couple of phone calls later and I'm £234 better off!

But what I don't really understand is what drives the quote systems that give prices for the same car between £372 and £128?

[steamship]

Originally Posted by The_Laird

But what I don't really understand is what drives the quote systems that give prices for the same car between £372 and £128?

I used the meercat site and got prices ranging from £450 to several thousand. My premium last year was £320 and the renewal was £360. When I queried it with them, they came back with £277, and that's without calling anyone else or any type of price matching. It does make you wonder though.

[Norretal]

Originally Posted by steamship

I used the meercat site and got prices ranging from £450 to several thousand. My premium last year was £320 and the renewal was £360. When I queried it with them, they came back with £277, and that's without calling anyone else or any type of price matching. It does make you wonder though.

Almost identical to me, renewal came through and I noticed a £4 per month increase, not much but obviously £48 a year so I phoned them and said I'd got cheaper quotes online so I wasn't renewing. Ten minutes later I've a £50 reduction for being a loyal customer so I've saved a £100 just by making the phone call.

I wonder how many people can't be bothered (because it's "almost" the same as last year) and just let it roll on, year to year? I bet they make a fortune that way.

[tintin]

Good result Jim. I've been with Admiral (on a 4/5 car Multicar) policy for years - they're nearly always the cheapest (or on the rare occasion when they're not, you can successfully haggle with them ), are easy to deal with, and generally handle claims well - which can sometimes be the downside of "cheap premium" companies.

They're also increasingly flexible about the definition of a "family group" for Multlcar purposes, and allow new drivers good introductory NCBs where they've been named drivers on an existing Multicar policy previously.

[David's8]

Originally Posted by Norretal

I wonder how many people can't be bothered (because it's "almost" the same as last year) and just let it roll on, year to year? I bet they make a fortune that way.

That is not just a fortunate (for them) accident, its their entire business model. I have successfully challenged my quotes for house insurance (John Lewis) and motorhome insurance (Saga) this year and in both instances have got substantial reductions.
Regarding car insurance, it makes me wonder why they bother to employ actuaries or whatever as the quotes can be so wildly different they may as well just plucked the figures out of the air.

I am with Admiral and have found them flexible as Tintin states and relatively cheap.

[PsYcHe]

I was with Admiral for about 8 years, until this year, when the multicar policy was 400 quid more than last year, and about the same more than two separate policies, and they weren't prepared to move at all..