General Well slap me sideways with a kipper!

[Radlet6]

I have just come back from week in the Peak District (No Croma woes to report) to find the dreaded insurance renewal quote on the doormat.

Armed with a very large whiskey I cast an eye around the living room for potential ebay items, and then set about about opening the missive. Quickly scanning the bumph I came to the relevant bit - the premium, to find that it has gone down by six whole pounds (based on current exchange rates that's about €55 for our non British readers).

Yes folks, the premium has gone down. So for the first time in 10 years it looks like I won't be troubling the Meerkat. :woot:

 

[Doofer]

Perhaps it's because you're now more than 21!

Or perhaps the car is now worth £2k less than it was last year.

Have you got any points on your licence or claims history that have expired?

I think they are realising that they banged the prices up way more than necessary last year - perhaps the market is beginning to function competitively again.

 

[Radlet6]

I passed 21 a looooooooonnnnnnngggggg time ago. You know these Fiesta Supersports that everyone thinks is a classic? I had one of them new. I traded my three year old MG Midget for it

Full no claims (have had for 10 years now) and nil points on the licence since 2004.

This is what has surprised me. Nothing has changed - which is why I expected it to go up as usual.

 

[dave]

they given you oap discount

 

[Caravadossi]

I have just come back from week in the Peak District (No Croma woes to report) to find the dreaded insurance renewal quote on the doormat ...

I’ve gone from £88/Q to £78/Q for a second term with Saga after some haggling & reducing to 12K est miles. A full tank of diesel could possibly double the value of the `old girl’ now. She’s a bit temperamental with the reverse sensors at the present.

Doing Bleaklow this coming w/e on an aircraft wreck walk.

120521

 

[s130]

Could be sensible / alternative calculations coming into effect.

Market valuation of a Croma for insurance purposes .... £1000
Cost to repair minimal damage ..... £2000

Write car off at £1000

Number of Cromas insured by us = nn

We'll be quids in on a premium of £100 to £200.

Happy customer he/she will come back to us when they lose/sell/trash their Croma. Then we make a new insurance killing.

Yep I'm very synical about the whole UK insurance business. Apples are not apples and oranges are certainly not oranges.

Anyway, if any insurance premium goes down it HAS TO BE a result for all of us with the same/similar car as we will migrate to the lower cost when we come to renew our policies.

 

[Doofer]

She’s a bit temperamental with the reverse sensors at the present.

120521

Been waxing it?

Doing Bleaklow this coming w/e on an aircraft wreck walk.

120521

Fascinating. I've seen about them on TV/internet. Must make a point of having a wander myself when I get up there at some point.

 

[Radlet6]

Could be sensible / alternative calculations coming into effect.

Market valuation of a Croma for insurance purposes .... £1000
Cost to repair minimal damage ..... £2000

Write car off at £1000

Number of Cromas insured by us = nn

We'll be quids in on a premium of £100 to £200.

Happy customer he/she will come back to us when they lose/sell/trash their Croma. Then we make a new insurance killing.

Yep I'm very synical about the whole UK insurance business. Apples are not apples and oranges are certainly not oranges.

Anyway, if any insurance premium goes down it HAS TO BE a result for all of us with the same/similar car as we will migrate to the lower cost when we come to renew our policies.

Ah but the cost of our cars is immaterial since the other car we could run into might be a Bugatti Veyron, Maybach, Ferrari etc. etc. This is why 3rd party isn't much cheaper these days.

Actually I think insurance is the purest form of socialism. It is nothing to do with risk.

Assessing insurance costs Step one: How much have we paid out this year? = A

Step two: How much profit would we like to make? = B

Step three: A + B = total amount of money we require to rake in which we will now share out across all drivers based on age and the car they drive.

This applies to all drivers over 21. For those under 21 they calculate how much their share should be and then multiply the result by 4. This extra money they collect in is known as an insurance premium and is used to pay shareholders' and directors' bonuses.

 

[Doofer]

What really annoys me is when you see people on the phone, eating a pie or doing a Rubik's cube (saw this on the M25) while driving. Together with a casual approach to crashing that many seem to have - e.g. "I had a bump/scrape". We're all paying for these morons to go smashing about the place. I just wish there was a way of segregating drivers more.

Perhaps comprehensive insurance should be banned, together with protected no claims discount. If everyone was terrified of crashing then things would improve.

I switched from comp to third party cover this year. Although it saved me next to nothing, it does make me and the other half drive in a much more guarded way. The main reason for the change though is that if you're involved in a hit-and-run or with an uninsured driver, if you're comp then your insurers pay and you lose your no claims. If you're third party the MIB pay and your no claims is unaffected. So, bizarrely, you're actually better off with less cover these days.

 

[s130]

Police on South Coast have been covertly targetting these *ricks behind the wheel:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-18169330

Shame they only targetted motorways. Hit the towns, A roads and B roads and the haul would have been considerably higher.

3 or 6 month ban would change the minds and attitudes much better than 3 point and £60.

Good news is I've never seen a Croma driver using phone, drinking tea, etc. behind the wheel.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

If you're third party the MIB pay and your no claims is unaffected. So, bizarrely, you're actually better off with less cover these days.

Where did you find out about this out of interest? I'm 90% sure you'll find that only applies to injury claims, not vehicle damage or other uninsured losses

 

[Doofer]

That's what I thought, and what was the case when I worked in insurance. If you have a look at the MIB's site now though, they do pay out for property damage caused by a hit and run or uninsured driver.

Their booklet here...

http://www.mib.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/...500245D5D547/0/MIB_A5_Claim_Guide_Booklet.pdf

Accidents involving damage to your vehicle

If you have comprehensive insurance for your vehicle
We recommend that you make a claim for repair with your own insurer. You do not
have to do this, but the repair will be carried out quicker and will not be delayed by
any enquiries that we will have to make about the circumstances of the accident.
If you do not have comprehensive insurance for your vehicle
We may be able to assist you. Please complete the claim form.

So in this crazy world, the unexpected consequence is that third party insurance may give better cover than comp under some circumstances.

 

[Doofer]

To contradict myself (as I often do), it looks like you can still claim from the MIB if you have comp cover.

I did see an ad for Direct Line that said that you won't lose your bonus with them if you're hit by an uninsured driver. That makes me wonder if the MIB are now reimbursing insurers in such cases - perhaps nobody loses their bonus in these circumstances any more.

The extension of the MIB from injuries only to covering everything must explain a good chunk of the recent premium rises.

 

[Caravadossi]

Fascinating. I've seen about them on TV/internet. Must make a point of having a wander myself when I get up there at some point.

Laud have Mersey
I have been insuring with Saga for many years. Having received a £594.45 renewal notice for my Mercedes, I made a quick call to Liverpool Victoria and was offered the same cover for £168.85. PP, Acton Grove.
That’s fantastic, but a little worrying. LV seems so much cheaper and friendlier than any other insurer that I wonder how long it can last. HJ.
telegraph.co.uk/motoring p.M5 2012/05/26

I had to drop off a passenger in Glossop & it left me with too much of a rush to make the Bleaklow rangerwalk from the north side off the B6105 Torside car-park. So decided to try for the RB-29 `Overexposed’ wreck from the south side off the A57/Pennine Way intersection. It’s a fairly easy climbing walk on the PW for about a hour – but at some point you have to leave the path to get west to the wreck site across the peat. The cuttings through the peat were still well water-logged & after about 20-30 mins of not making much progress I thought it too much of a folly to continue that route.

120528

 

[blueh2steve]

To contradict myself (as I often do), it looks like you can still claim from the MIB if you have comp cover.

I did see an ad for Direct Line that said that you won't lose your bonus with them if you're hit by an uninsured driver. That makes me wonder if the MIB are now reimbursing insurers in such cases - perhaps nobody loses their bonus in these circumstances any more.

The extension of the MIB from injuries only to covering everything must explain a good chunk of the recent premium rises.

Not 100% sure on this but i think there is a big difference between a hit and run accident and an uninsured driver, if you are hit by an uninsured driver that driver can still be sued for costs, A hit and run driver cannot as they are not known.

 

[Doofer]

Not 100% sure on this but i think there is a big difference between a hit and run accident and an uninsured driver, if you are hit by an uninsured driver that driver can still be sued for costs, A hit and run driver cannot as they are not known.

I believe they will pay out for hit and run if you get their reg no. If you return to your parked car and it's been crashed into before you got there then it's tough. I don't know what happens if the owner of the other car denies being involved - presumably you would need evidence to support it (e.g. matching damage, witnesses etc).

There again, if you could prove it then you could claim from them anyway, so I've just talked round in a circle.

There is mention of hit and run on their website though, so they do give some kind of cover for this.

 

[tenpastnine]

Insurance doesn't make any sense, mine went down by a full £10 when i changed my policy over from a 1985 998cc AUTOMATIC Nissan Micra
to my 2004 1,200cc Fiat Panda.. and a 1996 1,300c Skoda Felicia would cost a further £10 less..

However if i wanted to save even more on my insurance i could get any 2,500cc diesel 4X4 they all seem to come in around £300 cheaper a year

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Insurance doesn't make any sense, mine went down by a full £10 when i changed my policy over from a 1985 998cc AUTOMATIC Nissan Micra
to my 2004 1,200cc Fiat Panda.. and a 1996 1,300c Skoda Felicia would cost a further £10 less..

However if i wanted to save even more on my insurance i could get any 2,500cc diesel 4X4 they all seem to come in around £300 cheaper a year

Insurance makes perfect sense, it's all statistics and numbers based