My van insurance !

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Fri 26 Sep 2003 21:46
My van insurance ! - bernie
I have a Toyota Hi Ace which I use for my business being self employed.I have had this van for about 4 years now and had full no claims on it.I have never had a claim on my cars,bikes and vans up until this year.

My wife was driving the van one Sunday and turned a bit sharpish off the end of our drive and scraped the sliding side door against a telegraph pole.Said door was past repairing so being insured fully comp made a claim.

Previously,the annual premium has been about £200 or so.I got the renewal today and the insurance company now want just over £1000.I expected a rise due to the claim but this is ridiculous !

I have to ask,what is the point of having insurance above the legal minimum.One could argue that the money saved over the years would pay for even a total write off in a lot of cases.

It would seem that in the event of a claim,the insurance will pay out and in some cases only after a lot of negotiation,but will claw back what they give you ovet the coming years.

Can anybody recommend a less expensive insurance compant ?
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Fri 26 Sep 2003 23:37
My van insurance ! - Jason Clark
Insurance companies are big fat cats! Plain and simply. Will screw you for every penny they can get. See my post here.

Steer clear of deleted for starters!

They are asking silly money for your renewal.

Jason

No naming and shaming. Thankyou. DD.
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Sat 27 Sep 2003 10:41
My van insurance ! - Hugo {P}
Try Commercial Vehicle Direct

They're quite competitive.

Other than that - shop around.

Hugo
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Sat 27 Sep 2003 13:15
My van insurance ! - Chris M
Big fat cats?

Insurance is one of the most competative market places there is. There is little room for excessive profits.

Chris M
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Sat 27 Sep 2003 13:46
My van insurance ! - StuW
Insurance a competative market place? I don't think so, after ringing round a few place yesterday and a lot of insurance companies seem to own each other and most seemed to know all my details just when i told them my name and address. I asked them how they knew all my detail etc and apparently i'd entered details on one of their sister company websites and as soon as i did that all the other companies owned by them knew my details. Didn't get the impression that there was a lot of competition you can't exactly compete with yourself.
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Sat 27 Sep 2003 16:30
My van insurance ! - Chris M
A couple of possibilities as to why they know your details: Insurance companies exchange details to deter fraud. If you have contacted them previously, their systems will remember you. And yes, most companies have at least one subsidiary. But subsidiaries are usually set up to target a different market eg. telephone, internet, intermediary and terms and conditions vary accordingly.

400 insurance companies (although not all transact motor business) are members of the ABI. It looks like we will soon have four supermarkets controlling 75% of their market. How many banks are there? How may petrol companies? How many Tobacco companies? A lot less than 400.

In a free market, if excessive profits are made, new entrants will force down prices. I don't see a rush of truly new insurance companies being set up.

Chris M
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Sat 27 Sep 2003 19:51
My van insurance ! - Ben79
Insurance may be a competitive market, but a very inefficient one. Do you think that having a million departments with their own phone numbers and nobody who knows what is happening in other departments, files going missing and a general attitude of passing the buck is a good way to run a company.

Insurance companies, like some multi franchise dealerships have grown beyond economies of scale, and are now too big to be any use.

My Citroen dealer is a small family owned main dealer, communication is easy and effectve. My present insurance company main contact is a rep whose home address and number is given out. Customer service is better with these people.

Ben
On my 3rd Citroen. Saxo, Xsara, C5.
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Sat 27 Sep 2003 20:46
My van insurance ! - Nortones2
In a free market... Pray, which one? New entrants to these Elysian fields are kept out by the costs of entry, e.g. advertising, financial back-up, so small fry are excluded from all but specialist areas, I'd guess. Perfect competition, as expounded in elementary economics, is a useful construct for academic purposes, but otherwise is in the Father Xmas/tooth fairy arena. In reality, price fixing, freemasons, cartels et al rule:)
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Sat 27 Sep 2003 21:03
My van insurance ! - Chris M
Of course the cost of entry is enormous, but if there was so much money to be made, it would happen. Direct Line, with the backing of Bank of Scotland did it, and did it very well. The reason it doesn't happen very often is the capital goes where the biggest return is. Until recently, dot com companies.

Chris M
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Wed 14 Jan 2009 15:21
My van insurance ! - Falkirk Bairn
Of course the cost of entry is enormous but if there was so much money
to be made it would happen. Direct Line with the backing of Bank of Scotland
did it and did it very well.




Direct Line = Royal Bank of Scotland established about 20 +yrs ago
E-Sure = Bank of Scotland established 2000/2001
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Wed 14 Jan 2009 12:22
My van insurance ! - julianiven1
I found an online van insurer which seems pretty helpful when you call up and the quote i had was about right - www.onevan-uk.com
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Wed 14 Jan 2009 12:53
My van insurance ! - CGNorwich
I have to ask,what is the point of having insurance above the legal minimum.

Not a lot. My view on Insurance (after working in the business for 40 years) is that you should only Insure those risks that would be financially catastrophic to you. A collision with another vehicle , or worse injuring third parties would come into that category. Damage to your own vehicle rather depends on its value but for most people the best thing is to carry a large excess and put some money by to cover minor damage. If you use Insurance to pay for small damage claim you will end up paying a lot more in premiums than if you fund them yourselves. Insurers are not rogues and cheats but nor are they charities. They can only pay out in claims what they receive in premiums less the substantial costs of administation and after hopefully making a profit
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Wed 14 Jan 2009 15:46
My van insurance ! - Maceman
for most people the best thing is to carry a large excess and put some money by to cover
minor damage.


Couldn't agree more. I pay the lowest possible rate I can find and keep money aside for any problems with car - better in my savings than in theirs!
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Wed 14 Jan 2009 23:49
My van insurance ! - Harleyman
If you're a small businessman you could do worse than try NFU (National Farmers' Union) they seem pretty competitive.
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