Well it's renewal time for both of us again.
Both over 50, rural northumberland, fully comp,protected no claims and legal cover.
Mine for a 2001 1600 civic with Axa comes at £294.
Wifes for a 2003 1600 civic with Axa comes at £284.
Just phoned the first insurance company by the name of Hastings Direct and they have quoted £195 and £169 for the same cover the only difference being £175 excess instead of £150 with Axa.
Should I be wary of this cheap quote and stick to more well known companies or should I go for the savings, plus I nearly forgot, we also ge a £25 Argos voucher each for being new customers!. So has anyone any comments about Hastings Direct good or bad to help me make a decision.
Regards Mal.
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You'll probably find that Hastings Direct is not an insurance company but an Insurance broker which means that you need to find out who the insurance is actually with.
If you are happy with your existing insurance company then try telling them about the quotes from Hastings and they may well drop the quote.
I recently got insurance for my motorbike and the premium started at £940 for TPF&T and then by the time I rang a few companies and played them off against each other the company that gave the £940 TPF&T quote went down to £909 for Fully Comp. The whole insurance thing is a racket.
I have always found that Direct Line have been cheapest for me, and when I had an accident last year the service was exceptional.
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I don't know about Hastings Direct, but I would warn about other cheap insurance companies.
I've had a few experiences of online, so-called cheap companies, but have found that often the service is abysmal.
It's not always the case, but I would recommend that you at least find out if the company (or broker) is reputable from someone you can trust, before taking that plunge. I've always gone for the cheapest deal I can get, but it doesn't always work out very well!
Good luck - got to do the same myself in a few weeks and am dreading it!
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I know I\'m sounding like a stuck gramaphone with this one, but do try www.liverpool-victoria.co.uk
Long established insurer, they took over the Frizzell brand in 1996. Since then their customer service has gone from strength to strength and their premiums are most acceptable.
I used to work for them but no longer have any link, except as a satisfied customer. Mrs ND\'s claim last summer was a classic example of how an insurer should handle things.
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Many many moons ago I was insured with Fire Auto & Marine. They suddenly went bust under dubious circumstances and I had to find another company sharpish. That was before the days of online and telephone insurance so I probably drove uninsured for a short while.
Are you covered these days against an insurance company going belly up?
--
L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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Snap, my old man changed to Fire, Auto, Marine (Emile Savundra ring any bells) just before they went broke, lost a years premium. He then moved to another one that went bust and lost another 6 months.
That was the end of his dallying with cheap no name insurance!
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Was Insured with Hastings about 4 years ago. Were fine regarging getting repair done but PATHETIC in chasing up the person who caused the accident/recovering my excess. Took them a year.
just made a claim with Tesco (Parking bump involving my car only) and they were verry efficient,good follow up etc.
Both companies gave me the cheapest quotes in the respective years.
I allways look at the detail of the policy to check T&C's match rather than the actual quote.But you only know if the company is any good when you are unlucky enough to have to make a claim.
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Just because a company charges high prices doesn't mean it gives good service these boards are littered with peoples insurance woes, big and small companies. Personally speaking unless your current insurance gives a new quote close to this cheap one or if you find out that the cheap company is unreliable via comments from past customers than I'd go cheap.
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Just because a company charges high prices doesn't mean it gives good service these boards are littered with peoples insurance woes, big and small companies. Personally speaking unless your current insurance gives a new quote close to this cheap one or if you find out that the cheap company is unreliable via comments from past customers than I'd go cheap.
I'd agree with that. Seems daft to spend any more than you have to unless it's clear that the "cheap" company provides a significantly poorer service.
Renewal time for me too, so I'm getting a few quotes in. As a result, I've now discovered how "More Than" got its name - their premium is signifcantly more than anybody else's!
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I too have my home, contents, cars and travel insurance with Liverpool Victoria & Frizzell. I made a massive claim 2 years ago when garge burnt down, £35K grand claim. they were brilliant, house insurance gone up only £4 a week. they fast, really nice to talk to. well.... i rang to renew car insurance, it was 9.30pm, u could tell the bloke wanted to go home, he just wasnt listening to me, kept yawning, so i put phone down on him, rang back, and got a really nice young lady who dealt much more efficiantly with my conversation. (it happens to us all, we are but humans) so i wasnt offput by the bloke.
i would pay the extra to know im not gona get creamed when and if i have to claim again. worse thing is when they tell you stuff isnt insured, when going with dubious companys swintons put you with, tried to claim on my old rover 216gsi for front end damage. it took 6 months to finally get car into a garage. and i still had a £300 excess.
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:amendament:
£4 a month not week.
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My experience:
More Than: rotten customer service, expensive.
Screentrade: pleasant customer service, cheap.
I think in car insurance terms, you don't always get what you pay for. I'd avoid fly by night companies with just a PO box address somewhere in Birmingham, but other than that it's a question of picking the cheapest. I found Screentrade through this site, actually, by using a link someone here provided:
www.insuresupermarket.com/
Good luck!
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Yes I?d say. As above, there are well known names doing cheap insurance if you look around. The cheapest usually has the highest excess, so use the one with the best compromise. IMHO the quotes given are about £50 high, with a £100 excess. Try Confused.com then do Tesco online. Best of luck
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Liverpool Victoria lost any change of my business by making their website non-standard and awkward to navigate.
I guess the main rule is to ask why you want insurance. When it comes down to it, your cover will be pretty safe as they are all regulated, but some will be harder than others to deal with. If you don't mind paying a little more then a better known name will probably be safer. In past years I've been with a broker simply because their price was <£100 cheaper than anyone else. However, the service was useless, you got charged for any change to the policy, even just to use a courtesy car, and the offices closed at 5:15 each night so getting in touch was difficult.
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After considering the frustrating time I had recently with AXA via a call centre in India, I decided not to reinsure with them. I today tried Confused.com but was unable to get past their home-site. Also tried the Insurance Supermarket site but when I inserted my wife's occupation as Magistrates' Courts I was then asked to choose between 3 or 4 types of business and they all related to betting and horseracing so I could not proceed any further. Trying the Police produced choices including French Polishing! So that was that.
Getting quotes over the telephone produced a few shocks including a quote of £229 for Hastings Direct via a broker when direct with them was only £195, so after checking them out on the net have decided to go with them after being with Axa for 6 years.
Regards and thanks, Mal
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I'm with No-Dosh is mentioning Liverpool Vicoria/Frizzels. I have been with them for 5 years during which they have paid for a cheapish write off (in a flood) and 2 windscreens. I have protected no-claims and pay £186 a year for full comp, 2 named drivers and a £100 XS. Confused.com got close but I couldn't be bothered to change for a £5 saving. If you don't like their web-site, chat on the Freephone number - the service is good.
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Darn I wanted to say something witty here but cannot think of anything. Roll on then, L&V.
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