Hi all - Still flushed with success and gaining confidence Mrs V is on at me to get her that new motor. We've had a few test drives but I still think she should wait a while and have told her that she needs to consider the potential insurance costs which, although I'll be buying the car, she will have to pay in future.
At present, although she has only been driving about 2 years and passed her test just a few months ago, she gets a very good deal from a well known insurer who effectively match my full NCD (from another company) to her premium thereby reducing the cost substantially. This I'm told is just a gesture of goodwill which is not guaranteed.
Given the hassle I've had in the past getting quotes (the companies I've tried need the actual car's details first) the past, how best do I get a reasonable idea of what she might expect to pay for the small selection of cars which we're considering? How big a factor is the insurance grouping as to, say, the value of the cars?
According to Parker's her current car is grouped 4-6 (value £800) but the target cars are 6-7
and valued at around £4k.
I'm slightly concerned about getting onto her current company and asking them as doing so might make them less competitive in the future by say reconsidering or removing their current very generous offer.
Would a broker be a good bet to get some general idea as to what the insurance implications of the new car would be or are the days when you could get that sort of help long gone?
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She's been given an introductory discount. Whilst another company might not agree to maintain that, the only times I have ever encountered an existing company removing such a discount are as follows;
1) Changed to a ridiculous car
2) "Inaccuracies" about driving record became apparant
3) Accidents/convictions occurred in insurance period
Value, unless truly large differences, is mostly irrelevant. It can make a difference, but not significant. (Cue 50,000 people claiming it made a gazillion pound difference on theirs.)
All other things remaining equal, then the group is the most relevant and one could expect that two cars of similar groups would have similar premiums.
I would put in her existing details and see what kind of premiums you get back. I would then put in the new details and see what you get. However, given the large intro discount she has, I would then take those premiums for comparative purposes only rather than absolute values, since it is unlikely that anybody will be more competitive than your existing insurer.
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Don't worry about it, she is only moving up a few groups so the premium won't rise by more than a few hundred quid. Small fry compared to the amount you are spending on the car.
I always wonder why people will base their entire car choice on the ability to save perhaps 100 quid a year on insurance. I've seen people chose a £10k car based on its insurance group and low road tax. Honestly, if you've just spent say £10,000 who honestly cares about £100. It's only 1% of the value..
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There are a very few insurers that really don't like you to change the car you drive, because you cease to be in their target market. I'm thinking particularly of the Lloyds syndicate that insured me TPO on my old Renault a couple of years back - they (through my broker) were laughably expensive when I considered switching to a newer, lower group Focus/Mégane 1.4.
Most insurers base their risk on the driver first, then the car, and so as Mark says, unless you're buying her an Impreza or something, her risk profile won't really change signifcantly at all.
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I don't know how long she's had the policy. I think I would be tempted to wait for renewal and see what NCD is mentioned on the renewal to see if the introductory NCD is transferable.
Martin
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Michael - yes you're right to an extent but the problem for her is, without going into our personal circumstances, that whilst I will be buying her he car SHE will be paying for the insurance etc. and needs to be sure she is willing/able to do so.
Thanks for the other feedback too guys.
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