Does anyone know anyone who does it? I may no longer be a spring chicken but as yet I am still in charge of all my faculties. I still consider myself to be a good and safe driver. Unlike a commonly held prejudice, I do not spend my time travelling the wrong way down motorways or playing dodgems in the local supermarket car park :o)
I am old but I?m not doolally. I live in a quiet area with an average age of about sixty so there aren?t many toddlers around waiting to test my aged reflexes by chasing balls into the street. All I use my car for is trips to the shops and running errands for my church friends.
I go to the doctor every three years and she passes me fit to drive. I retook my driving test five years ago and I passed easily. So why then does my current insurer send me a renewal every year that is about 10% greater than the year previously? That despite the fact that I haven?t made a claim in over thirty years!
I now have an insurance bill each year that is rather higher than the value of my car.
I phone them up and all they can talk about are risks, costs and blah, blah, blah. The bottom line is that they know that I have nowhere else to go and they are milking me for it :o(
But do I have nowhere else to go? Does anyone know of any insurance companies that are prepared to offer new insurance quotes to the over 75s?
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My father is 81 and it's a fair point that you make; I think the issue is not that over 75s have a poor record as a group but that one or two will be appallingly bad drivers.
The best thing you can do is click on the moneysupermarket.com link on the right ---> and let them see which companies are willing to compete for your risk and price accordingly.
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From my experience in trying to obtain competitive motor insurance for my late father, who drove until he was 85 but then had to stop as his sight failed, I'm afraid that you are unlikely to have very much success.
The only company who would take my father as "New Business" were Saga, but even they advised me that he would be much better off staying with his present company, which he was. None of the other companies I contacted would even take him, once they found out he was over 75, or, in some cases, over 70. The company he remained with were Skania.
I'm afraid that older drivers are viewed by insurance companies in the same way as younger drivers; they are considered to be more likely to have accidents, therefore a poorer risk, so attracting a much higher premium. I had never realised this fact myself before the experience of trying to obtain insurance for my father, but I now know it to be true. As in my late father's case, the premium for an 85 year old will have been considerably loaded.
Insurance companies don't like the very young and they don't like the very old, but if you're between about 25 and 70 with a good driving record then you should be OK!
Sorry it's of little consolation, I know, but if you want to continue driving then I'm afraid it's the insurance companies which hold all the cards.
Good Luck!
Edited by Galaxy on 09/11/2007 at 00:46
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You could get a classic car and take out limited mileage classic insurance. If you are willing to be limited to 5,000 miles or perhaps 10,000 per annum classic premiums are incredibly cheap, and as far as I know not age related at all.
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I?m not up to a classic car sadly. Not unless it comes with power steering, an automatic gearbox and heated seats :o)
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You don't need a car. You need a taxi.
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Ah but you don't know how many trips to the shops and errands he runs, it may well add up to a lot of miles over the year, not very cost efficient in a taxi!
Blue
Edited by Blue {P} on 09/11/2007 at 10:58
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Do you have a B & Q 'over 60s' card? If so, have a word with Cornhill Insurance who have a special scheme in conjunction with B & Q. The Tel.No. is 0800 888 31.
But before you do that, enter your details on www.confused.com and then you will have some figures to compare when Cornhill quote you.
Do please let us know the outcome of your research so that others can share your experience....as I am trying to do now.
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Ah but you don't know how many trips to the shops and errands he runs
True. Very true. We don't know enough about BigNose, what car he drives, how many miles, etc. to be able to give a full answer to his insurance question.
So far what we do know is that he is over 90 years old, has a number of medical problems (although none serious enough to prevent his Doctor from triennially passing him fit to drive), and for some unknown reason he had to retake his driving test five years ago.
Edited by jbif on 09/11/2007 at 11:43
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The Post Office will quote you providing you are not over 99. After that, you may have difficulty getting cover.
Visit them on-line at: tinyurl.com/2leqtt
Happy motoring.
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You might be surprised at what counts as a "classic car". Until I sold it a few months ago, I had a Saab 9000 of 1993 vintage which counted as one - and it had (except for the auto box, but thy are available with auto) all your desirable extras. Less than £200 per year for 5000 miles. BUT, and its a big but, for this particular policy, I had to have another car insured under a normal insurance - thus proving it wasn't my main car. Unless other companies are different, it might throw this idea out of the window.
And on a similar tack, I hit the over-75 problem when I tried to add my father on to my insurance but was refused. He has just turned 75, is still proficient and safe having been an HGV driver for 20-odd years. Not sure who he is with but he seems to pay a lot for his insurance - he drives a 2.0 Laguna estate. Make sure you let us know the outcome!
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On this point I can give some factual info. Next month I shall be 78. I had a Metro 1.4 CVT for the last ten years and after my daughters labrador decided to dislocate my shoulder I needed to get a motor with power steering. As regular readers will remember I originally looked at a new Picanto but found the performance somewhat dull after the Metro. So I bought QX Man's 98 QX 2L.in May 2007. Just transferred this motor onto my existing Policy for the remaining six months, advising CIS of the change and stumping up for a substantial rise in premium. As renewal time came near I shopped about to see if this was competitive and wound up with RIAS Motor Insurance (wholly owned subsidiary of Fortis (UK) Ltd.) who offer drivers over 50 special rates free phone Nr is 0800502100.
They did the business for me. Now have better cover and I was impressed by their efficiency..
Usual disclaimers -no connection just happy customer.
Phil I
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I’m not up to a classic car sadly. Not unless it comes with power steering an automatic gearbox and heated seats :o)
turn those heated seats off,they will give you piles..............oops,too late ;-)
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