My insurance is up for renewal next week. Last year when I got it Directline were doing 0% APR but now its 23% APR.
My credit card has 11% APR so surely it would be cheaper to pay my premium on my credit card or am I missing something obvious?
My premium is around £800 a year fully comp with £250 excess.
I've worked out that by using my credit card it would be around £80 a year cheaper but it seems too easy? I can't afford to pay it on go as it would take up all my money and there will be no money for those expensive emergencies.
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surely it would be cheaper to pay my premium on my credit card or am I missing something obvious?
Nope.
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Or you pay the premium out of the "my money" you have now, pay yourself back once a month, and if and when the emergencies come up, pay for those on the card and suffer the 11% APR at that point.
If your "my money" is in a bank somewhere, the interest you're getting is probably not worth worrying about.
Edited by Optimist on 16/10/2009 at 16:55
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I guess I just need to make sure I pay £800/12 each month plus 11% APR otherwise if it goes into the next year I will still be paying interest on the remainder which not paid? I am trying to be careful not to get into a lot of credit card.
But if I can save £80 thats almost half a pint a week :). I work that out at £73.33 a month. I think my 'cash price' premuim is actually a lot lower than £800 I will check that now.
Its actually £761 cash price. So it will be quite a bit cheaper to pay it on my card, I won't need to pay the £140 deposit then either.
Edited by Rattle on 16/10/2009 at 16:59
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I guess I just need to make sure I pay £800/12 each month
£800 sounds quite a lot - presumably you've got a few quotes?
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Its actually £761.25 thats fully comp, 1 years no claims, Manchester post code, passed last year, business use, stored in the street, stored in other streets while at work, car used to carry computer equipment etc. All the little things add up. I got one cheaper quote at £650 but the company got so many bad reviews on google and its not as good as what I get with this one. Most my quotes were £1200-£3000 with the highest being £11,500.
My dad is paying nearly £380 for his and he has the maximum no claims discount etc and being driving for well over 30 years.
Its the Manchester post code its very risky, high amount of car crime, high traffic levels, high amount of none insurance drivers etc.
Edited by Rattle on 16/10/2009 at 17:02
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with the highest being £11 500.
Perhaps they have a UK call centre.
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Some Ins Co's will pay a handling fee for CC payment :-(
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This may help you as it does help me:
Each year i apply for and take out a '0% on purchases' credit card. I use the card to buy my insurance and then pay it back over the year. Sometimes the card company even give you a little something back for spending. Some give points, some give gift vouchers.
And if i really play my cards right i actually receive cashback through one of the cashback sites for buying the insurance via them. Qui*co is a good one. One year received £80 cashback on a £250 premium.
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And if i really play my cards right i actually receive cashback through one of the cashback sites for buying the insurance via them. Qui*co is a good one. One year received £80 cashback on a £250 premium.
Reminds me - recent story on Money Saving Expert of someone paying 96p for a year fully comp:
www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/compare-cheap-...e
(link under Step 4)
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I think given my credit circumstances (e.g I don't have much of it) the days of 0% are long gone. I need to phone Directline to see if there is a charge for credit cards. If so I suppose I could pay a bigger deposit than the £140 and get the cost down that way.
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Some inurers do payments with no charge for credit. Might be worth a try!
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Blimey! Now that is impressive. I thought i did well with the house insurance once where i got £120 cashback on the £140 policy. Anyway all the best Rattle hope you get it sorted for cheap.
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Rattle, it's time you started to budget.
At the beginning of the year, estimate what your bills will be for each month. Add up the yearly total and divide by 12. Each month plan to save a twelfth of the yearly total less the estimated bills for that particular month. Depending on whether the bills for a particular month are less or more than a twelfth of the yearly total, the amount you save will be either a positive amount or a negative amount, i.e. a withdrawal. Create a spreadsheet on your computer to help with the calculations.
What's the point of having credit and paying interest? It's cheaper not to use credit at all. Paying interest is a mug's game.
Edited by L'escargot on 16/10/2009 at 18:21
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Start referring to 'credit' as 'debt' and you'll soon find spending on your 'debt card' much easier to avoid.
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Lots of good info re this sort of stuff on Martin Lewis's site to which I had better not post a direct link but it is titled about being a moneysavingexpert! He has has posted some tips re car insurance with cash-backs and and discounts and one subscriber has got a year's full comp on something mechanical for 93p. Got to be worth a look!
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I use Virgin car insurance. They do not charge extra for paying by monthly installments. Their quotes have been very competitive, always price matching when it comes to renewal time to keep my custom and always been very good in the two times I have had to make a claim for non-fault incidents.
I've been with them for 5-6 years now.
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Is your Dad also with Direct Line?
My Mrs got my full no claims and got to keep it as her own after 1 year claim free. She also gets a further discount as a 'Second car in the household'.
Also adding a female to your insurance can reduce it.
I am also in Manchester (North). £400+ with full no claims on a 9 year old 2.0 Primera.
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Yep I get a discount because my dads with them too :).
I only passed last year so I think that is partly why my premiums are quite a lot.
I've checked all the car insurance companies including Virgin and Directline for me work out by far the cheapest apart from one very basic policy.
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I know when I was looking at renewing with DirectLine they offered me monthly installments with 0% APR when I told them I could get the insurance a lot cheaper elsewhere so maybe it would be in your interest to give them a call and explain that you have a much cheaper quote and what can they do about it? Obviously no need to tell them you have no intention of moving away from them...
I do find DirectLine to be a little on the pricey side for my insurance (I didn't take up their 0% on installments as they were still so much more expensive) so I'm actually impressed they are one of the lower ones for you.
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Lots of good info re this sort of stuff on Martin Lewis's site to which I had better not post a direct link
see my earlier post
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I've found Saga reasonably competitive, and they do offer 0% monthly payments.
As long as you are old enough of course!
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Virgin are offering 16 months interest free on balance transfers on their credit card. Pay for insurance on your existing CC and transfer balance to Virgin. Fee is just below 3%. You can apply for the card online and get an immediate yes/no.
Edited by Chris M on 17/10/2009 at 19:14
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