Reply to: When getting car insurance quotes.. I'm actually an Employee

[TykeMerc]

I do understand why they use postcodes in the risk profiling as it's a simple approach, but as NLUK just pointed out it's far too broad a brush (arguably carpet bombed) to be even marginally fair to a lot of people. If I lived 50 yards up the road my insurance costs would be 25% cheaper as it's a different postcode.

[northernladuk]

Flash bugger!

Surprised to find my home is E rated. Weird. Its wales and is semi-rural.

There is always some reason that makes sense when you find out and I bet they use every excuse they can. Could be that there are less accidents/crime in your area but historically they involve £40k cars and not £6k ones as everyone is a bit well to do or you have unlit country roads that people like bombing around on which are much more risky than inner city lit roads and so on.

It could be, like me, you are caught by a not so good area but because you are rural the post code is a lot bigger and you are stuck in a post code lottery problem. We are virtually crime free here, nice little village in the middle of nowhere. The only problem is the nearest big town is Bolton... You will understand if you have been to Bolton.

[psychocandy]

Nissan 350Z roadster and caught in a bad postcode.

You can check your postcode rating on sites like this..

Post Code ratings for Car Insurance

Flash bugger!

Surprised to find my home is E rated. Weird. Its wales and is semi-rural.

[quackhandle]

You sure it just isn't because the prices changed as companies change their risk profile? I was paying £650 or so for my play car and the renewal came though at £2500. My car had just tipped in to a risk area they didn't want to bother with so priced me out. They move all the time as the stats on claims are updated and the companies attitude to risk.

I used to have a MK II Golf GTi on a classic car policy for 130 notes a year, which was way, way cheaper than normal policies. All I had to do was claim it was garaged at night but it was behind very large gates. Granted there was no roof, but all intents and purposes.

Someone must have got wise to this as after 3 years at £130 the quote for the 4th year was 750!

Ah well, good while it lasted.

qh

[northernladuk]

Flippin heck - NLUK. What car u got then? Mines £270 for a 2900cc.

Or are you 18 or got loads of points? ;-)

Nissan 350Z roadster and caught in a bad postcode.

You can check your postcode rating on sites like this..

http://www.motorcarinsuranceuk.co.uk...de-ratings.php

[psychocandy]

Flippin heck - NLUK. What car u got then? Mines £270 for a 2900cc.

Or are you 18 or got loads of points? ;-)

[northernladuk]

And when getting multiple quotes with details changed on each quote slightly, use a different name/address/DOB (in the case of address and DOB make them roughly the same as your own).

We discovered earlier this yeah that insurers do see this as trying to massage the figures, and penalise for that. The missus' first ever quote (new driver) was coming in at approx £700 to £800. After a few days of trying e.g. lower mileage, some companies refused to quote and the cheapest started at £1200+

We got 'round it by having the car in my name, with her as the main driver, and me as a part-time driver on the vehicle.

Fook knows who works on these algorithms

You sure it just isn't because the prices changed as companies change their risk profile? I was paying £650 or so for my play car and the renewal came though at £2500. My car had just tipped in to a risk area they didn't want to bother with so priced me out. They move all the time as the stats on claims are updated and the companies attitude to risk.

[kingcook]

And when getting multiple quotes with details changed on each quote slightly, use a different name/address/DOB (in the case of address and DOB make them roughly the same as your own).

We discovered earlier this yeah that insurers do see this as trying to massage the figures, and penalise for that. The missus' first ever quote (new driver) was coming in at approx £700 to £800. After a few days of trying e.g. lower mileage, some companies refused to quote and the cheapest started at £1200+

We got 'round it by having the car in my name, with her as the main driver, and me as a part-time driver on the vehicle.

Fook knows who works on these algorithms

[northernladuk]

Another strange quirk is that if you add a woman as your named driver then the premium often drops. So make sure you try adding a wife/sister/granny etc to the policy too. Bizzarely, even adding a Learner driver can lower the premium! A mate did this and got a fair discount even though it's unlikely that the named driver would ever actually drive the car.

Again the idea is that if you are married you are lower risk than a single bloke. In theory you are more responsible. Dunno about the learner, I really can't see that unless the learner is older+married etc.

[Wanderer]

As a side note, I drive a low-value car, so naively thought TPFT might be cheaper....but no, fully comp actually proved to be £30 less ! That’s bizarre

Another strange quirk is that if you add a woman as your named driver then the premium often drops. So make sure you try adding a wife/sister/granny etc to the policy too. Bizzarely, even adding a Learner driver can lower the premium! A mate did this and got a fair discount even though it's unlikely that the named driver would ever actually drive the car.

[psychocandy]

Strangely enough I just renewed my insurance and Computer Engineer came out £20 cheaper than Company Director. So I did that.

And remember its perfectly legal to use whichever description you like as long as its reasonable. Also, since its your company you can give yourself whatever job title you like.

(Not that I'm suggesting you should put down nurse or something if its cheaper!)

[psychocandy]

After losing 2.5 hours of my life looking at comparison sites and the usual suspects for a new policy this morning , I eventually went with SwiftCover as :

1) they have a cover option of "Your car is used for social use and policyholder's own business" and

2) they were competitively priced

I’ve taken the view that 1) explicitly covers all driving related to my Ltd. company and leaves no wriggle room in the event of a claim, whether I am routinely commuting to my current ClientCo’s main site, one of their many alternative sites, travel to interviews etc, etc.

Nor do SwiftCover ask for employment status, so the employed / director / self-employed discussion is not relevant.

As a side note, I drive a low-value car, so naively thought TPFT might be cheaper....but no, fully comp actually proved to be £30 less ! That’s bizarre I thought, so some subsequent investigation exposed yet another "quirk" (scam ?) of the car insurance industry: TPFT insurers with low-value cars are often considered higher risk than those wanting fully comp…and can thus be quoted a higher TPFT premium than equivalent fully comp cover!

Insurers obviously hoping naivety prevents them exploring the fully comp option, which could paradoxically land a cheaper quote for more cover. Yet another example of rip-off Britain if you ask me, i.e., let’s see how much we can fleece naive suckers for....

Swiftcover - Good luck with that one. Had no end of problems with these idiots one year.

[northernladuk]

After losing 2.5 hours of my life looking at comparison sites and the usual suspects for a new policy this morning , I eventually went with SwiftCover as :

1) they have a cover option of "Your car is used for social use and policyholder's own business" and

2) they were competitively priced

I’ve taken the view that 1) explicitly covers all driving related to my Ltd. company and leaves no wriggle room in the event of a claim, whether I am routinely commuting to my current ClientCo’s main site, one of their many alternative sites, travel to interviews etc, etc.

Nor do SwiftCover ask for employment status, so the employed / director / self-employed discussion is not relevant.

As a side note, I drive a low-value car, so naively thought TPFT might be cheaper....but no, fully comp actually proved to be £30 less ! That’s bizarre I thought, so some subsequent investigation exposed yet another "quirk" (scam ?) of the car insurance industry: TPFT insurers with low-value cars are often considered higher risk than those wanting fully comp…and can thus be quoted a higher TPFT premium than equivalent fully comp cover!

Insurers obviously hoping naivety prevents them exploring the fully comp option, which could paradoxically land a cheaper quote for more cover. Yet another example of rip-off Britain if you ask me, i.e., let’s see how much we can fleece naive suckers for....

It is because the legal cases involved in TPFT to work out who is at fault cost more in the long run. Every accident except being run up the back when stationary has a percentage of fault by both parties. Someone slamming in to the side of you can be partially your fault for not noticing him not slowing down for example. With TPFT you have to fight it cause you get no money otherwise. With comprehensive you sign it off quicker and accept the verdict cause you get paid so admin and legal costs etc are somewhat lower. It's just more hassle for them to sell you TPFT hence you get the reduction. Probably other factors that people that want TPFT are usually gonna burn their car out and claim on insurance or summat as well..

I am with swiftcover on one car and the extra business class didn't cost me a penny more? Over insure is my take on it. THey will try and get out at every turn the bastards so not taking a chance when it costs the same. I see what you are saying but my view is worthless when they refuse to payout. Belt and braces approach for me. Oddly enough I thought they did ask me my employment. I did it through a comparison site so maybe it asked but didn't need it. I am very surprised at that though, your profession can make a big difference to your premium if you are a DJ or entertainer for example. Will check with them next time I renew though. Thanks for mentioning that.

[Northern Soul]

After losing 2.5 hours of my life looking at comparison sites and the usual suspects for a new policy this morning , I eventually went with SwiftCover as :

1) they have a cover option of "Your car is used for social use and policyholder's own business" and

2) they were competitively priced

I’ve taken the view that 1) explicitly covers all driving related to my Ltd. company and leaves no wriggle room in the event of a claim, whether I am routinely commuting to my current ClientCo’s main site, one of their many alternative sites, travel to interviews etc, etc.

Nor do SwiftCover ask for employment status, so the employed / director / self-employed discussion is not relevant.

As a side note, I drive a low-value car, so naively thought TPFT might be cheaper....but no, fully comp actually proved to be £30 less ! That’s bizarre I thought, so some subsequent investigation exposed yet another "quirk" (scam ?) of the car insurance industry: TPFT insurers with low-value cars are often considered higher risk than those wanting fully comp…and can thus be quoted a higher TPFT premium than equivalent fully comp cover!

Insurers obviously hoping naivety prevents them exploring the fully comp option, which could paradoxically land a cheaper quote for more cover. Yet another example of rip-off Britain if you ask me, i.e., let’s see how much we can fleece naive suckers for....

[psychocandy]

Yeh. Thats right. Just because you dont claim expenses doesnt mean its not a business trip.

I often wonder how an insurer would prove that the particular journey you were on was business though. Surely they'd never prove you werent on a day off and just happened to be driving in a particular area?