Finding out insurance costs before buying

padraig71

I passed my test in England about 15 years ago and, although I have driven a bit over the years, have never owned a car because I have always lived in cities and never needed one. But now I want to move out of Galway city because I really need a place of my own (I'm 37 and subletting to strangers is driving me cracked) and can't afford to live on my own in town. So I need a vehicle.

I was thinking about buying a van such as a VW Transporter. I'm a professional musician and often have a lot of gear to carry, and I'd like a vehicle that's big enough to sleep in when I'm away and that I can use partly as a camper.

Before I buy anything, I want to compare insurance costs for different sorts of vehicle, because a van may be prohibitively expensive, particularly as it will be my first vehicle and first insurance. I went into Axa today and they gave me a proposal form to fill in. Now, is there any way of obtaining quotes for different sorts of vehicle other than by filling in dozens of proposal forms listing every potential vehicle and type of insurance (3rd party, fully comp et)? If that's the only way, I will do it, but I'm hoping there is an easier way.

sesswhat

If you call into an insurance broker they should be able to give you some general advice.

eamon234

Hate to state the obvious but you're on the internet - GOOGLE! There's loads of companies who give online quotes.

Jimbo

The system on quinndirect.ie makes it pretty easy to change the vehicle after they quote you. Try there for an idea and then shop around

Steve

padraig71 wrote: »

Before I buy anything, I want to compare insurance costs for different sorts of vehicle, because a van may be prohibitively expensive, particularly as it will be my first vehicle and first insurance. I went into Axa today and they gave me a proposal form to fill in. Now, is there any way of obtaining quotes for different sorts of vehicle other than by filling in dozens of proposal forms listing every potential vehicle and type of insurance (3rd party, fully comp et)? If that's the only way, I will do it, but I'm hoping there is an easier way.

Use the Quinn direct website, its the easiest & quickest to change details on and see the differences between vehicles, addresses etc.

I would guess that "professional musician" is not going to help you on the quotes as AFAIK it attracts an extra loading.
I'm not telling you to fib about it, thats your call;)

If music is your primary source of income then look at writing off the van and insurance and fuel against tax - not sure about how to do it but have heard it can be done.

Once you have a make / model / year in mind, then go to the brokers and pick the best quote.

green123

dont put unemployed either, as insurance compainies also load this for some reason.
and i also found that older ( 10 years old ) cars are more expensive to insure

Atomic Pineapple

green123 wrote: »

dont put unemployed either, as insurance compainies also load this for some reason.
and i also found that older ( 10 years old ) cars are more expensive to insure

because unemployed people have no job to be sitting in all day so they are more likely to be on the road more often and older cars can be less safe than newer ones so thats why there loaded.

as has been said the quinn website is a good place to start for general quotes on different vechicles

S.I.R

depends o nthe car , i get insurance easier on a saab 9000 then i do on a peugeot 106 , thank you sterotypes.

as for van insurance , know any mates that you can insure it under there company ?

generally cheaper AFAIK

padraig71

I did think of looking online, of course. But those sites are geared to providing quotes for people who already own a car and they require lots of specific info - e.g. registration number, number of seats, engine size - that I don't have since I don't have a particular vehicle in mind. What I want is some general advice from an insurance broker - i.e. ballpark figures for a van vs. an estate car, advice about how the various different characteristics of the vehicle that the forms ask about would affect the premium. But the companies I've approached seem a bit cagey about telling me anything.

As far as being charged more because of my job, I have been advised by various people to lie about this, but since this would immediately void any insurance policy, it doesn't make sense to do so.

I will be claiming a lot of vehicle cost as business expenses against tax, but it's the immediate up-front costs I have to think about before I buy. Besides, most years I don't make enough profit to get into the tax bracket anyway.

Some people have told me to look at getting a camper as they cost less in insurance, but I've a feeling I would still get stung as a musician (and particularly as it's my first insurance). Whatever I buy needs to accommodate a five-foot keyboard flightcase anyway.

Stephen

Just make stuff up for the reg numbers, phone number, street address etc. Give 'em your real details only when you're prepared to purchase.

Stuff like engine size you would want to know, but in the case of most diesel vans I can't see it making as big a difference as it would in a car (e.g. 1 litre shopping trolley vs hot hatch).

DaveyGem

Unfortunately because your over thirty with essentially no previuos insurance your case is a bit of a red flag for insurance companies, hence the proposal form from Axa, they in particular are sticklers for that, other companies, i.e quinn direct, would probably quote you over the phone, i wouldn trust the website beacause first of all you cant hagle with a website and second a quote it gives you, because of your situation, it may not be valid.


Reg numbre make no difference when getting a quote, just so long as you have the actual reg when your taking out the policy. There is however nothing more irratating for insurance company employees when a customer phones in and says "Hey im looking for 4 or five quotes". Try and narrow it down slightly.

Just on the musical instrument/equipment point, if the equipmet is stolen from your car it will not be covered because as you say your a proffessional musician, so the equipment is for proffesional use. Lots of companies offer contents of the car as standard or as optional extra but it is limited to approx 500, id imagine this wouldn cover said equipment...

padraig71

Thanks, DaveyGem. My music equipment policy includes unattended vehicle cover, so that's not an issue.

As far as the companies being annoyed at having to provide several quotes, that's their job! The companies I have approached have told me they cannot give general advice, only quotes for specific vehicles, so there seems to be no other way to proceed. Once I have obtained a few prices for different sorts of vehicle then I will be able to compare them, see what I can afford and narrow down my search to a few similar models, but until I have some quotes to look at that is obviously impossible. I have never bought any equipment without doing extensive research beforehand, and for something as expensive as a car I would not dream of it.

DaveyGem

Strictly speaking there job is tio sell insyrance policies, the person who gets 4 or 5 quotes is highly unlikely to buy even one of them there and then. The quote will be saved and when you do decide you will call up get some one else who will load up the quote and steal their sale. Thats why they myt get a bit peeved...

Few tips- Car vans are insured as cars, not commercial vehicles and if they have the same engine size chances are the prices will be very similar regardless of mark (Ford, Peaugout, Citroen etc.) They are more expensive to insure than your average hatch back put cheaper than a transit etc.

If you need a big van you will have to get commercial insurance which in most cases includes business use even if you aren a tradesman so this will be expenisve ish, also if you factor in no previous insurance you could be getting telephone numbers...If ye have a spouse or girlfriend who has had previous insurance consider putting it in their name, it will be ever so slightly cheaper, F#ck even a family member would do the trick

Best o Luck

Onthebus

I was in your position last year
Mid 30s, full licence, never insured on anything, bought a 2003 combo and got fully comp for 690 off FBD which will be 570 this year

To research costs just find some vans you might buy and phone an insurance co and tell them the year, mileage and value and see what they say

then you can start haggling and playing them off against one and other when you have bought what you want

make sure you tell them you wont be in dublin as I think outside of d'smoke is cheaper

let us know what happens