Which car insurance?

tech77

Hi.
My Hibernian car insurance has just jumped from 650 up to 700.
This is despite me getting rid of 2 points on my licence in the past year.

Why is this?
My details are:
31 years old- driving for over 10 years.
Full licence for about 10 years.
1.5l car.
9 year no claims bonus/no accidents.
3rd party fire and theft.
Windscreen cover.
Some NCD protection/step-back thing.
Breakdown cover.
Got rid of 2 penalty points last year.

Is this worth 700 or should i try someone else.
Who are good for 3rd party, fire and theft?

Just want the minimum at this stage:
3rd party, fire, theft.
Windscreen cover.
Breakdown cover.
How much should i be looking at?
Any help appreciated.
Thanks.

gogo

Hi,

Try chill.ie, i got a quote 200 euros cheaper than what quinn direct quote me. My oh got 150 of his. 700 does seem a bit steep.

tech77

Thanks.
Do they do breakdown and windscreen cover do you know?

BanjoSpanner

Hi Tech.

Insurances in general went up this year. I've got a motor policy and so does my wife. Also we've got 2 house insurance policies and all of them took a hike this year.

However, when the renewal notices landed on my doormat I got on the internet and rang around for other prices. On one occasion another insurance company quoted less so I got on the phone to my existing insurer and queried the hikes. I told them I could get it cheaper somewhere else and it ended up that with all my policies the renewal premium this year was dropped back to last years prices.

Try that first. Generally they'd rather cut the price a bit rather than loose the business altogether. Just make sure when you're on the phone that you make the right noises at them, like you've already made the decision to move company but you're only making this call to satisfy your curiosity about why the price increased !

tech77

BanjoSpanner wrote: »

Hi Tech.

Insurances in general went up this year. I've got a motor policy and so does my wife. Also we've got 2 house insurance policies and all of them took a hike this year.

However, when the renewal notices landed on my doormat I got on the internet and rang around for other prices. On one occasion another insurance company quoted less so I got on the phone to my existing insurer and queried the hikes. I told them I could get it cheaper somewhere else and it ended up that with all my policies the renewal premium this year was dropped back to last years prices.

Try that first. Generally they'd rather cut the price a bit rather than loose the business altogether. Just make sure when you're on the phone that you make the right noises at them, like you've already made the decision to move company but you're only making this call to satisfy your curiosity about why the price increased !

Thanks.
I've actually rung around and i can get similar insurance elsewhere for about half the price. Never fully realised until now that i was actually being ripped off.

So unless they're prepared to knock 350 off the price I'll be (politely ) telling them to fcuk themselves.
I'm kicking myself just finding out about the better deals now after shelling out in the last few years.

brettmirl

Worth having a read of this - http://www.valueireland.com/2008/10/top-tips-for-cheaper-car-insurance/

samhail

its always worth ringing around... where did you get a cheaper quote ? do tell !

BanjoSpanner

tech77 wrote: »

Never fully realised until now that i was actually being ripped off.

I'm an ex-insurance company employee, and can tell you that their actuaries look at the insurance company's pot of business as a whole and determine the sum total of revenue the company needs or wants in a year. It's all based on various statistics such as the level of risk on their books, market conditions, profit targets and many more things.

They then start off by moving the price of all policies in one direction or another to achieve the overall number the actuaries came up with. However, the actuaries are scientists and not let out in public that often .... it's the business leaders in the company who make the decisions as to how the revenue target will be achieved. They are open to moving things around somewhat .... such as leaving one policy alone and achieving their targets from all the others.

Why would they leave one policy alone ? Because the policy holder looked like he/she was about to walk away somewhere else and they'd have lost all that business. You'd be amazed how many people out there don't even look at their premium with a pair of critical eyes and stand up for themselves. The result is they've become part of the overall plan of the insurance company, and they leak a little more cash out of their pocket to make up the companys new target for the year.

So it is a case of being ripped off in one way - your risk to the company hasn't increased but still they are charging you more than last year for the same thing. However insurance is one case where you don't have to be ripped off, you've got some control over it in that you can call them up and tell them what they can do with their policy. As I've said they'd rather get the same money out of you this year as last year, rather than get nothing at all for the sake of an increase this year. They will say ok have last years price, unfortunately some other policy holder on their books will end up paying their own increase plus now a bit of yours as well ! But that's their problem in my view .... through their own inertia they are making a mug out of themselves.

tech77

samhail wrote: »

its always worth ringing around... where did you get a cheaper quote ? do tell !

123.ie
Just need to look at the small print before committing.
Might look at others as well though first.

the_syco

OP, you don't say if you're male or female? I ask as some insurers offer better prices if you're a woman.