AA guarantees to beat your car insurance renewal quote

Kashkai

I used to have my car insurance with the AA but switched to 123.ie last year as they were over €70 cheaper than the AA. However, I received a letter from the AA today (as they know from their records that my car insurance is up for renewal soon) stating that they will guarantee to beat my current insurer's quote no matter what it is. The only condition is that it must be like for like, i.e. they will quote for comprehensive if you have comprehensive insurance or 3rd party for 3rd part etc. If you haven't gotten a similar letter, ring them anyways and see if they'll beat your own insurance quote - "they guarantee to do it". They must be desparate for business but this is just another of those silver linings that has come with the recession.

wmpdd3

My insurance is €210 fully comp with full no claims protaction with Tesco,
Closest AA came to it last year was €410 so I'd love to see what they can do for my this year!!

PS if they do lower their quote to meet my old 1 then no way should anybody accept an original quote form any company.

raviravi

My insurance was up on Sat was with AA got my renewal notice quoted 389, rang and they said the best they could do was 369 so I shopped around a bit more 123 quoted 250 + 40 admin charge total 290 rang aa to tell them I was switching as i had a better quote they then said they would do it for 280 so i asked why i wasnt given that quote when i had originally asked them got a bit of a cock and bull story but told them as they were prepared to charge me 89 more the previous week and werent prepared to give me that quote when i asked i told them they could quote me again next year and they were now losing my aa membership as well cos 123 included home start also, so the motto is shop around and shop around again!!!!

kippy

Cheers for the heads up re the aa.

Everyone else, standard practice with any annual insurance product it to shop around.
Kippy

Keano

Shame I paid my last week

Still managed to save money though by shopping around.

Davy

Ive always found the AA a good bit more expensive than my cheapest quote. I just renewed this week, wonder if i rang would they beat it

pirelli

raviravi wrote: »

My insurance was up on Sat was with AA got my renewal notice quoted 389, rang and they said the best they could do was 369 so I shopped around a bit more 123 quoted 250 + 40 admin charge total 290 rang aa to tell them I was switching as i had a better quote they then said they would do it for 280 so i asked why i wasnt given that quote when i had originally asked them got a bit of a cock and bull story but told them as they were prepared to charge me 89 more the previous week and werent prepared to give me that quote when i asked i told them they could quote me again next year and they were now losing my aa membership as well cos 123 included home start also, so the motto is shop around and shop around again!!!!

In one word ungrateful.

bcloh

I always found AA expensive, but this year I rang them and took about 250 off my renewal with another company. This included AA membership!!!!

Barty

pirelli wrote: »

In one word ungrateful.

I don't understand what you mean here Pirelli?

I think everyone should make a couple of calls to other insurance companies when they get a renewal quote for insurance, be it car, house or health insurance. It only takes a couple of minutes to make the calls and could end up saving you alot of money

wcarey1975

Barty wrote: »

I don't understand what you mean here Pirelli?

I think everyone should make a couple of calls to other insurance companies when they get a renewal quote for insurance, be it car, house or health insurance. It only takes a couple of minutes to make the calls and could end up saving you alot of money

I think he meant that they did what he wanted and he still didnt stay with them.

Barty

wcarey1975 wrote: »

I think he meant that they did what he wanted and he still didnt stay with them.

I thought that's what he meant but I think Raviravi was right not to go with the AA. The AA initially said they couldn't provide a cheaper quote but then once Raviravi said they were going to go with the 123 quote the AA dropped their quote. It's like you have to haggle with the insurance company!

Anyhow, I don't want to go OT here - I think it just shows that shopping around is always beneficial and I don't understand why some people don't take the time to shop around

Kashkai

Shopping round is the only way to go but a word to the wise, 123.ie (who I'm with) have a practice of giving you a cut price deal in the first year to get your business and then upping the price quite substantially the following year. My renewal with them went up by €100 and when I hadn't renewed the policy by a day before it was due, they called me and said they had just managed to give me insurance at last year's price. I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't have refunded the €100 if I had renewed with them earlier.

I suppose the moral of the story is don't be loyal to any company but only to yourself so shop around and don't be afraid to move insurance company like so many are (I only managed to get my Dad to move his insurance last year when I told him I wouldn't renew it for him on my credit card unless he shopped round - I ended up shopping round for him and saved him €130)

Oracle

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

Shopping round is the only way to go but a word to the wise, 123.ie (who I'm with) have a practice of giving you a cut price deal in the first year to get your business and then upping the price quite substantially the following year. My renewal with them went up by €100 and when I hadn't renewed the policy by a day before it was due, they called me and said they had just managed to give me insurance at last year's price. I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't have refunded the €100 if I had renewed with them earlier.

I suppose the moral of the story is don't be loyal to any company but only to yourself so shop around and don't be afraid to move insurance company like so many are (I only managed to get my Dad to move his insurance last year when I told him I wouldn't renew it for him on my credit card unless he shopped round - I ended up shopping round for him and saved him €130)

Very good post, I agree. Just to let everyone know the AA do exactly the same. They quoted me double the premium at renewal that I got online myself. The moral of the story is, there is no substitute for shopping around for quotes before every renewal. I have almost always managed to find a cheaper quote everytime.

raviravi

pirelli wrote: »

In one word ungrateful.

definition of ungrateful = Not feeling or exhibiting gratitude, thanks, or appreciation.

At all time when i was talking with the rep i was thankful, and expressed gratitude and also acknowledged that they were only doing what they were instructed to but as i said i rang them to say i was not renewing isnt that courtesy as well i was expressing. We do live in a democracy and also one where we have a choice and when you are saving on the insurance plus the cost of the aa cover for the year i think i was doing my bit for the recession, yes it think what i saved will cover a weekend away......

Oral Slang

I should have rung the AA this year so. I always ring around though, because every year, whoever I'm with puts up my premium, I ring around and usually get it a bit cheaper than the year before.

Paid €346 this year fully comp with no stepback (ie I wont lose any no-claims bonus if I have an accident). For anyone that has step back, they should price getting rid of it. Usually only €20 more or something for your premium, but it saves you in the long run if you're in a crash..

Hatchet

I've a feeling the AA are losing alot of 'Normal' business these days as most other insurers are offering 'free' breakdown cover with their policies..... The AA will have to start dropping their premiums if they want to keep up...

Speaking of renewals... got my renewal quote from my current insurer last week, €100 up on last year (taxes was the excuse)?? Rang them, said I wanted to add my girlfriend as a named driver.... ended up getting the renewal for €400 less than the original renewal quote :eek: In case anyone doesnt know, most companies give you substantial discounts ;

1) If your mileage is less than 10k per year.
2) If named driver has own insurance and their car has same engine size as yours!!

These were the reasons I was given when I asked why there was such a difference in my quotes. I was dubious of number two, but tbh I dont care as long as I save some money... hope that helps somebody

pissed

I got my renewal today from insure.ie. Was €330 last year fully comp and this year went to €405 fully comp. Rang them and they gave me some sad story about the insurance companies hitting them hard etc. I pointed out it was cheaper last year and I have since moved my second car and the house insurance to them. After 3 mins waiting on the phone they dropped to €365. I must give AA a ring now and see how they compare.

gaillimhabu

Oral Slang wrote: »

I should have rung the AA this year so. I always ring around though, because every year, whoever I'm with puts up my premium, I ring around and usually get it a bit cheaper than the year before.

Paid €346 this year fully comp with no stepback (ie I wont lose any no-claims bonus if I have an accident). For anyone that has step back, they should price getting rid of it. Usually only €20 more or something for your premium, but it saves you in the long run if you're in a crash..

Having stepback protection means your no claims will stepback if you have an accident i.e. 4 -> 2. I think you are saying the opposite

Our man in Havana

Stepback is often not recognised by other insurers. So if you try and change you will be told you have no NCB.

gaz wac

They sent the same letter to me....it was nearly double the quote of other companies, so I said " I thought you could guarntee a cheaper quote"? responce...."no, we cant" !!! my insurance was slighty higher this year as well , even after shopping around, got the same story " people no longer have two car's or are just getting rid of their everyday car as they cant afford it so the Ins Com have to recoup the cost from other costumers"

:rolleyes:

Our man in Havana

For the record, the AA have never ever been able to come close to what I am paying at the moment. Just rang them there for the craic and they still are not at the races.

justomc

anyone ever try chill.ie ?

havent heard of some of the companies they pull quotes from but they were by far and away the cheapest ive found savings of up to 50 % on other quotes I had !

Rev. Kitchen

I got a renewal quote of 540 went on to AA website enterred the info it gave me a quote of 580 so i didnt go with them, They rang me today then and quoted be 520. i said it was still bigger than what i had been quoted . They asked if i wanted to put a name driver on that it would give me a discount if i did so i put the missus on it and it dropped to 420 !!.

nava

Does anyone know about Road Side Assistance? most other insurance give it for free when taking Fully Comp, I don't think AA will beat the other and include free road Assistance

Our man in Havana

AA charge 130 a year for roadside assistance.

Rev. Kitchen

nava wrote: »

Does anyone know about Road Side Assistance? most other insurance give it for free when taking Fully Comp, I don't think AA will beat the other and include free road Assistance

Bond-007 wrote: »

AA charge 130 a year for roadside assistance.

It costs 130 but if you take out a policy with them they discount it to 69.

Our man in Havana

That is big of them.

nava

Rev. Kitchen wrote: »

It costs 130 but if you take out a policy with them they discount it to 69.

I have to renew next month but I think I will stay with Fbd as I get the Road side assistance, only needed it once in my case over the last couple of years.

sdanseo

Well FWIW I couldn't get through to their call centre at 5.05pm on a Thursday so they obviously don't want the business. Also, their online engine gave me a quote of €2200 or €2400 - Quinn have offered to renew for €1223. Wow.

(1yr noclaims, Full Lic 7months, 20, M)

Kashkai

Well I finally got round to ringing the AA to see if they'd beat the quote that I got from 123.ie of €313. The AA quoted €383 so I asked them about the "guarantee to beat my quote". They went on how it must be a like for like quote so I told them it was, i.e. fully comp, full ncb protection etc so the AA girl put me on hold and came back after about 4 minutes and said they'd do it for €303. Amazing how they could knock €80 off like that but hey it was a good deal so I took it.

nava

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

Well I finally got round to ringing the AA to see if they'd beat the quote that I got from 123.ie of €313. The AA quoted €383 so I asked them about the "guarantee to beat my quote". They went on how it must be a like for like quote so I told them it was, i.e. fully comp, full ncb protection etc so the AA girl put me on hold and came back after about 4 minutes and said they'd do it for €303. Amazing how they could knock €80 off like that but hey it was a good deal so I took it.

When I did a quote the other with 123.ie it also included the recovery service with Fully Comp, did they include any type of recovery service with AA?