insurance questions

thegreatiam

Im in my 30's and learning to drive.

Im looking around now to determine the costs. insurance seems to be out of this world tho.

I dont have a car at the moment so getting a quote is next to impossible.
what are the major criteria insurance companies will check through to determine the price.

What should i be looking for in a vehicle to get the lower costs?
auto vs manual.
petrol vs Diesel
1ltr-1.5ltr vs 1.6ltr -2ltr
how much a part does make play? are 2 cars of near exact spec going to differ much if one is a Skoda and the other is a Peugeot?

eg. Would there be much difference in insuring a 1.1 micra or a 1.2 fiesta for example. or a 1.8 mazda diesal or 1.8 bmw petrol?

Should I get the car first and then look for a quote? or find a cheap quote and shop according to that?

Is it possible for a new driver to get a fair price? I was just quoted 7k to insure a 1999 3 series automatic bmw which a friend is selling for under 1k. (fully comp, basic cover was 3.8k tho)

Of course i used search but insurance threads are plenty, if anyone knows a central resource for this please direct me. thanks.

djimi

Insurers love small engined cars from "safe" brands such as Focus, Micra etc. Id say anything over 1.4 will probably start costing a lot and steer clear of makes like Honda that will set alarm bells ringing. Forget about the likes of BMWs until you build up a NCB and pass your test.

I wouldnt buy the car until you know how much it will cost to insure, but go onto Donedeal, Carzone etc and find a few cars that you like and use those when getting quotes.

Youll get a fair price (relatively speaking) if you are realistic about what you are trying to insure.

Find a couple of cars that tickle your fancy, then get out the phone book and ring every insurer and broker you can find; this is the only way to ensure that you get a fair price. There are no shortcuts with this unfortunately.

marcus2000

It really depends on the insurer - some rate based on individual vehicles but some are less specific.

Its mostly common sense but there are some factors to look out for like Car Age and Car value.....old bangers may be cheap to buy, but they will be most likely be loaded.... the website below will give u a good indication of the car u shud go for.....

http://www.carinsurancegroups.co.uk/groups-list/

(name a mother/wife/gf with a full license on ur policy to get a further discount, though that will change for policies taken after Dec)

May be worth ur while going for a policy with an increased excess until you work up a bonus/get a full license....Nononsense or XSDirect.com

thegreatiam

marcus2000 wrote: »

May be worth ur while going for a policy with an increased excess until you work up a bonus/get a full license....Nononsense or XSDirect.com

that's a good tip, wouldn't have considered that, and the website is exactly what i needed. cheers

Alanstrainor

thegreatiam wrote: »

that's a good tip, wouldn't have considered that, and the website is exactly what i needed. cheers

I found XSDirect to be incredibly expensive when compared to other brokers for me. That was when I was 23 and looking for insurances on a 325ci, the quote was 3/4000, got a quote for a grand fully comp in the end.

djimi

XSDirect are fine as a last resort because by the sounds of it they will insure just about anyone on anything. Their prices are not good though and their policies are nonsense (up to €4k excess on some policies); they really are just the absolute bare minimum so you can get a legal piece of paper on your windscreen.

marcus2000

djimi wrote: »

XSDirect are fine as a last resort because by the sounds of it they will insure just about anyone on anything. Their prices are not good though and their policies are nonsense (up to €4k excess on some policies).

Actually their underwriting criteria is quite mainstream and their prices are competitive, if you are their target market. Their market are drivers who have no bonus/NCB or some performance cars. If you are not their target market, then they wont be competitive.

Their excess is 3k, which can be bought back to 1k.

thegreatiam

Alanstrainor wrote: »

got a quote for a grand fully comp in the end.

from...? XSDirect?

Alanstrainor

thegreatiam wrote: »

from...? XSDirect?

No, through a broker, god I can't remember, first quote?

The likes of First Ireland, Britton, are good too. Ring them, you'll get better quotes.

Del2005

djimi wrote: »

Find a couple of cars that tickle your fancy, then get out the phone book and ring every insurer and broker you can find; this is the only way to ensure that you get a fair price. There are no shortcuts with this unfortunately.

Just use online engines to get a rough cost of insurance for the cars you want. Then when you find something you like and have a reasonable online quote start ringing around.

It's a waste of money and time, for others aswel as the OP, calling up agents when they don't actually have anything to insure. The quote references more than likely won't be valid anyway as they won't have a reg number to give, so when they do buy a car they'll have to get a new quote.