Getting ripped off on car insurance?

JoePie

So I'm renewing my car insurance for the first time.

I got my first insurance last year, 3rd party fire and theft in my own name. Was a learner driver, 24 and living in Dublin, driving a 2000 Nissan Micra. The honest-to-God best quote I could get was €1,370 from Asgard Insurance, through Chill.ie, so I took it.

It's up for renewal now, same car, same type of policy, only I'm 25 now, have my full license (less than a year), 1 year no claims and no penalty points. There's an immobilizer and an alarm on the car, haven't made an claims, and I park it in a garage. All the usual great things. My renewal came in the post and Asgard wanted it for €1,300, but Chill said the best quote they could get me is €811.06 with Aviva.

Granted, it's a large drop, but I still think I'm paying way over the odds. I have friends driving 5 and 6 years paying that for fully comp on sports cars and jeeps.

So I'm going to ring around a few places tomorrow, and outside the obvious insurance companies, is there anyone I should be looking to ring up from anyone's experience?

I'm pretty sure I could get lower again, or do these numbers seem right to everyone?

Wils110

Aviva are good...you do only have a years experience to remember oh and first ireland I think here called there on park gate street

beertons

I went with first ireland, thought they were the best. Got my parents, sister and wife to go through them too.

JoePie

Sorry, I forgot to say the lower quote Chill gave me was with Aviva.

I'll add First Ireland to the list so.

Q_ueeny

Sound about right. It being just your second year will be a major factor.

Besides big name companies just Google 'car insurance' you will be online all day long cuz there is so many. I always found Them expensive when ever I rang for a quote every year for the last 5.

Also try local brokers. Most are way over the odds but you may be surpized with a few!

challengemaster

I'm surprised you're paying that little tbh

longhalloween

Have you tried FBD? My third party quote was 500 quid. 23 yo male, full license with a 1 litre corsa.

qz

800-ish sounds pretty damn good for a driver in their second year. Bite their hand off. No point comparing yourself to your friends who are paying similar when they have 5+ years experience on you.

JoePie

I figured experience would be a big factor.

Yeah, my friends aren't the best comparison, but I'm so late to the driving game, they're all I have to go off.

How much would the value of the car factor into things? I feel like it should be a big factor. But I could be wrong.

Wils110

Back in the day 8 years ago lol insurance companies where taking up to 4 grand off young lads driving 1 litres I was one o them my insurance is only down to the 500 600 mark now value is nothing unless your into big big money

challengemaster

JoePie wrote: »

I figured experience would be a big factor.

Yeah, my friends aren't the best comparison, but I'm so late to the driving game, they're all I have to go off.

How much would the value of the car factor into things? I feel like it should be a big factor. But I could be wrong.

Not much.

The biggest factors are you've just got your license, and you only have 1 year experience. Your age is helping bring the price down.

I'd expect the usual price for someone in the same situation to be >1300.

Q_ueeny

JoePie wrote: »

I figured experience would be a big factor.

Yeah, my friends aren't the best comparison, but I'm so late to the driving game, they're all I have to go off.

How much would the value of the car factor into things? I feel like it should be a big factor. But I could be wrong.

At the end of the day your car is only worth book value to them so if you say the value of the car is €7000 and you write it off they will only give you the book value which may only be €1500. This isn't a big factor.

I have rang the same insurance company on two different occasions quoting a small and large value with all the other details the same and the quote was no different.

Juwwi

Try quotedevil.ie

if you are ringing any insurance brokers they will ask whats your quote at the moment tell them a bit lower than it is.

JoePie

Cheers all. I've got this list to ring so far tomorrow:

quotedevil.ie

first ireland

best quote

FBD

Aaran Insurances

quoteme.ie

bjp

I'll let you know how I get on if there's anything of note.

Oh, is there anything specific I should be telling them? Like, I assume I'll have to give them the basics: personal info, car info, etc. But is there anything else?

Our man in Havana

I wouldn't insure a wheelbarrow with aviva.

ABajaninCork

Why not call a broker? Let them do the work for you!

cletus

+1 for fbd. 2nd year driving, male, 32, and my insurance (3rd party) was €395

TonyStark

JoePie wrote: »

So I'm renewing my car insurance for the first time.

I got my first insurance last year, 3rd party fire and theft in my own name. Was a learner driver, 24 and living in Dublin, driving a 2000 Nissan Micra. The honest-to-God best quote I could get was €1,370 from Asgard Insurance, through Chill.ie, so I took it.

It's up for renewal now, same car, same type of policy, only I'm 25 now, have my full license (less than a year), 1 year no claims and no penalty points. There's an immobilizer and an alarm on the car, haven't made an claims, and I park it in a garage. All the usual great things. My renewal came in the post and Asgard wanted it for €1,300, but Chill said the best quote they could get me is €811.06 with Aviva.

Granted, it's a large drop, but I still think I'm paying way over the odds. I have friends driving 5 and 6 years paying that for fully comp on sports cars and jeeps.

So I'm going to ring around a few places tomorrow, and outside the obvious insurance companies, is there anyone I should be looking to ring up from anyone's experience?

I'm pretty sure I could get lower again, or do these numbers seem right to everyone?

Can you add a named driver to the insurance, someone with a full license. It will further reduce the premium.

djimi

JoePie wrote: »

Oh, is there anything specific I should be telling them? Like, I assume I'll have to give them the basics: personal info, car info, etc. But is there anything else?

They will ask all the relevant questions; you just answer as truthfully as you can!

For what its worth €800 would be considered to be a pretty good quote for someone who has a full license for less than a year, and who only has 1 years experience and NCB. But you should absolutely shop around, both this year and every renewal you ever get.

Best of luck!

djimi

TonyStark wrote: »

Can you add a named driver to the insurance, someone with a full license. It will further reduce the premium.

This doesnt always work (neither my mother or my sister made any difference to my premium) but its certainly worth a try.

TonyStark

djimi wrote: »

This doesnt always work (neither my mother or my sister made any difference to my premium) but its certainly worth a try.

I think they look on a girlfriend/wife/partner as more of a stabilizing influence .

MrDerp

I was just 26 when I got my license. I was a year older than you, but same story, 1 year of driving, newly licensed, and I'd just changed by car to a 1.4 focus, 3 years old and fully comp. Quinn (my then insurer) weren't offering much of a drop (I believe I had been 1150 TPFT and it went down to 900 for the fully comp on the new car.

You need to shop around, but don't discount your current insurer, they might just need a prod. I told them I'd a better quote and they undercut it at the time. Admittedly it was Quinn and they were being cowboys, but the principle still applies. I always give my insurer the opportunity to match. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. I ended up getting it for 625 euro.

One good thing to do is to actually put in your real phone number if you're getting an online quote. I did this at the time and I got a call back from AA telling me 'don't mind the online quote, the best I can offer you is 650'. Modern insurance companies, particularly those operating online, have an Operational Data Store which is recording information about how far people take quotes. This information is warehoused and gets plonked on telephone operators' desks as leads. If they see someone fill in all the information, they know you're not fishing for a car you don't have yet, etc, and they can see that you went all the way to the end of the quote, without buying. You've already rejected their initial offer and in some cases they'll come back to you with improved offer - if they are looking for people with your risk profile.

Also, if you have a girlfriend, or even a co-habiting girl in the house with a full Irish, stick them on your insurance. It can often bring down your quote.

From mid-twenties to 30 (a male) I have never got the best deal from any of Aviva, Axa - they always disappoint as they advertise heavily and I always find them more expensive by 100 euros or more. At 30 with 5 years no claims, I got under 500 quid for the first time with FBD, but their quotes were always risable beforehand.

My advice is to fill out all the online quotes that you can, giving full and accurate information including your phone number. They'll only ring if they intend to better the quote, but the downside is some will spam/call you every year at renewal subsequently. If you're still not happy, start systematically ringing the insurers. Also ring brokers that deal with insurers not operating directly in the market (e.g. RSA)

Pj!

qz wrote: »

800-ish sounds pretty damn good for a driver in their second year. Bite their hand off.

Don't bite anyone's hand off. The quote will wait. Do the sensible thing and get as many quotes as possible.

Try Tesco Insurance.

You might get a few quotes in a similar price bracket. Check the terms of cover of each before deciding to just opt for the cheapest.

Henry Ford III

Get all the quotes and it's impossible to be ripped off.

H3llR4iser

JoePie wrote: »

So I'm renewing my car insurance for the first time.

I got my first insurance last year, 3rd party fire and theft in my own name. Was a learner driver, 24 and living in Dublin, driving a 2000 Nissan Micra. The honest-to-God best quote I could get was €1,370 from Asgard Insurance, through Chill.ie, so I took it.

It's up for renewal now, same car, same type of policy, only I'm 25 now, have my full license (less than a year), 1 year no claims and no penalty points. There's an immobilizer and an alarm on the car, haven't made an claims, and I park it in a garage. All the usual great things. My renewal came in the post and Asgard wanted it for €1,300, but Chill said the best quote they could get me is €811.06 with Aviva.

Granted, it's a large drop, but I still think I'm paying way over the odds. I have friends driving 5 and 6 years paying that for fully comp on sports cars and jeeps.

So I'm going to ring around a few places tomorrow, and outside the obvious insurance companies, is there anyone I should be looking to ring up from anyone's experience?

I'm pretty sure I could get lower again, or do these numbers seem right to everyone?

32 here, driving license held for 14 years, however never insured in Ireland and paying 1200 for a 1.4 Renault whose sunroof leaks on my head. You just got your license and are gonna pay less, I don't see how you could be unhappy about it.

Besides, the year of your car is driving your price up - just like mine. Anything older than 10 years, insurances will put a premium because they're supposedly "dangerous vehicles". So what happened there is probably that the additional year added on your car offset the 1-year NCB bonus you earned.

Zascar

Strangely enough www.insuremyvan.ie has got me by far the cheapest quote on both my last 2 cars... A

Lawless2k12

Another +1 for FBD here. Although I'm not currently with them (I'm with AXA... not too bad but not the greatest), one of my friends was quoted, and accepted, €765 for a 1.9TDi Audi A4 with 2 years NCB with a claim against him 3 years ago. He's just turned 25 and it's only 3rd party but still pretty good considering the car. If they saw his driving however I doubt they would give him that price again. 130mph down an 80kmh stretch...

JoePie

I started with €811.34 to pay for third party fire and theft with breakdown assistance this morning, and here's what I got during my afternoon of phone calls:

quotedevil
€746 - Sertus

First Ireland
€840

BestQuote
€952

FBD
€600

Aaran Insurances
€688

Quoteme.ie
€797

BJP Insurances
€982

Brassingtons
€860 - Aviva

123.ie
€1,200

Tesco Insurance
€863

Nononsense.ie
€596

FBD originally offered me €630, but I would have to pay a large excess in the event of an accident with Nononsense, so I managed to charm FBD down to an even €600. Went with that. Delighted now. Third party fire and theft, 24hr breakdown assistance, and some other wonderful crap they were going on about on the phone.

So ends my struggle. For another year. Thanks all.

Juwwi

Well done joe

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

qz wrote: »

800-ish sounds pretty damn good for a driver in their second year. Bite their hand off. No point comparing yourself to your friends who are paying similar when they have 5+ years experience on you.

I have to disagree.

my first year was with asgard through Britton as recommended on here. first year was €2100 on a 07 civic with full license no experience. fully comp in own name only. 20 year old

this year second year all same except 1 year ncb and 1 year older.... renewal was €1800

priced around and best I got was FBD for €1, 200 and I told Britton that and they matched with asgard so I stayed with them

for the 2002 crv 21 year old no ncb with FBD 1, 400 on a 2 litre.

I really think the op could do a lot better here if they rang around a lot of places.

I think they should be able to get a better quote with the ncb on their side with those details.


best to call FBD and Britton and other brokers rather than online. but do online quotes anyway to see what they bring back and see who's riding ya

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

I probably should've read the thread first.

fair play op

djimi

Fair play; hard work is the only way to ensure that you get the best price!