Fully comp?

Fully comp is most likely the cheaper option as they offer a curtesy car which they try hard to get you to take which most do and this is where the insurance companies are on to a scam! They are in with the hire companies and between them make huge sums of money many thousands and thousands more than the insured value of your car. A pal of mine over a year ago now had his 2002 BMW 330i sport hit up the back. He had spent a lot on the car giving it new suspension parts bushes etc so it drove like a new car. They only paid out £1800 for the car which was close to mint but high mileage yet the curtesy car charges were £27,000. Yep £27K They gave him a big plush 4x4 which he had for 6 months, they were in no hurry to take it back despite him asking on several occasions they replying were waiting on settlement from the lorry drivers insurance company. ? But don't tell anyone........

In fact we should all shout it out to our Mps about this scam, ultimately we are all paying higher premiums for this.


It wouldn't have made a difference which insurance cover he had. A claims management company will push for you to have a courtesy car if it is likely that you are not to blame for the accident and any charges to be re claimed from the other parties insurer. This in itself could be problematic if the other insurer disputes the charges or the other party is not deemed to be fully at fault.
 
It wouldn't have made a difference which insurance cover he had. A claims management company will push for you to have a courtesy car if it is likely that you are not to blame for the accident and any charges to be re claimed from the other parties insurer. This in itself could be problematic if the other insurer disputes the charges or the other party is not deemed to be fully at fault.
Someone reversed into my merc a couple of years ago and hit the front corner, the damage was a pushed in headlight, a slight protrusion on the front wing and a minor scuff on the bumper. In my opinion I could have had that done at a cost of around £500 and a weeks worth of work. With other party admitting fault straight away (I was lucky) their insurance company handled it all (works to be completed at their authorised garage, equivalent courtesy car etc). In the end it took 5 weeks, not sure what they were doing, the courtesy car bill for a 530d was £1200 and whilst it didn’t concern me as I wasn’t paying my biggest concern when I asked for a works completed list was things like replacement headlight and two body panels sprayed and the bill to the insurance company was £3k! When I got the car back the headlight wasn’t changed as they had minor stone chips and the same tar spots were on one panel they they claimed to have sprayed therefore fictitious items on the bill.

Whilst I can’t really prove anything and the car came back perfect (to my very high standard) all of this adds to the cost of insurance due to less than honest companies charging works back to insurance companies. I hate this lack of honesty and integrity which is ultimately adding to the cost of everyone’s insurance.

I’ll get off my soap box now!
 
It wouldn't have made a difference which insurance cover he had. A claims management company will push for you to have a courtesy car if it is likely that you are not to blame for the accident and any charges to be re claimed from the other parties insurer. This in itself could be problematic if the other insurer disputes the charges or the other party is not deemed to be fully at fault.

But you get my point, the whole industry is no better than a mafioso scam, people in dark rooms scheming how to make insurance into a gravy train. It's neither honest or honourable behaviour but downright legalised extortionism.

My pal was sitting stationary in a que when the lorry hit him from behind - pretty clear cut as they say!

Jeetesh - stay on the soap box! ?
 
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It's about time the insurance companies were investigated like the banks were.
They seem to have got to the point where nothing is clear cut anymore.

I'm sure i heard grumblings from the Conservatives a couple of years ago to investigate the insurance industry unless they played ball over some recent disaster here in the UK, ie flooding,...... i can't remember exactly but it was said. The people of this country at the moment have real power for a change so it's incumbent on all of us to lobby our Mps about these insurance scams.
 
Fully comp is most likely the cheaper option as they offer a curtesy car which they try hard to get you to take which most do and this is where the insurance companies are on to a scam! They are in with the hire companies and between them make huge sums of money many thousands and thousands more than the insured value of your car. A pal of mine over a year ago now had his 2002 BMW 330i sport hit up the back. He had spent a lot on the car giving it new suspension parts bushes etc so it drove like a new car. They only paid out £1800 for the car which was close to mint but high mileage yet the curtesy car charges were £27,000. Yep £27K They gave him a big plush 4x4 which he had for 6 months, they were in no hurry to take it back despite him asking on several occasions they replying were waiting on settlement from the lorry drivers insurance company. ? But don't tell anyone........

In fact we should all shout it out to our Mps about this scam, ultimately we are all paying higher premiums for this.

I would suspect a claims management company was involved. In my (thankfully limited) experience they rack up the courtesy car charges, not the insurance company.

Andrew
 
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I would suspect a claims management company was involved. In my (thankfullyimited) experience they rack up the courtesy car charges, not the insurance company.

Andrew

Quite possibly, but it still doesn't add up. You'd have thought the insurance company would speed things up to mitigate against such high costs which we are all picking up the tab for.
 
Seem to remember that LV offer no windscreen cover on third party. That's why I chose fully comp. my problem is that I have very little no claims discount for the A2 my second car so one of my biggest expenses is car insurance . That's why I may reduce to one car and keep my A4.
 
Clearly I’m not their target market as they wanted £1400 from me. This however is probably as I have only got 1 year no claims on my A2 (second car) as all my no claims bonus is on my merc where I actually need it. I look forward to the day that I have 65-70% off rather than 10% off a £400 insurance policy.
When we I bought our A2 it was the first time in a number of years that we had two cars, so I had to insure with zero no claims, the difference that made against max was £18 on a £240 policy.
 
When we I bought our A2 it was the first time in a number of years that we had two cars, so I had to insure with zero no claims, the difference that made against max was £18 on a £240 policy.
You did pretty well to get a £240 policy with no no claims bonus. Did you get an introductory no claims bonus as the second car? Was it a multi car or individual policy?
 
You did pretty well to get a £240 policy with no no claims bonus. Did you get an introductory no claims bonus as the second car? Was it a multi car or individual policy?
I used Moneysupermarket Dial Direct came, out cheapest, no offers or allowances. One thing I noticed when I compared prices with and without no claims the top 5 companies were totally different.
 
I used Moneysupermarket Dial Direct came, out cheapest, no offers or allowances. One thing I noticed when I compared prices with and without no claims the top 5 companies were totally different.
It’s an odd one are insurance comparison sites. They are an extra route to market for insurers and they get paid via pay per click and through commissions. They even get kickbacks from volume sales. If they need to get to a certain volume they can reduce premiums in the same way brokers can. You can get two different prices from the same broker by getting quotes at different times of the month.

With/without no claims - different insurers insure different percentages with full no claims usually between 60-80% however can be irrelevant depending on premium. The theory goes that 80% discount on a £2k policy results in £400 premium. However a 60% discount on a £1k premium is also £400. It’s all back to the actuarial calculations for each insurance company. There is usually a minimum whereby the insurer will charge to cover admin costs which is why you had a £18 difference between full and non no claims. It’s all smoke and mirrors and there isn't a level set of rules that everyone works to and therefore no transparency. All you can go on is the premium.
 
I remember seeing some calculations on a quote many years ago where there was a part of the total premium that was rated on the postcode and another that was rated on me as the driver. My no-claims bonus applied to that part only.

Whatever calculations they use, it's never going to work in your favour. Best you can do is pay as little as you can, drive safely and hope that in the event of a claim it's only going to be the other party at fault, and get it all sorted out directly by their insurance.
 
Quite possibly, but it still doesn't add up. You'd have thought the insurance company would speed things up to mitigate against such high costs which we are all picking up the tab for.
In my single experience it doesn’t work like that. Everyone is playing with other people’s money, so nobody cares.
The worst of it is, it was my local Audi main dealer who introduced me to, and promoted, the claim management company. Up to that point I was planning to go via my own insurer.
Pigs, troughs, snouts, ...
 
One important fact we are overlooking is the claims handling service offered by various company's. Best by far is NFU who don't quibble on giving the best possible valuation in the case of a write off. They are of course the most expensive but have local offices. I was pleasantly surprised by LV when I had to claim , it went like clockwork . They offer 5% multi product and by joining Boundless ( was CSMA ) another 5%. They do really well in the Which satisfaction rating too!
 
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