Talk to me about insurance

[Jammez]

Hi Folks

This might seem like a strange question but what kind of insurance do I actually need?

I have multiple vehicles cars, bikes, van, old stuff and new stuff. I have various policies on them all fully comp (the main reason I go fully comp is the price difference is minimal) but other that if I'm being honest my knowledge of whether those policies are good/bad/useful is pretty limited. I've never had a claim in 20 odd years so my practical experience of how it works when you need to use the insurance is limited

I guess another way to put it is by comparing it to breakdown cover. I have AA cover that covers me, in any vehicle so I never bother to take out breakdown cover with any of my insurance policies.

Are there other things like this that I could be doing better, for example legal cover? Do you need this on all the policies? What if I have it on house insurance, is that enough?

It may be that this is a complex question and individual policies are so varied but are there some general things I should look at?

Make sense?

[akirk]

if you have 3 or more vehicles you might be better off looking at a private client policy / after all you don't need legal assistance x 6 etc.

[Aretnap]

Jammez said:

Are there other things like this that I could be doing better, for example legal cover? Do you need this on all the policies? What if I have it on house insurance, is that enough?

Legal expenses cover on home insurance generally excludes cover for claims relating to use of a motor vehicle - it's designed not to overlap with legal cover on a motor policy.

A standard legal cover bolt-on to a car insurance policy will normally only cover you for claims related to that car - so if you have multiple cars you'd need the bolt-on for all your policies.

However you can buy a stand-alone motor legal policy which covers you for claims relating to use of any car you drive - a quick Google turns up Driver Guardian as the first hit, who sell such a policy for £15/year. Can't comment on how good they are, but that's the sort of thing it might be worth looking into.

[anonymous-user]

I'd be talking to a decent broker TBH, your circumstances aren't typical so the usual market comparison sites won't be much help but there may well be specialist policies out there which better fit your needs.

[Old Merc]

charltjr said:

I'd be talking to a decent broker TBH, your circumstances aren't typical so the usual market comparison sites won't be much help but there may well be specialist policies out there which better fit your needs.

Yes,talk to a broker who`s on the ball.
I used to have a car repair business,when I retired I kept a reduced "Motor Trader Policy".My broker set it all up,"I`m freelance working from home,doing about 10hrs work a week". All my cars are fully comp,if I buy another all I do is email them the reg`(for mit)also this type of policy allows me to drive any car not belonging to me.
The thing is no matter how many cars you own you can only drive one at a time.

[Gavia]

Old Merc said:

Yes,talk to a broker who`s on the ball.
I used to have a car repair business,when I retired I kept a reduced "Motor Trader Policy".My broker set it all up,"I`m freelance working from home,doing about 10hrs work a week". All my cars are fully comp,if I buy another all I do is email them the reg`(for mit)also this type of policy allows me to drive any car not belonging to me.
The thing is no matter how many cars you own you can only drive one at a time.

But all of them can be stolen or go up in flames

[rayny]

Gavia said:

Old Merc said:

Yes,talk to a broker who`s on the ball.
I used to have a car repair business,when I retired I kept a reduced "Motor Trader Policy".My broker set it all up,"I`m freelance working from home,doing about 10hrs work a week". All my cars are fully comp,if I buy another all I do is email them the reg`(for mit)also this type of policy allows me to drive any car not belonging to me.
The thing is no matter how many cars you own you can only drive one at a time.

But all of them can be stolen or go up in flames

Or you could go nutso and drive 1 vehicle into a bus queue, then walk home to get the next vehicle to drive into a bus queue - Etc., Etc., until you have used up all of your vehicles. - Equally all of your vehicles could get stolen and driven into bus queues.

In these instances I refer to a number of people waiting for a bus, not a number of busses waiting to leave the depot.


But to answer the OP - You are not the typical insurance customer - Talk to a specialist, inter alia Footman James or Haggery

[Old Merc]

Gavia said:

Old Merc said:

Yes,talk to a broker who`s on the ball.
I used to have a car repair business,when I retired I kept a reduced "Motor Trader Policy".My broker set it all up,"I`m freelance working from home,doing about 10hrs work a week". All my cars are fully comp,if I buy another all I do is email them the reg`(for mit)also this type of policy allows me to drive any car not belonging to me.
The thing is no matter how many cars you own you can only drive one at a time.

But all of them can be stolen or go up in flames

OK, OK, silly of me to say that.We all know that every car must be fully covered no matter what.
The important point is to talk to a specialist broker who will arrange cover to suit your needs.

[Jammez]

Thanks for the info folks. I'm going to have a dig about and see what I can find broker wise and I'll try not to charge into any bus queues!