Insurance question

[longblackcoat]

Can anyone explain why insurance for a four year old Mercedes GL420 was 20% cheaper than an eight year old Passat. Same insurance company, same drivers/location/level of cover.....everything.

The Passat's worth around an eighth of the Mercedes, and I'd have thought every risk factor would be higher for the Merc - it costs much more to repair, is significantly bigger, and has seven seats rather than five.

I checked (and insisted on rechecking with the underwriter) but was assured that the prices were correct. I wasn't stupid enough to turn them down, but I can't help thinking that they've made a mistake.

Anyone got any theories?

[marshalla]

VW drivers' claims profiles vs. Mercedes drivers' claims profiles.

[civicduty]

Mercedes a low risk as less have been involved in accidents compared to taxi type Passats? Where's Loon R1 when you need him?

[longblackcoat]

civicduty said:

Mercedes a low risk as less have been involved in accidents compared to taxi type Passats? Where's Loon R1 when you need him?

Fair point, but it seems very strange nonetheless.

[Tc24]

Number of possibilities:

- Higher claim rate for Passats
- Merc is newer and probably safer (for pedestrians and occupants) so reduces the insurer's exposure to injury claims
- You're changing the vehicle mid term and the rates have changed since you took the policy out (or as my insurance company seem to do, charge whatever the hell they want up until renewal as they pretty much have your balls in a vice)

Insurance rating, in particular motor insurance is a dark at at the best of times, mind!

[civicduty]

Tc24 said:

Insurance rating, in particular motor insurance is a dark at at the best of times, mind!

No this is a dark at at;

[Tc24]

civicduty said:

No this is a dark at at;

Genuinely laughed. I swear someone edited my post...

[ging84]

an 8 year old passat is a snotter, no one would be that upset if they crashed one, so people will drive it in a certain way

[vxr1]

What confuses me is that I can get insured on a 3.2 V6 Audi TT at 18 for £4000 while insurance for a 1.6T Corsa VXR is the same price. Also a 1.2 corsa would cost me around £2500-£3000. Then if I wanted to be insured on a BMW M3 or Vauxhall VXR8 for example, the insurance cost is £28,000 (cheapest quote I could get for both)
Also, I checked on insurance for a 3.2 Mercedes CLS and it would cost me £15000 to be insured, why so much more on that compared to the Audi TT?

[MitchT]

marshalla said:

VW drivers' claims profiles vs. Mercedes drivers' claims profiles.

Yes. This.

A more extreme example...

For me, 38 years old, maximum NCB...

155mph E36 BMW M3 worth £4k = £1,500/year
195mph Ferrari 512TR worth £70k+ = £750/year

Reason? The Ferrari isn't accessible to hoards of chavs and therefore large numbers of them aren't being being crashed spectacularly on council estates. It's all down to statistics.