Extras on Insurance

[MatthewTamea]

Hello!

I've just entered the 911 fold and am picking my 993 up tomorrow...can't wait. Anyway, I called my insurance to let them know and got the jobsworth from hell who wanted to know every last extra on the car. I'm lucky that the seller prepared a great resume of the car with all the details including the factory options and other upgrades that have been done. Mrs jobsworth extracted this information from me, which amounts to 17" cup alloys, hardbacked sports seats, air con, and a sunroof, and then proceeded to almost double the premium for having these items!!!

Has anyone else found this problem? I'm with Direct Line and have sung their praises for years as they've always been able to beat other insurers by MILES. I'm 32, 9years no claims, protected no claims bonus, no convictions, no accidents!!!

Cheers

Matt

[asm993]

Hi Matt
If you havent paid up yet then try Asset Trust - i got my 993 last week and their price is amazingly low.
Extras and stuff were all fine with these guys.

[Adam B]

some companies are anal about extras (elephant really extract the urine by getting you to declare them all increasin gyour premium but NOT insuring them!)

go for someone like LV who don't even ask as long as they are factory fit extras

[magriggs]

Adam B said:

elephant really extract the urine

Is that "elephant dot co, dot uk, that's elephant dot co dot uk"?

The adverts alone are enough to ensure I'll never, ever buy insurance from them. The laughable prices are also a factor.

[MatthewTamea]

Cheers - just sent something off to Asset Trust. LV are actually one of our clients so might be able to wiggle in there. I heard something about big hikes in premiums this year with them though so hadn't tried them.

[Adam B]

their quotes are OK - just have to read the samll print

mind you my £800 986S got a renewal quote of £1700 after one year and one minor no-fault claim !!

[gmk666]

That's unlucky. Directline do load quite heavily for modifications though. I use them and the declared optional 18" wheels on my old 996 affected my premium so much that when I swapped over to my 997 (ie. valued at around £30k more) I actually got some money back. I can laugh about it now...

[Neil C]

Hi,

I'm also about to take the plunge into the world of Porsche ownership and should be picking up my 993 on Friday / Saturday.

I've been getting quotes today and the cheapest was Adrian Flux by about £100 less than the next two (Privilege & Direct Line). Can someone clarify the situation on what counts as modifications and what doesn't as I've always been under the impression that they only want to know if you have anything on the car "that deviates from the manufacturers original specification". Meaning Cup or Turbo alloys and hard backed seats are ok, but a K&N filter and a Halfords / Ripspeed ironing board spoiler aren't.

[sundiver]

AON's worth a try - they've always had a realistic attitude to modifications for me in the past...

[runner911]

I'm with Norwich Union Direct for my 1996 993 Carrera 4.
Fully Comp. Protected NCB, unlimited mileage, wife and I as named drivers, no track day cover , £24 extra for having 18" slpit rims, £500 excess, total premium £467 .
No recent points or claims other than for windscreen in Sept. last .
I live in Plymouth.

[Neil C]

runner911 said:

I'm with Norwich Union Direct for my 1996 993 Carrera 4. Fully Comp. Protected NCB, unlimited mileage, wife and I as named drivers, no track day cover , £24 extra for having 18" slpit rims, £500 excess, total premium £467 . No recent points or claims other than for windscreen in Sept. last . I live in Plymouth.

I just tried them both via the web & over the phone to see how the two compared. My car is also a 1996 Carrera 4, 5,000 miles a year, no claims or convictions and they wanted £887 on the web or £1315 over the phone. Ouch! Adrian Flux said £680.

They also said that anything that's factory fit i.e. the 18" turbo wheels and sports seats don't have to be declared.

[Adam B]

Neil C said:

I've always been under the impression that they only want to know if you have anything on the car "that deviates from the manufacturers original specification".

be careful - some insurers class "original" as "standard" not "factory fitted"

there is no hard rule so make sure you ask each of them

[gmk666]

What AdamB said. I argued for about 20 minutes about the 18" sport designs being a factory fitted option, but to no avail. If they 'increase the desirability of the car', they charge you for it.

So, any luck in reducing it yet?


>> Edited by gmk666 on Tuesday 15th November 14:53

[Adam B]

gmk666 said:

If they 'increase the desirability of the car', they charge you for it.

and I can see their point with nice wheels but heated seats? extra leather? xenons? sports exhaust which offers no extra bhp? footwell lights?

gets a little bit farcical

[MatthewTamea]

The guy I bought the car off is with Norwich Union - he was able to haggle quite well with them apparently, even getting his audi on with full no claims if they took the porsche on. Sounds good. I've had no luck with them in the past but might be worth another look I guess

[monkfish2]

Try Carole Nash, I used them for my 944 turbo for years and they were the only one who would let me leave the car on the drive - the others would void cover if the car was nicked from the drive. They also were not worried about a set of cup wheels - performance exhaust etc, but any more serious tuning mods they would want to know.

Andy

[Neil C]

Adam B said:

Neil C said: I've always been under the impression that they only want to know if you have anything on the car "that deviates from the manufacturers original specification". be careful - some insurers class "original" as "standard" not "factory fitted" there is no hard rule so make sure you ask each of them

I called Adrian Flux to buy their insurance as they were the cheapest and surprise surprise it went up. Apparently if you've never driven a Porsche before you are clearly an incompetent driver and unable to handle the power of a Porsche so they load their premium accordingly. I could understand it if I was 18 and had been driving a Metro 1 ltr for the last year but I've been driving for 14 years, last car an Audi A6 2.8 Quattro. OK no scorcher but no slouch either. I'm sure the extra power is a reasonable step up and not the same as going from a 60 bhp 1ltr to 285 bhp in one jump.

[paultje]

I've got my 993 thru' Norton Insurance. All they have required in the past is photograghs of the car...and digital ones at that! It's worth a try!

[Adam B]

well have just spent the most annoying half hour of my life on the phone to NU to sort out insurance on the other half's new Polo

could not understand a word he said, his DD quote did not ad up, he couldn't explain the difference between std and voluntary excess etc etc

In the end I gave up and said just send me the paperwork and I'll check that - hope there is a satisfaction survey in there

Indian call centres are the pits

[silver993tt]

I dumped NU last year because of the Indian call centres that they use. I'm was a share holder and a customer for about 10 years. I expected to be informeded when they moved a significant part of their operation abroad. They also put my premium up by 40% for no reason whatsoever. The very least I expected was that my insurance premium would be reduced if they are saving around 57% on their costs. Basically, they are making massive margins and passing none of the savings onto their customers.


I am no longer one of their customers