2nd Car insurance advice

[Storm 911]

Hi all, I was hoping for some advice.

I get the train into work (it takes 12 minutes instead 60+ minutes sitting in traffic). However, the car park near the station is a bit dodgy and my car has already been keyed once (bar-stewards).

I'm therefore looking at a second car, a complete snotter (£500-1000 budget) which I'll purely use to drive me the 2 miles to the station each day. There seems to be plenty of choice for reliable cars in that range (if you pick wisely) but the problem I'm having is insurance. I'm getting quotes over over £1400 which seems insane. My 911 way is cheaper to insure than that, so I'm really struggling to understand why the quotes are that high on an cheap old car which I'll barely be using.

I'm 32 years old, have no existing fines or claims, so I can't understand why it's so high.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation? Is there anything I can do to lower the price?

My guess is that it's due to me having no no claims on the second car. Would it be cheaper (and legal) if the car was listed in my dad's name and used his no-claims to insure it, but I was listed as the primary driver?

Any advice would be appreicated!

[chrisispringles]

Hit the phones, I'd be very surprised if you couldn't find anybody willing to match your NCB. Also look at slightly leftfield cars like old Volvos or Saabs, your bdget will get you a pretty smart example of either and they tend to be very cheap to insure.

[Chicane-UK]

Could you stick the 911 onto some kind of classic policy, or is it too new? I just insured my Corrado VR6 with Footman James with 3,000 miles a year limit but you neither apply nor earn any no claims bonus.

If so, you could then stick the normal policy onto the snotter...

Alternatively something like Admiral Multicar is probably going to be the only way!

[shep1001]

Its not the car or value its the fact it can still do the same damage if you crash it.

A snotter would still make the same mess of your Porka as if it was hit by something of value. Thats how the insurance company look at it. How about a bike/moped?

[Storm 911]

Thanks for the replies. I'll try adjusting the car to bring the price down, but to be honest I was expecting around £500 max to insure anyway, so I suspect a different car isn't going to bring it down that much.

I'm insured with Admiral currently, so it's their multicar policy I'm trying - I've called back to query something and they've now doubled the price to insure the Focus and increased the quote for my 911 by £700 - all in 10 minutes, and can offer no justification why. Well done Admiral, I suspect you've lost yourself a customer.

It's good news that some places may match my NCB. I guess I'll have to hit the phones. I just can't fathom why it's so high - I mean I can only drive one of the cars at once. Crazy.

[Storm 911]

Another thought, I can drive other cars under my insurance (third party cover), so there's no reason I couldn't drive my "Dad's" Focus is there? I suspect the premium would be much lower that way.

[Snowboy]

Check the policy.
My Broker told me a lot of insurers are changing their policies to only allow you to drive 'any other car' in an emergency or occasional situation.
If you use it to make a different car a daily drive then you won't be covered.

Also, if it is your 'Dads' Focus, you'll still need to make sure it's insured for him.

My suggestion would be to call around and find an insurer that will match your NCB, although it's till going to be a few hundred quid to insure any car.

[kpb]

I've just been through a similar process. I pulled the prices down by insuring the second car Third Party Fire and Theft on a low mileage policy, and stuck my wife on it too. Quotes for my snotter went down from £700 (fully comp) to just over £310. Surprisingly Third Party only quotes were significantly higher than TPF&T.

[Storm 911]

Thanks Snowboy - I'll double check my policy.

kpb - would you mind sharing what snotter you got and more importantly who you used to insure it?