insurance costs - what the hell is going on !!

[theboss]

I can't quite believe what I'm being quoted for insurance renewals and would be interested to know what anyone thinks - facts:

30 years old, male
E65 730d Sport worth maybe £14k
mileage 24k/annum split between business and leisure
No previous claims or convictions except 3 points pending for a minor speeding infringement
10 years NCB
Occupation 'company director'

I'm being quoted on average around the £1200 mark from a number of insurers and brokers, the absolute best I can get is about £975 with Tesco

This is up from £750 last year (with a higher insurance group car) and about £550 the year before that

Postcode is 'low risk' i.e. small rural market town with low crime

After doing some experimenting I've found I can get the premium down by about £200 if I add the wife as a named driver (she will never drive the car) however this is offset against the impending 3 points which add, on average, £200-250

I know premiums are being hiked steeply but it seems rediculous that I'm now paying more at 30 with 10yrs NCB than I did for my first car... and a 5 year old diesel 7-series isn't the sort of car you would associate with high insurance risk surely?

Does this sound at all normal and can anyone offer any recomenndations on companies?

[AndyNetwork]

In answer to your question - This sounds normal.

You want to drive, then bend over and prepare for an arse that is worse than after a night on the curry and dodgy beer, followed by a hot kabab, and then being reamed by the odd looking taxi driver on the way home!!!

[ZOLLAR]

theboss said:

Postcode is 'low risk' i.e. small rural market town with low crime

You may believe it's low risk but do the insurers share the same view?, crime isn't the main factor in rating an areas risk normal day to day accidents are.
So you could have one burglary a year in your area but if you have 5-6 accidents a month in the area then it may be a risk.

[eybic]

24k per year wont help either, that is double what they consider to be the norm.

[paulmon]

eybic said:

24k per year wont help either, that is double what they consider to be the norm.

Risk. You are 4 times as likely to have an accident than someone who does 6K miles. I know you probably dont think so but there has to be some kind of metric to help them mitigate that risk and number of miles is up there with post code.






I have no real knowledge of the motor insurance industry and I'm just repeating what I was told once by someone down the pub.

[Deva Link]

theboss said:

....can anyone offer any recomenndations on companies?

Try LV=, I pay £250 for my Merc with £100 x/s for business class 1, and that's with guaranteed NCB. Rural Cheshire location but I'm a bit older than you.

I have a feeling they don't like BMWs though!

[theboss]

Deva Link said:

I have a feeling they don't like BMWs though!

Thanks for the heads up... I am beginning to come to the same impression regarding BMWs! Strange though as I had no problems with a 530d when I was barely 23 (doing similar mileage) and a few other BMW's since then.

Will try LV and any other recommendations but I'm swiftly coming round to the idea that what I'm seeing is simply a reflection of price rises in general.

So its either bend over or switch to an econo-stbox

ETA LV quote = £1,458.25

Edited by theboss on Monday 28th November 15:37

[paulm3]

its the millage that is probably doing the worst damage...
could you 'squeeze' it down a bit ?? That would save £££

[theboss]

paulm3 said:

its the millage that is probably doing the worst damage...
could you 'squeeze' it down a bit ?? That would save £££

No, unfortunately the opposite applies, I dropped it to 18k on my current policy because I've been working nearer home, but am having to raise it because its inadequate... going over to the continent 3-4 times a year doesn't help...

[U T]

I would place a 7 series as high risk. Cost of parts must be pretty high. Even a minor knock is going to cost a lot to put right.

[mmm-five]

LV were about the same as my renewal quote last year, but had a higher windscreen excess (£175 vs £75).

This year they're cheaper than my renewal by about 30%, have the same high windscreen excess, but provide 3x the days of European cover.

Just under £1000 for a 40 year old, driving a Z4MC, business class 1 and parked on the drive in a Liverpool postcode.

[Deva Link]

theboss said:

ETA LV quote = £1,458.25

Hmmm.

I just opened an old comparison quote and changed my car to a 2005 730d Sport worth £13K. I'm a company director age 54. Put 24K miles total, 15K business. Wife is named driver. CH3 postcode.

Quotes started at £500 and there were loads of them in the £500's and low £600's.

Where does your postcode fit on here (don't know how precise this is, though): http://www.motorcarinsuranceuk.co.uk/post-code-rat...

ETA: I just went back to the page and I'd left the voluntary excess at £100 but every quote had a compulsory excess of at least £200 and many are £500.

Edited by Deva Link on Monday 28th November 16:47

[theboss]

Deva Link said:

Hmmm.

I just opened an old comparison quote and changed my car to a 2005 730d Sport worth £13K. I'm a company director age 54. Put 24K miles total, 15K business. Wife is named driver. CH3 postcode.

Quotes started at £500 and there were loads of them in the £500's and low £600's.

Where does your postcode fit on here (don't know how precise this is, though): http://www.motorcarinsuranceuk.co.uk/post-code-rat...

My postcode shows up as a 'B' - same as yours

Thats very interesting... how drastically does it change if you say you were born in 1981?

[ZOLLAR]

theboss said:

My postcode shows up as a 'B' - same as yours

Thats very interesting... how drastically does it change if you say you were born in 1981?

Have you tried to see what "Consultant" would be rather than "company director"?.

[Deva Link]

theboss said:

Thats very interesting... how drastically does it change if you say you were born in 1981?

Cheapest is Broker King (never heard of them) at £660 (£400 total x/s). Chaucer Direct at £702 (£300 x/s).

Cheapest recognisable name is Admiral at £835 (£150 x/s).

Clearly you need to get a bit older. What happens if you put 1957 as your date of birth?

Edited by Deva Link on Monday 28th November 17:01

[WreckedGecko]

Having sorted my insurance out today, I have been having similar conversations! They are going up, but aparently NCB is now far more important than age...

[theboss]

WreckedGecko said:

Having sorted my insurance out today, I have been having similar conversations! They are going up, but aparently NCB is now far more important than age...

That doesn't seem to be the case for me though - 10 years NCB but aged 30 and still sky high quotes?

My younger (!) brother, who has a fraction of the NCB, is paying less than half what I'm being quoted on a 450bhp RS2 (all modifications fully declared) and he similarly has 3 points thanks to a camera van. The difference is he's got it on a 6k/annum classic policy. So it would seem that high mileage and business use are what hammers the premium. I accept that the risk is proportionately higher because of these factors, it just grates that I've gone all through my 20's without a single incident and still costs are going up, up, up...

[Skylinecrazy]

theboss said:

Deva Link said:

I have a feeling they don't like BMWs though!

So its either bend over or switch to an econo-stbox

Why?

There are other cars that are not BMWs and interesting you know.

[jamiebae]

Just renewed the insurance on my wife's 500 and managed to get it cheaper than last year, only £230 fully comp with protected NCB! I bet my CRV shed costs twice that much

[Gwagon111]

Jeremy Kyle brigade + ambulance chasers = rocketing premiums.