I see why people don't insure their cars now

[otolith]

donkmeister said:

Countdown said:

caziques said:

Bit drastic, but consider moving to New Zealand - where insurance isn't compulsory.

All personal injuries are automatically covered by the Accident Compensation Corporation, hence insurance only covers hardware.

I generally don't bother these days.

Doesn't that basically mean that compensation claims are paid out of general taxation, regardless of a person's driving experience/history or even whether or not they drive?

Some years ago I recall a kiwi friend of my parents explaining this system; the cost of basic third party insurance is added on to the cost of fuel, so only road users are paying in, and proportionately to the distance they drive, size of vehicle and how much they hoon (broadly).
Basically it was a result of too many shirkers not paying their way, but really a good idea for the majority of drivers as comprehensive insurance costs go down and fewer people hit and run.
I think road fund is built in too...

Risk pricing of insurance does, however, have the advantage of incentivising drivers to reduce their risks. Also, while dealing with insurance companies after an accident can be a pain in the arse, dealing with government bureaucracy is usually worse.

[swagmeister]

wilksy61 said:

I had a Hyundai i40 Blue Estate (diesel) and changed it for a Mustang, insurance was £283 for the Hyundai and £403 for the Mustang, so based on that i would say that your premium does look at little high.

Never read so much garbage in my life. How on earth do you know his premium looks high ? Do you know his . . .
Postcode
Occupation
Claims
Convictions
Additional Drivers
Claim History
etc
etc etc

[Jonny TVR]

dreamcracker said:

Buy a cheaper and slower car then.
Problem solved.

This

[irocfan]

'amusingly' one ins company wanted to charge me nearly the same for a stbox 1.2 clio as my SLK55 (I'm paying £280 f/c)

[Hoofy]

What has changed if it's now about £150 more than last year??

Mine's up a few quid due to some bellends crashing into the back of it while it was parked carefully in a suitable marked bay. 3 people have driven into the back of me in 2018. The first was a woman on her phone but it was so slow that it barely made a mark, the others required work to fix cracks, scrapes and the sensors.

[J4CKO]

How is it you see young chaps in some sketch areas and city centres driving supercars and fast Audis etc, always amazes me that as it must be like the jackpot on a fruit machine on the quote when an M postcode, R8 V10 and a 21 year old are entered as criteria.

[Court_S]

swagmeister said:

wilksy61 said:

I had a Hyundai i40 Blue Estate (diesel) and changed it for a Mustang, insurance was £283 for the Hyundai and £403 for the Mustang, so based on that i would say that your premium does look at little high.

Never read so much garbage in my life. How on earth do you know his premium looks high ? Do you know his . . .
Postcode
Occupation
Claims
Convictions
Additional Drivers
Claim History
etc
etc etc

This - that's a limited way to assess insurance costs.

I still don't think £500 is all that bad really. It may 'only' be a 330d but it's still reasonably swift and parts are not that cheap if you are involved in an accident.

[Exige77]

irocfan said:

'amusingly' one ins company wanted to charge me nearly the same for a stbox 1.2 clio as my SLK55 (I'm paying £280 f/c)

As I mentioned above:

“It’s not really about this BHP or that BHP, it’s more to do with claims history for that particular model and where you live.

My M6 and my wife’s 21 year old Golf are nearly the same”.

Not only about BHP or car value. The insurers consider a range of factors and right at the top are claim history of the vehicle type and where you live.

Writing off an SLK55 is cheap compared to the value of damage a 1.2 Clio could do to people and property.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

swagmeister said:

wilksy61 said:

I had a Hyundai i40 Blue Estate (diesel) and changed it for a Mustang, insurance was £283 for the Hyundai and £403 for the Mustang, so based on that i would say that your premium does look at little high.

Never read so much garbage in my life. How on earth do you know his premium looks high ? Do you know his . . .
Postcode
Occupation
Claims
Convictions
Additional Drivers
Claim History
etc
etc etc

Absolutely. Saying someone's insurance seems a bit high based on only knowing what car they drive is like saying "My bit of string is 20cm long." And then being told "wow, my string is 15cm long, yours does sound a bit long."

With no idea what the fking string is going to be used for!

[Rod200SX]

BMW's are funny buggers to insure. The E92 page on facebook i'm on always has posts about insurance. Some people 30+ paying almost a grand to insure a 320d, whereas I'm 26 and pay around £280 to insure my 335i! My E36 track car is around £350 for insurance.

I'm in Aberdeen which is probably lower risk than some big English cities, but the differences are staggering.

[dundarach]

Jonny TVR said:

dreamcracker said:

Buy a cheaper and slower car then.
Problem solved.

This

Exactly this.

Yes 250bhp is powerful and you should pay accordingly.

I drive an old car I love and pay more in tax than you, stop moaning or change it.

[Lazermilk]

Court_S said:

swagmeister said:

wilksy61 said:

I had a Hyundai i40 Blue Estate (diesel) and changed it for a Mustang, insurance was £283 for the Hyundai and £403 for the Mustang, so based on that i would say that your premium does look at little high.

Never read so much garbage in my life. How on earth do you know his premium looks high ? Do you know his . . .
Postcode
Occupation
Claims
Convictions
Additional Drivers
Claim History
etc
etc etc

This - that's a limited way to assess insurance costs.

I still don't think £500 is all that bad really. It may 'only' be a 330d but it's still reasonably swift and parts are not that cheap if you are involved in an accident.

Its not bad at all, as I said above you dont know how lucky you all are there when it comes to cars...

I just did a check online and cheapest quote to insure a 330d here in Austria for me is 3900 euros a year fully comp!
Third party is 2500 euros!



Probably my least favourite thing about living here is the cost of cars to buy and run... Thankfully motorbikes don't seem quite so bad in comparison!

[Integroo]

On normal policies, the cheapest policies I can get (27, SE London, 2 years NCB, no points or claims) are around 800. Anything remotely fruity it is closer to 1500.

Classics policies allow for much cheaper premiums, though it takes something left field to go really cheap (TVR 350i for 250). The 1999 GTV v6 I am looking at cheapest I can find is 650 without mods, 840 with (with Footman James). I can't get insured with normal insurers with the mods.

[orangesrule]

Its all down to the algorithms used/luck.

I seem to be pretty lucky, 28 with 10yrs experience 9 yrs ncb. paying £205/yr on a BMW 328 and £270/yr on an rx7 with mods declared.

The missus's fabia is £180/yr.

I wouldn't say we live in a particularly nice area, but i guess its a postcode lottery with insurers.

[S16KBW]

J4CKO said:

How is it you see young chaps in some sketch areas and city centres driving supercars and fast Audis etc, always amazes me that as it must be like the jackpot on a fruit machine on the quote when an M postcode, R8 V10 and a 21 year old are entered as criteria.

I know the process here in sunny Bradford is that the fast car is usually insured to someone else/somewhere else/under a different job usually a combination of all of them, sometimes real people addresses such as family members sometimes just straight up fake people or random addresses in the countryside.

This way it doesn't flag as uninsured on the police computer/ANPR while they're out and about, if the blue lights come on they just fail to stop, same in an accident, they just get out and run.

[xjay1337]

Insurance is very frustrating but this is well known.

I swear older, cheaper more battered cars are more expensive to insure.

I remember as a 23 year old (several years ago now!) I ran a quote on a Nissan GTR (value £40k), which came back at £1200. Very reasonable.

A Mk5 GTI valued around £7000 (what I had) was £900. Meh, OK

But a 20 year old VW Vento was £1800!

Now how on gods earth does that work?! I gave up trying to understand the insurance and just spent my time trying to find better quotes from then on.

[Pig benis]

I didn't expect so many replies.

Some helpful and interesting information in here guys.

Up until the start of this year I had a 1991 Defender 90 and a modified Subaru Impreza, both have been my cheapest cars to insure. I believe the Subaru was sub £350 and the Defender was sub £300. Which is why I am so surprised the insurance on my E91 330D is £500.

Today I have been playing with insurance quotes and have managed to get some quotes for a 240i @ £410. I have wanted to change the 330D for a few months, so this is definitely food for thought.

Some of you look at insurance differently to me, as I don't look at the daily / weekly / monthly cost. I pay for my insurance in lump sums, as I'm not a pay monthly kind of guy. But I now totally appreciate looking at the increase in a daily amount, it seems like of a jump in cost.

Also, others have mentioned how a job will affect the premium. I work in IT, surely this is a low-risk job? Firstly I work from home a lot (so barely any driving at peak times) and secondly, we aren't known for crazy parties and long night benders in town. Which I am guessing would make the risk quite low??

Thanks all
PB

[red_slr]

J4CKO said:

How is it you see young chaps in some sketch areas and city centres driving supercars and fast Audis etc, always amazes me that as it must be like the jackpot on a fruit machine on the quote when an M postcode, R8 V10 and a 21 year old are entered as criteria.

Trade policies and GMP are clamping down like a fat lad on a chip butty.

[poo at Paul's]

Pig benis said:

Hello folks

In no way shape or form do I condone driving an uninsured car on the public roads, but I now understand why people don't insure their cars. It is bloody expensive!

Over the past few days, I have been trying to insure my BMW 330D LCI Auto, which is completely standard and I barely do any miles. My insurance quotes are coming back at over £500!!!! Which I don't mind paying on an M3, or a faster car, but this is just a diesel BMW...

Speaking to Adrian Flux yesterday, the insurance underwriter told me this car is a high-risk motor, where a lot of people crash them because they are so powerful.. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, since when is 245hp "so powerful"?

My insurance background - licence held for 13 years, with 12 years no claims discount. I also have another car (track toy) with full mods declared and that is £300 per annum to insure,

I'm by no means an insurance expert, so I'm wondering if anyone has any advice on reducing the insurance quotes? I have tried all the big comparison website, Direct Line and Adrian Flux. Do you kind folks have any other insurance companies you'd recommend?

I refuse to pay £500+ for insurance on a diesel, especially as last year it cost me only £342.

Thanks folks
PB

Edited by Pig benis on Tuesday 9th July 09:00

It doesn't sound that bad. Did you ask why increased on last year though, they can and will often tell you. Any points, any claims? It could be claims history of that type of vehicle.
My Mondeo is £300 a year and is worth £500 if I am lucky! But you aint just insuring you're own car, damage wise, are you?

[GetCarter]

Terminator X said:

When the fine for having no insurance is less than the cost of having it you can see why some folk don't bother.

Except of course you get your car seized, a fine, get 6 points (increasing your premium massively) and possibly a driving ban.

Best insure the car mate.

Edited by GetCarter on Tuesday 9th July 15:00