600LT insurance choices
Discussion
Sorry, I know this is a boring topic and in reality, based on lots of personal circumstances but I have questions as I think that quite a lot of people have their McLarens on Admiral / Admiral Multi-car and there is something telling me that insuring such a car deserves 'better'.
Two cars, a Tesla Model 3 and McLaren 600LT. On Admiral Multi-car it is about £1600 for both, on a market value basis - no guarantee (policy wise) of being able to use McLaren dealers for repair. Not that bothered about hire cars etc.
If I was to insure the Model 3 on its own, it isn't very different, maybe £700 or £800 quid.
The 600LT is the real difference; about £800 on multi-car for market value, or around £1800 for a premium policy with Zurich Private Clients, agreed value, McLaren dealer repairs.
I'm interested in how others have made this decision? I should add that I'm always happy to pay a big excess (say £1000) because I don't believe in claiming for smaller amounts, but haven't had a claim in 20 years or so, so believe I am a pretty safe bet.
Two cars, a Tesla Model 3 and McLaren 600LT. On Admiral Multi-car it is about £1600 for both, on a market value basis - no guarantee (policy wise) of being able to use McLaren dealers for repair. Not that bothered about hire cars etc.
If I was to insure the Model 3 on its own, it isn't very different, maybe £700 or £800 quid.
The 600LT is the real difference; about £800 on multi-car for market value, or around £1800 for a premium policy with Zurich Private Clients, agreed value, McLaren dealer repairs.
I'm interested in how others have made this decision? I should add that I'm always happy to pay a big excess (say £1000) because I don't believe in claiming for smaller amounts, but haven't had a claim in 20 years or so, so believe I am a pretty safe bet.
I think with a car like the LT cost of good quality insurance is part of the ownership proposition. You want to be able to use the best people to repair a car like that and not have it repaired on a budget by someone Admiral appoints. Clearly you never hope to have to use it but I’d go with a policy where I get to choose who repairs my car.
Cheib said:
I think with a car like the LT cost of good quality insurance is part of the ownership proposition. You want to be able to use the best people to repair a car like that and not have it repaired on a budget by someone Admiral appoints. Clearly you never hope to have to use it but I’d go with a policy where I get to choose who repairs my car.
If you wish to choose/nominate your own repairer, then you don’t qualify for the loan car..You just need to weigh that one up imo..
Cheib said:
I think with a car like the LT cost of good quality insurance is part of the ownership proposition. You want to be able to use the best people to repair a car like that and not have it repaired on a budget by someone Admiral appoints. Clearly you never hope to have to use it but I’d go with a policy where I get to choose who repairs my car.
admiral cannot dictate who repairs your car : you do !Cheib said:
I think with a car like the LT cost of good quality insurance is part of the ownership proposition. You want to be able to use the best people to repair a car like that and not have it repaired on a budget by someone Admiral appoints. Clearly you never hope to have to use it but I’d go with a policy where I get to choose who repairs my car.
How much of a concern is that? I would suspect that the large majority of repairers wouldn’t have the ability to attempt a repair on anything like a McLaren so you’d end up with a specialist if not the manufacturer. I've gone with Admiral (Elephant).
The alternatives I found were not only significantly more expensive, but also required a tracker which I don't want (hassle, extra cost and risk of flattening the super-pricey battery).
Davek said he was happy with the payout he got from Admiral for his McLaren. Also the 2018-on GTs like mine seem to trade in a fairly tight range, so I feel there's not that much uncertainty about what market value is.
As I imagine most people, I'm not reliant on my McLaren to get around so wouldn't want a loan car.
I hope to re-investigate alternatives when I come to renewal, as this time round some places wouldn't quote me due to lack of experience driving a supercar. I'd ideally like to get more 'premium' cover, but there's a limit to how much extra I'm prepared to pay for some slightly intangible presumed benefits.
The alternatives I found were not only significantly more expensive, but also required a tracker which I don't want (hassle, extra cost and risk of flattening the super-pricey battery).
Davek said he was happy with the payout he got from Admiral for his McLaren. Also the 2018-on GTs like mine seem to trade in a fairly tight range, so I feel there's not that much uncertainty about what market value is.
As I imagine most people, I'm not reliant on my McLaren to get around so wouldn't want a loan car.
I hope to re-investigate alternatives when I come to renewal, as this time round some places wouldn't quote me due to lack of experience driving a supercar. I'd ideally like to get more 'premium' cover, but there's a limit to how much extra I'm prepared to pay for some slightly intangible presumed benefits.
To give you a real world example of Admiral:
I crashed my 650 last year. The approved repairer that Admiral wanted to take it to was actually the official McLaren body shop I wanted to use anyway (M&A in Bracknell).
Car was declared total loss. McLaren stated that on cars like this, 'book price' would be artificially low and hence they obtain bespoke valuation. They asked a few questions about whether I'd bought from a McLaren dealer, whether I had full McLaren history and for adverts of comparable cars.
It took them a couple of weeks to get the value but their payout was more than fair. In fact, 2 weeks ago I bought another 650 that was 2 years newer, 10k miles Vs my 25k miles and higher spec than mine was without having to add anything to my payout.
Not all claims will be the same of course, but I was very impressed. Oh - and the cost of insuring my new car for the remainder of the year suggests that my policy has had no significant loading after a 6 figure payout.
I crashed my 650 last year. The approved repairer that Admiral wanted to take it to was actually the official McLaren body shop I wanted to use anyway (M&A in Bracknell).
Car was declared total loss. McLaren stated that on cars like this, 'book price' would be artificially low and hence they obtain bespoke valuation. They asked a few questions about whether I'd bought from a McLaren dealer, whether I had full McLaren history and for adverts of comparable cars.
It took them a couple of weeks to get the value but their payout was more than fair. In fact, 2 weeks ago I bought another 650 that was 2 years newer, 10k miles Vs my 25k miles and higher spec than mine was without having to add anything to my payout.
Not all claims will be the same of course, but I was very impressed. Oh - and the cost of insuring my new car for the remainder of the year suggests that my policy has had no significant loading after a 6 figure payout.
Admiral will confirm by e mail if asked that you have the right to take your car to the repairer of your choice in the event of a claim including glass replacement etc incurring you in no extra cost whatsoever. As another poster has mentioned though this MAY result in you not receiving a loaner during the repair period but that wouldn't bother me in the slightest.
Clearly with cars such as Mclaren Porsches and Ferrari etc a repair by an under the arches backstreet type setup would be totally inappropriate not only for warranty reasons.
Clearly with cars such as Mclaren Porsches and Ferrari etc a repair by an under the arches backstreet type setup would be totally inappropriate not only for warranty reasons.
davek_964 said:
To give you a real world example of Admiral:
I crashed my 650 last year. The approved repairer that Admiral wanted to take it to was actually the official McLaren body shop I wanted to use anyway (M&A in Bracknell).
Car was declared total loss. McLaren stated that on cars like this, 'book price' would be artificially low and hence they obtain bespoke valuation. They asked a few questions about whether I'd bought from a McLaren dealer, whether I had full McLaren history and for adverts of comparable cars.
It took them a couple of weeks to get the value but their payout was more than fair. In fact, 2 weeks ago I bought another 650 that was 2 years newer, 10k miles Vs my 25k miles and higher spec than mine was without having to add anything to my payout.
Not all claims will be the same of course, but I was very impressed. Oh - and the cost of insuring my new car for the remainder of the year suggests that my policy has had no significant loading after a 6 figure payout.
Which just goes to show your not getting anything extra just because your paying a higher premium,,I crashed my 650 last year. The approved repairer that Admiral wanted to take it to was actually the official McLaren body shop I wanted to use anyway (M&A in Bracknell).
Car was declared total loss. McLaren stated that on cars like this, 'book price' would be artificially low and hence they obtain bespoke valuation. They asked a few questions about whether I'd bought from a McLaren dealer, whether I had full McLaren history and for adverts of comparable cars.
It took them a couple of weeks to get the value but their payout was more than fair. In fact, 2 weeks ago I bought another 650 that was 2 years newer, 10k miles Vs my 25k miles and higher spec than mine was without having to add anything to my payout.
Not all claims will be the same of course, but I was very impressed. Oh - and the cost of insuring my new car for the remainder of the year suggests that my policy has had no significant loading after a 6 figure payout.
I’ve gone with Admiral with my 600, cheapest by a country mile, have used them many times before for performance cars,,
I'd have added my 600LT to my Admiral multicar policy, but wanted trackday cover so I'm with Classicline. I've occasionally used the more bespoke companies before, but in reality it's been a total waste of money as I haven't claimed on car insurance in nearly 30 years. Like the other 'premium' insurers, I have to have a tracker and the car has to be garaged overnight, neither condition would apply with Admiral.
In reality I can't see any insurer sending a McLaren to a non-McLaren approved bodyshop - they wouldn't be able to get the parts or the paint codes.
In reality I can't see any insurer sending a McLaren to a non-McLaren approved bodyshop - they wouldn't be able to get the parts or the paint codes.
Before I bought the 650, I did have "premium" insurance. It did provide some benefits (fully comp on other peoples cars, other drivers fully comp on my car etc). But, the McLaren would not fit in my garage - which meant that the same insurers would no longer offer cover, and the other quotes I got were still premium price but without the premium benefits.
I admit, I moved to Admiral reluctantly - it was much cheaper, and had the advantage that the difference in premium for not having Tracker was less than the annual Tracker subscription - and since I didn't really want Tracker, that made it simpler. But at the time, I did have the view that you get what you pay for, and if I needed to claim it was likely to be a sobering experience.
As I said - the reality of the claim was quite different to my expectations. I initially thought I'd lost something from the interior of the car when I crashed (roof was down) - I mentioned it in passing to the claim handler who told me that I was covered for up to £250 for stuff like that, and could claim it if I wished (I found it in the end). They also reminded me repeatedly (almost enough to be considered spam!) that I could / should remove my private plate before declaring the car total loss to DVLA.
They basically did exactly what insurance is supposed to do. Which I didn't really think most insurance companies did, and certainly not the cheap ones.
I admit, I moved to Admiral reluctantly - it was much cheaper, and had the advantage that the difference in premium for not having Tracker was less than the annual Tracker subscription - and since I didn't really want Tracker, that made it simpler. But at the time, I did have the view that you get what you pay for, and if I needed to claim it was likely to be a sobering experience.
As I said - the reality of the claim was quite different to my expectations. I initially thought I'd lost something from the interior of the car when I crashed (roof was down) - I mentioned it in passing to the claim handler who told me that I was covered for up to £250 for stuff like that, and could claim it if I wished (I found it in the end). They also reminded me repeatedly (almost enough to be considered spam!) that I could / should remove my private plate before declaring the car total loss to DVLA.
They basically did exactly what insurance is supposed to do. Which I didn't really think most insurance companies did, and certainly not the cheap ones.
av185 said:
Admiral will confirm by e mail if asked that you have the right to take your car to the repairer of your choice in the event of a claim including glass replacement etc incurring you in no extra cost whatsoever. As another poster has mentioned though this MAY result in you not receiving a loaner during the repair period but that wouldn't bother me in the slightest.
I've heard about this too - insurer agrees to your choice of repairer in lieu of giving up a replacement vehicle. Generally with a third party when a Claim Management Co is involved, which can have scary hire costs....https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
...
but I'd imagine even a month at standard hire costs for a 'replacement' vehicle would be something the insurer would rather avoid. And as said, for a McL there are very few places they can go anyway, and the parts would still have to be genuine.
Thanks all, this is really helpful.
A couple of the premium policies I got quoted on (those underwritten by ERS for example) had restrictions I couldn't live with. Like no theft cover if the car was at home but not in the garage. Even having to be in the garage between certain hours is not great - what happens if I forgot to put it away?
I did get a much better quote from Zurich but with a large excess (£1750) albeit agreed value.
Admiral multicar is about the same for the Tesla Model 3 and the 600LT as the single Zurich policy for the 600LT, but has a lower excess - so I think I'm going to go with that.
A couple of the premium policies I got quoted on (those underwritten by ERS for example) had restrictions I couldn't live with. Like no theft cover if the car was at home but not in the garage. Even having to be in the garage between certain hours is not great - what happens if I forgot to put it away?
I did get a much better quote from Zurich but with a large excess (£1750) albeit agreed value.
Admiral multicar is about the same for the Tesla Model 3 and the 600LT as the single Zurich policy for the 600LT, but has a lower excess - so I think I'm going to go with that.
Gassing Station | McLaren | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff