Another insurance joke: parked on road instead of garage

[vit4]

Been sorting out a mate's insurance today; just passed his test, 1.0 N-reg Micra and wasn't getting quotes of less than 4 grand. I had a play about for him and got it for £3200.

Changed it from being kept in a garage to parked on the road, and it went down to £2550

How?! Why is it nearly £700 more if it's kept in a locked, secure garage (and FWIW on a driveway was still nearly £2700 too)?! Am I being thick?


Edit: The quotes I got were using Classic insurance through a company with its name based on a large grey land mammal with a trunk, but it was over £2000 more on a 'normal' policy with the same company

[Jimmyarm]

People tend to drive into garage Walls

[valiant1]

As above ^^

An insurance site (that I can't remember) had this on their FAQ bit. Lots of people misjudge parking and lots of doors thrown open into walls and reversing into garage crap.

All these liitle claims make it more riskier than parking on the road.

Getting quotes and I also had to change from parking in the garage to leaving it on the road to get a cheaper quote.

[CooperS]

Why do people pay these prices to drive!!! Is this really the norm? I mean I remember paying £1400 for my mini when i first passed, slowly getting it down to somthing under 700 then got an elise and then my latest and I now pay £1100 for my current car but 3k+ for a micra.....

[Codswallop]

I found the same was true of my renewal - it was cheaper to keep the car on a (busy) street barely wide enough for two cars to pass where it can get crashed into, than it was to keep the car in a locked garage at the end of a locked, gated drive.

I know where the car is at greater risk, and it's not the garage

[Deranged Granny]

CooperS said:

Why do people pay these prices to drive!!!

Do you think they do it by choice?

Times have changed. Have you seen how much it costs to insure a 17 year-old these days?

[66comanche]

valiant1 said:

As above ^^

An insurance site (that I can't remember) had this on their FAQ bit. Lots of people misjudge parking and lots of doors thrown open into walls and reversing into garage crap.

All these liitle claims make it more riskier than parking on the road.

Getting quotes and I also had to change from parking in the garage to leaving it on the road to get a cheaper quote.

I've heard this said before but I'm not so sure. How many people claim on their car insurance if they scrape a bumper/door - with the excess and subsequent rise in premium? Compare this to the claims for vandalism, theft of/from vehicle, hit and run collisions which can and do happen when parked on the road, doesn't make sense to me.

[Efbe]

CooperS said:

Why do people pay these prices to drive!!! Is this really the norm? I mean I remember paying £1400 for my mini when i first passed, slowly getting it down to somthing under 700 then got an elise and then my latest and I now pay £1100 for my current car but 3k+ for a micra.....

there often isn't an alternative.

public transport is fking awful for most of the country, and when it isn't dire, it is slow and incredibly expensive. expensive enough to warrant buying overpriced insurance on a st car

[Negative Creep]

Not sure how much truth there is in it, but I have heard it can raise premiums since a prospective thief can work on stealing the car undetected

[Torquey]

Try adding your mates mam onto the policy too, or some other 'mature driver' if you havnt already.

Sometimes helps lower the premium.

[DaveH23]

As car thiefs have given up on trying to break in to the actual car they now find it easier to get the keys!

Now imagine you are the thief!

You see a shiney new car through the garage window, you know exactly which house will have the keys!

Now imagine you see said car parked outside the house! Thief now scratches head thinking 'which house has the keys'

This is not always the case but remember that ins co's work on statistics. As many people including the OP think it is cheaper to park in the garage and they say this when filling in the form hence more people have cars insured as parked in the garage!

Now when they claim for whatever reason the stastic against the claim is parked in the garage and less claims are lodged where the car is parked on the road which is why this is the cheaper option.

[benzito]

Yeh I had this when I was getting quotes for my younger brother, parking in the drive was much cheaper than the garage,

my advice would be to keep adjusting the quotes until you get the price as low as poss, its unethical but insurance premiums have been reaching such ridiculous levels in the last two years that it has to be done

[kambites]

I wouldn't be surprised if the insurance companies don't actually know why it's more expensive. It's just what their statistical data mining tells them.

[McSam]

CooperS said:

Why do people pay these prices to drive!!! Is this really the norm?

Yes. Even since I started driving, not even three years ago yet, prices for 17-year-olds have become truly ridiculous.

And if your car's in a garage and someone breaks in to nick it, I presume your car insurance may end up paying for your garage door and everything else nicked from inside it too..

[Nedzilla]

I would imagine there is also a better/easier chance of breaking into a car and stealing it while your doing it behind a closed garage door than doing it on someones driveway or in plain sight on a public road........providing you can get into the garage which usually only takes a bang with your fist.

[War Pig]

£5 more when I changed my Mum's status to unemployed.

[Nedzilla]

War Pig said:

£5 more when I changed my Mum's status to unemployed.

There was something about this on rip off britain the other week and one chaps insurance on a little run about almost doubled when he became unemployed!
They said it was because he was not at work he would be out in the car a lot more.What aload of bks!
As long as he tells them how many miles he does each year and that hadn't changed whats the difference???

[samdale]

Firstly, add named (old) drivers. Both parents, older sisters, people nearby with cheaper insurance.

Secondly, I'm assuming by the stty car that it wasn't a choice and the car is already owned? Personally as a first car I would have looked at quotes first for various cheap and slow cars and the bought accordingly.

For example I just used a comparison website and told it I was 17, just passed etc for your Micra and it was circa 3k.
Changed the car to a cinquecento and it was then £2200. Bet if I went through a few more cars I could get even cheaper.

I had a 21 year old Volvo 360GLT for my first car which cost £500 to ensure although this is not a great comparison as I was 21/22. It was however £200 less to ensure than any previous quote I had tried for many other cars.

[trashbat]

Nedzilla said:

I would imagine there is also a better/easier chance of breaking into a car and stealing it while your doing it behind a closed garage door than doing it on someones driveway or in plain sight on a public road........providing you can get into the garage which usually only takes a bang with your fist.

Plus garages catch fire.

The 'where is it parked overnight' question is a funny one though. I can't foresee a situation in which they decline to pay out because you said you park on the street and the incident occurred in a garage. They'd either have to canvass your neighbours and produce evidence, or it would lead to a situation in which you could drive and park anywhere you were legally able to except for your own drive & garage.

[vit4]

Hmm, I suppose that makes sense if it's true, but would people really claim for those scrapes?

Regarding people talking about the premium itself, the best quote was...

£39450 But unfortunately we wrote it off because it rose to £44,500 were he to pay monthly.


Edit: I'm pretty good at getting the lowest possible quotes, his mum & stepdad on the policy knocked off about a grand. Interesting one was how putting himself as an 'apprentice' rather than 'gas engineer' also bumped it up quite considerably. It's definitely a bit of a dark art...

Edited by vit4 on Thursday 12th January 20:05