Direct Line insurance
Discussion
I don't fully understand the implications but I was recently told that LLoyds (the garage) are Aston martin approved repairers but that many Aston authorized dealers are not aston approved repairers - can anyone shed any light on this ?
getting back on topic, you get what you pay for with insurance IMO. I can understand on an older and less valuable car that the differences in quotes can't be justified. But there's a lot to be said for how quickly, painlessly and flexibly the insurer will deal with you when there is a claim which is what you never want to happen but really do value if it does
Locktons/chubb are simply amazing when it comes to this side of things but I appreciate the premiums are less competitive on cars being insured for less than £100k. They are still worth considering however
getting back on topic, you get what you pay for with insurance IMO. I can understand on an older and less valuable car that the differences in quotes can't be justified. But there's a lot to be said for how quickly, painlessly and flexibly the insurer will deal with you when there is a claim which is what you never want to happen but really do value if it does
Locktons/chubb are simply amazing when it comes to this side of things but I appreciate the premiums are less competitive on cars being insured for less than £100k. They are still worth considering however
jonby said:
I don't fully understand the implications but I was recently told that LLoyds (the garage) are Aston martin approved repairers but that many Aston authorized dealers are not aston approved repairers - can anyone shed any light on this ?
getting back on topic, you get what you pay for with insurance IMO. I can understand on an older and less valuable car that the differences in quotes can't be justified. But there's a lot to be said for how quickly, painlessly and flexibly the insurer will deal with you when there is a claim which is what you never want to happen but really do value if it does
Locktons/chubb are simply amazing when it comes to this side of things but I appreciate the premiums are less competitive on cars being insured for less than £100k. They are still worth considering however
I have been with Locktons/Chubb since I got the car two years ago. I am pretty confidant that should i have needed to make a claim with them I would have had no worries. I am not sure about DL which is why I am posting on here.getting back on topic, you get what you pay for with insurance IMO. I can understand on an older and less valuable car that the differences in quotes can't be justified. But there's a lot to be said for how quickly, painlessly and flexibly the insurer will deal with you when there is a claim which is what you never want to happen but really do value if it does
Locktons/chubb are simply amazing when it comes to this side of things but I appreciate the premiums are less competitive on cars being insured for less than £100k. They are still worth considering however
I know the DL insurance does not provide fully comp in Europe or breakdown assistance like the Locktons/Chubb policy, but even if I arrange those separately we are still talking about a huge saving.
If my car was a new Vanquish I would not be considering this, but given the age and value of my car I don't think i am being reckless considering this, but am prepared to be persuaded otherwise.
I've been with Locktons and if you claim I'm sure they are very good, even below the £100k mark which I was.
I never claimed whilst owning the DB9 so it worked out fine for me using Admiral in the end.
Direct Line will not be insuring on an Agreed Value basis and probably do not include legal cover??
I never claimed whilst owning the DB9 so it worked out fine for me using Admiral in the end.
Direct Line will not be insuring on an Agreed Value basis and probably do not include legal cover??
Never forget that when you buy insurance you are buying a claims service to you ; you have no need of it other than to comply with the law until you have an accident. A more costly premium does not implicitly guarantee a better claims service however its a likely that it will and the service to you in your hour of need.
Near where I take another of my cars for service is the 'prestige' repair centre for a major supplier of repair work to the insurance companies- seen and heard many an Aston ,Porsche AMG Merc etc ragged up the estate service road from cold by employees.
Near where I take another of my cars for service is the 'prestige' repair centre for a major supplier of repair work to the insurance companies- seen and heard many an Aston ,Porsche AMG Merc etc ragged up the estate service road from cold by employees.
Jockman said:
I've been with Locktons and if you claim I'm sure they are very good, even below the £100k mark which I was.
I never claimed whilst owning the DB9 so it worked out fine for me using Admiral in the end.
Direct Line will not be insuring on an Agreed Value basis and probably do not include legal cover??
Sorry, what I meant about he below £100k mark was that I think the lower the value of the car, the greater the saving by moving away from Locktons so perhaps becomes relatively speaking, harder to justifyI never claimed whilst owning the DB9 so it worked out fine for me using Admiral in the end.
Direct Line will not be insuring on an Agreed Value basis and probably do not include legal cover??
as you say, the agreed value is another big part of the benefits from locktons
petesv8v said:
Never forget that when you buy insurance you are buying a claims service to you ; you have no need of it other than to comply with the law until you have an accident. A more costly premium does not implicitly guarantee a better claims service however its a likely that it will and the service to you in your hour of need.
Near where I take another of my cars for service is the 'prestige' repair centre for a major supplier of repair work to the insurance companies- seen and heard many an Aston ,Porsche AMG Merc etc ragged up the estate service road from cold by employees.
Sorry, I don't think a one-off like this is a reason not to use cheaper insurance companies!Near where I take another of my cars for service is the 'prestige' repair centre for a major supplier of repair work to the insurance companies- seen and heard many an Aston ,Porsche AMG Merc etc ragged up the estate service road from cold by employees.
I would also suggest that those charging a high premium probably have a bigger marketing budget to reel the suckers in!
Had mainstream el cheapo insurance on my old BMW X6 40d. Had a prang and car went in to approved repairer. BMW parts used fair enough but they basically handle every marque and the work was appalling. Painted on a jig off the car with no effort made at all to fade the colour in across panels. Looked like a complete bodge job and went ballistic with them but they simply repeated that their job was to paint panel in BMW colour and fit it. Shocking. No pride in the job just a massive conveyor belt. Never ever looking to skimp like that again. It's like fitting cheap tyres to save a few bob; you get what you pay for.
People often forget that one of the single biggest factors in determining insurance quotes is the value of the insured vehicle or more accurately the value that the insurer is going to pay out come the time of a claim.
Posting a question on a board "saying my premium is £x, is this good" is impossible to evaluate if you don't say if your car is insured for £30k or £200k, (either of which could easily be the case with an Aston).
Insurance underwriting is the art of estimating the likelihood of paying out "x", then they factor in a margin to cover their costs and profit. Putting all other factors which calculate the likelihood (such as age, postcode, claims history, etc...) aside as being equal, if a vehicle's value is "2x" then the premium is going to be pretty much doubled and so on.
Then don't forget that most of the time an insurer will haggle down the value of your car when it comes to paying out anyway, or if they believe you have understated the value they will proportionally mark down any pay out. It therefore pays to get an agreed valuation with your insurer so that you know exactly what you are going to get and thus what you are paying your premium for. Locktons readily accept Agreed Valuations with no hike in premium, all you have to do is send them proof of the value, such as a letter from your main dealer stating as much.
My Locktons annual insurance premium is about £1 per £1000 of Agreed Valuation, which given my statistically poor postcode (I live in a city centre) is actually very good indeed. The best quote I could get with a mainstream insurer was about £1.50 per £1000 of non-agreed Valuation.
Posting a question on a board "saying my premium is £x, is this good" is impossible to evaluate if you don't say if your car is insured for £30k or £200k, (either of which could easily be the case with an Aston).
Insurance underwriting is the art of estimating the likelihood of paying out "x", then they factor in a margin to cover their costs and profit. Putting all other factors which calculate the likelihood (such as age, postcode, claims history, etc...) aside as being equal, if a vehicle's value is "2x" then the premium is going to be pretty much doubled and so on.
Then don't forget that most of the time an insurer will haggle down the value of your car when it comes to paying out anyway, or if they believe you have understated the value they will proportionally mark down any pay out. It therefore pays to get an agreed valuation with your insurer so that you know exactly what you are going to get and thus what you are paying your premium for. Locktons readily accept Agreed Valuations with no hike in premium, all you have to do is send them proof of the value, such as a letter from your main dealer stating as much.
My Locktons annual insurance premium is about £1 per £1000 of Agreed Valuation, which given my statistically poor postcode (I live in a city centre) is actually very good indeed. The best quote I could get with a mainstream insurer was about £1.50 per £1000 of non-agreed Valuation.
Jockman said:
I hear what you're saying Gerry and being a Sweaty Sock I'm always keen on a deal 
but I'm talking £450 to £650 as a deal.
A quote of £200 would give me serious sphincter tremble - is OP sure he hasn't hit the 'pay monthly' option ????
Yep, I can understand that, and I had the same dilemma. However I have taken the plunge and hopefully won't have to find out how good their claims service is. but I'm talking £450 to £650 as a deal.A quote of £200 would give me serious sphincter tremble - is OP sure he hasn't hit the 'pay monthly' option ????
It just makes me smile that people think there is ALWAYS a direct relationship between premium and payout/claims service.
A few years ago we bought the cheapest holiday insurance we could find (AON). My wife got seriously ill on a cruise and we had to get off in Tenerife to transfer her to hospital. You cannot believe how well the insurance company looked after us and how easy the claims process was.
I am just trying to demonstrate that for every story about how an expensive premium provided good service, there is probably a positive story about an insurance company that does not charge a top dollar premium. Expensive premiums go not guarantee excellent service, the lowest quote does not guarantee poor service (obvious I know!).
Cheers
Gerry
Edited by V8VGerry on Saturday 31st August 09:04
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