Insurance with Lots of Points - Any Advice? Use a Broker?

[nevermind111]

After 20 odd years with a clean licence...it's been one of those years where everything has gone wrong. 9 points, a freak 'no other car involved' accident resulted in a £4k claim, and my partner has racked up 6 points.

Unsurprisingly my very good current insurers have said 'hmmm we're not offering you renewal'. So I already knew it would be bad, but from £400 odd I'm now getting quoted £1200-£2000 and more, even with nearly 10 years protected NCB. And obviously the £1200 one is from a st insurer who are well known for their practices.

Not here for the moralising (although feel free!), but wondered if anyone has been in this position, and if it's worth using a broker, or if this is basically the reality for the next five years. I've heard Keith Michaels Insurance banded about so will call them anyhow.

Thanks all!

[Jamescrs]

Probably no harm in trying a broker,

I have used Sky Insurance in the past and also Greenlight, I do ad the caveat that I haven't been in your position with the points though, the most I ever had was 4 and i've managed a clean licence for a good few years now.

I've also used Swinton in the past.

Greenlight can be very picky over the types of cars they insure an did have a clause of no BMW's when I last tried 3 years ago.

[richhead]

Had similar , on loads of points, tried a broker, and it was more than i could find on google, and with a decent company aswell. May be wrong, but after a broker has put on a cost, it isnt far different. Brokers just look at whats there and recomend the best, in this day and age, surely not really needed if you have a bit of time. Always think of them a bit like ticket touts.

[alscar]

Yes sadly that’s a big difference in your record.
Brokers always worth a call as they can do all the legwork and you only need to give the inf once.
Flux and A Plan worth adding to the names given above.
Best of luck.

[nevermind111]

alscar said:

Yes sadly that’s a big difference in your record.
Brokers always worth a call as they can do all the legwork and you only need to give the inf once.
Flux and A Plan worth adding to the names given above.
Best of luck.

Thanks

And I know. BIG difference.

Worst thing is those points come from the same journey with two cameras 5 minutes apart, on a motorway where I'm convinced the variable boards weren't all working (seemingly backed up by media reports), and my speed never topped 70mph. Manchester police refused to consider as one offence even though case law seems to suggest as such. Not that I'm still bitter!

Anyway what do you do? Spend thousands going to court, only to probably end up with a worse result (short ban)? I still think I rolled the dice the right way, but yeah, it's annoying.

[nevermind111]

Jamescrs said:

Probably no harm in trying a broker,

I have used Sky Insurance in the past and also Greenlight, I do ad the caveat that I haven't been in your position with the points though, the most I ever had was 4 and i've managed a clean licence for a good few years now.

I've also used Swinton in the past.

Greenlight can be very picky over the types of cars they insure an did have a clause of no BMW's when I last tried 3 years ago.

Great thanks. Car is a dad van which only makes me cry more when I see people on here insuring 911s for a grand

[alscar]

richhead said:

Had similar , on loads of points, tried a broker, and it was more than i could find on google, and with a decent company aswell. May be wrong, but after a broker has put on a cost, it isnt far different. Brokers just look at whats there and recomend the best, in this day and age, surely not really needed if you have a bit of time. Always think of them a bit like ticket touts.

Brokers normally receive commission from the insurer they select so shouldn’t add to your cost.
They also have access to a panel of insurers and in some cases hold delegated authority to quote on their behalf.
Not sure I’ve ever heard of them referred to as touts before

[richhead]

alscar said:

Brokers normally receive commission from the insurer they select so shouldn’t add to your cost.
They also have access to a panel of insurers and in some cases hold delegated authority to quote on their behalf.
Not sure I’ve ever heard of them referred to as touts before

isnt the definition of a tout, someone selling something thats being already sold by someone else, or have i got it wrong

[sherman]

I would bite the hand off the £1200 quote.
15 points between you and large crash.
Your driving profile to an insurer will be throwing many red flags.
Your car is pretty irrelevent in the quote as its a generic dad car.

I would be driving like a nun for the next couple of years and bend over and take the pain.

[Fiisch]

There are insurers who specialise in "high risk" - Sabre and Markerstudy both spring to mind, but both only sell via brokers.

Adrian Flux, A Plan and Sky all have both on their panel I believe, so could be worth a try.

Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet - with the year you've had, you'll inevitably get a hefty bump in premium. My "process" as someone who's worked in the dark arts for many years is get indicative quotes from the main aggregator sites (Confused, Go Compare, MoneySupermarket, CompareTheMarket), then speak to a couple of brokers if what I'm trying to insure is slightly unusual. You'll quickly get a sense of whether the aggregators are offering a fair price or if a broker may be able to offer something better. Typically, in my experience, unless you're insuring a modified or classic vehicle, the aggregators will usually come up trumps....

[alscar]

richhead said:

isnt the definition of a tout, someone selling something thats being already sold by someone else, or have i got it wrong

Definition of an insurance broker -

An insurance broker is a professional who acts as an intermediary between a consumer and an insurance company, helping the former find a policy that best suits their needs.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

richhead said:

isnt the definition of a tout, someone selling something thats being already sold by someone else, or have i got it wrong

That would be virtually every retailer going. Most of the stuff in Tesco is being sold by other supermarkets, corner shops etc.

A tout is someone who buys up stuff that was originally sold by the "manufacturer" on the basis that it was for the personal use of the person it was sold to, thus creating or increasing a lack of supply compared to demand, and then re-selling the product at way over face or market value to those who feel their need means their prepared to pay an inflated price.

Usually event tickets
.

[Panamax]

richhead said:

isnt the definition of a tout, someone selling something that's being already sold by someone else, or have i got it wrong

Yes, you're exactly right. Essentially something that's been sold at retail level and is then being re-sold. Tickets are the classic example.

For reasons I've never understood people who do the same thing with cars have a different name - flippers.

I guess the classic "tout" hangs about outside a venue both buying and selling tickets. I've never noticed a bloke hanging about about the Porsche dealership buying and selling cars!

[nevermind111]

Just thought I'd update this for anyone that turns this thread up with a search in the future:

Things kind of got worse, because a few little things I'd not added (business use etc etc) bumped the price up even more. My top quote was £16k hahaha, but lots £2k plus even for black box which is a no no.

Anyway I realised that a fair few companies won't quote via the comparison sites (because of my situation and/or something else triggering it). E.g. on gocompare the AA would quote at 7k miles per year and over, but nothing below that, and even then wouldn't quote at all with business use added. Who the fk knows.

One of these was Aviva who I then tried directly and it came in under £1500 for what seems like a decent-ish company compared to what I was being offered (2* defacto Hastings Essential who I've had experience of before and won't again). Anyway I thought that was a result now I've acclimatised to my higher premiums

[sixor8]

Good perseverance. Hastings I've used in the past and they were Ok, I didn't have to claim. However that Hastings 'Essentials' policy they offer is a disgrace. It often comes up cheap for me when requesting fully comp quotes but when you dig down, it has NO windscreen cover. They shouldn't be allowed to call it a Fully Comp policy IMHO.

[Dingu]

On the AA point you’ll likely find their stats point to customers with x points and a claim driving minimal miles are very very likely to claim again so therefore they wouldn’t quote.

If it makes you feel better insurance prices have risen by c25-30% in the last year so your £400 baseline would have likely been £500+ before any of the other points, claim or cover changes.

[Dingu]

sixor8 said:

Good perseverance. Hastings I've used in the past and they were Ok, I didn't have to claim. However that Hastings 'Essentials' policy they offer is a disgrace. It often comes up cheap for me when requesting fully comp quotes but when you dig down, it has NO windscreen cover. They shouldn't be allowed to call it a Fully Comp policy IMHO.

It is fully comprehensive though.

In any case if someone wants the insurance without windscreen cover (not for me admittedly) they should be able to buy it. Imagine how annoyed you would be if all insurers made you have breakdown and pay additional cost for it regardless of whether you wanted it.

[nevermind111]

sixor8 said:

Good perseverance. Hastings I've used in the past and they were Ok, I didn't have to claim. However that Hastings 'Essentials' policy they offer is a disgrace. It often comes up cheap for me when requesting fully comp quotes but when you dig down, it has NO windscreen cover. They shouldn't be allowed to call it a Fully Comp policy IMHO.

Yeah we have them (not Essential) on the cheap runaround, fine if you don't need them. My main issues are they have a bad rep for sorting accidents out efficiently and leaving people without their car for months on end, and they try and sting you once paid up for any minor discrepancies in your quote (direct experience) with stupid fees. If you read their trustpilot it definitely seems to be a business model.

[nevermind111]

Dingu said:

On the AA point you’ll likely find their stats point to customers with x points and a claim driving minimal miles are very very likely to claim again so therefore they wouldn’t quote.

If it makes you feel better insurance prices have risen by c25-30% in the last year so your £400 baseline would have likely been £500+ before any of the other points, claim or cover changes.

Yeah I'm sure you're right that makes sense. And that's good to know on the general price rises, starting to think I'm actually getting off lightly haha.

It's just a data feed isn't it, and doing quotes without knowing exactly how the algorythm works is just trial and error. What I was amazed at having used the 'engines' for years is just how little Aviva wanted to know. E.g. They weren't bothered about my job just told me what jobs I couldn't have.