Direct Line Premium Car Insurance

[butchstewie]

It's car insurance time and my current insurer has kindly increased my renewal premium by 25% despite me having absolute no reason to use them ever and nothing having changed since last year.

Which is nice of them.

Meerkats throws up Direct Line Premium at around the same price I'm paying now.

Policy booklet doesn't seem to show anything missing and it include all the cover many have as optional including Green Flag breakdown cover which I guess is £100/worth and as my car will be three years old that's another potential saving as the Mazda breakdown cover will run out.

I know there will always be some horror stories about any insurer but as a basic sanity check am I missing anything terrible about Direct Line?

[sixor8]

Direct Line used to brag about not being on comparison websites, hmm. I was with them for several years about 10 years ago, they were good IMHO, but got expensive.

The last 2 times I've bought insurance, confused.com have been cheaper quotes, with a cash reward too. They all used to be very similar the comparisons sites.

[loskie]

I'd been with DL for years. No claims. Lazily renewed last yr even though it seemed quite costly.

IIRC DL has been bought out.

This year a jump from £400 to £500.
When challenged they dropped it £40 but still too dear,

Renewed with what seems decent cover with Allainz at £380 plus £38 cash back off that too.

I know you don't know how good cover is UNTIL you claim. Hopefully I won't have to find out.


NEVER set up to auto renew.


IN FACT: IGNORE my ramblings (most do) that was for building and contents. Car not due til March

Edited by loskie on Saturday 7th February 11:11

[butchstewie]

Oh they're on them now I assume it's a case of do so or lose out.

Noticed they're part of Aviva not that it should matter but at least I've heard of them.

As usual Mazda insurance are spitting out bonkers numbers whilst the Direct Line Premium quote is actually reasonably for what looks a top level of cover from a known name.

It's a 2023 Mazda 2 so it's not like I'm insuring a supercar or something exotic

[Wacky Racer]

My renewal with Direct Line for house insurance came through last week, an increase of £20 on last years premium.

I rang them and just said "I'm not happy"

They knocked £130 off it in five minutes without any negotiation with the same cover.

Give them a ring,

This applies to any insurance company, AA, RAC etc.

[butchstewie]

I'll call them but if they knock 25% off for a phone call I'm half tempted to tell them to stick it out of general principle.

[phil squares]

Had been with DL for a few years and every year the same drill took place. Got the renewal quote and it was some exorbitant price with no change in driver's histories. Called them and listened to an apology and got essentially the same price as the previous year.

However, a few years ago, I had two issues. First was a "at fault" according to DL, where I tapped a car as it stopped for no reason after entering a roundabout. Had a video and two witnesses who confirmed the events. DL was emphatic that since the other car was hit, it was 100% my fault. Pictures supplied showed virtually no damage other than a scratch on the rear bumper. The total claimed was over 5000!

The second issue was a supposed bump by my wife in a car park in a place she's never been to. She was also teaching the time of the supposed incident. Witnesses who were adamant that my wife was at fault never followed through and the entire issue dragged on for over 2 years!

In both cases, I felt DI did not look out for my interests and made several statements that were false. Things like an engineer's report would be forwarded to you. Turns out an engineer never looked at the car, only took a rough estimate from a local shop.

Now with NFU and it is 1000% better! Price is a little higher than DL, but service is light-years better than DL.

[vikingaero]

I think anyone who calls up to challenge the premium is a moron. If they match a competitors premium, great. But you've just rewarded your Insurer who tried to take the pish.

We aren't talking about being loyal to your plumber, handyman or builder who does a great job and values your loyalty. With big companies all discounts are front-loaded for new customers and they couldn't give a monkeys about you.

[sixor8]

They've not been allowed to discount purely for being a new customer since Jan 2025. What it has helped is forcing a match to the new customer quote for an existing one.

[Red9zero]

sixor8 said:

They've not been allowed to discount purely for being a new customer since Jan 2025. What it has helped is forcing a match to the new customer quote for an existing one.

Or not. DL renewal was £700+, reduced to £500 after an online chat, even though a new customer price was £350. Cancelled the renewal, got better cover with a new policy and even my log in is the same as before..

[Wacky Racer]

butchstewie said:

I'll call them but if they knock 25% off for a phone call I'm half tempted to tell them to stick it out of general principle.

Let us know what they say, should be interesting.

[Wacky Racer]

vikingaero said:

I think anyone who calls up to challenge the premium is a moron. If they match a competitors premium, great. But you've just rewarded your Insurer who tried to take the pish.

We aren't talking about being loyal to your plumber, handyman or builder who does a great job and values your loyalty. With big companies all discounts are front-loaded for new customers and they couldn't give a monkeys about you.

Cheers for the compliment

The thing is, nearly all insurers are as bad as each other in this regard, in my experience anyway.

I'm happy to save over a hundred pounds for ten minutes work.

I did a comparison search and DL were still competitive taking into account the revised lower price, but yes, obviously it stinks and should be outlawed,