Insurance

[WhatAPrat]

Rant:

My parked 13 yr owned car got reversed into by an unknown driver, bumper
bent torn but car's a write-off - as it's only worth £200 (jamjar.com).

Why am I paying for comprehensive Esure insurance that will scam me the
first £250 of a claim, then give me £200 back as they won't fix it?

Why is third party only insurance more expensive?

Why is (breathes for air) insurance such a rip off?

I'm tempted for my next car comprehensive insurance quote to put the
value of the car down as 1 pound, might that get a lower quote and I
could put the savings in the kitty for the next motor?

Grrrrr, got to find a replacement banger now.

Best value 5 yr old estate anyone? replacing an Octavia which I've found
pretty reliable. And much as I like diesels, it's gonna have to be
petrol. My yearly mileage is not high, but I do end up carting junk about.

[Tim+]

Post by WhatAPrat
My parked 13 yr owned car got reversed into by an unknown driver, bumper
bent torn but car's a write-off - as it's only worth £200 (jamjar.com).
Why am I paying for comprehensive Esure insurance that will scam me the
first £250 of a claim, then give me £200 back as they won't fix it?

Probably because it was cheaper than third party only.

Post by WhatAPrat
Why is third party only insurance more expensive?

Probably because the kind of folk who take out third party only have a high
accident rate.

Post by WhatAPrat
Why is (breathes for air) insurance such a rip off?

Not always. We paid £170 for our Motorhome insurance in March and got
£32,000 back when it got stolen. (More than I would have got selling it
privately).

Post by WhatAPrat
I'm tempted for my next car comprehensive insurance quote to put the
value of the car down as 1 pound, might that get a lower quote and I
could put the savings in the kitty for the next motor?

Doubt it will make much difference.

Post by WhatAPrat
Grrrrr, got to find a replacement banger now.
Best value 5 yr old estate anyone? replacing an Octavia which I've found
pretty reliable. And much as I like diesels, it's gonna have to be
petrol. My yearly mileage is not high, but I do end up carting junk about.

Sorry, can’t help you there.

Tim

[newshound]

Post by WhatAPrat
My parked 13 yr owned car got reversed into by an unknown driver, bumper
bent torn but car's a write-off - as it's only worth £200 (jamjar.com).
Why am I paying for comprehensive Esure insurance that will scam me the
first £250 of a claim, then give me £200 back as they won't fix it?
Why is third party only insurance more expensive?
Why is (breathes for air) insurance such a rip off?
I'm tempted for my next car comprehensive insurance quote to put the
value of the car down as 1 pound, might that get a lower quote and I
could put the savings in the kitty for the next motor?
Grrrrr, got to find a replacement banger now.
Best value 5 yr old estate anyone? replacing an Octavia which I've found
pretty reliable. And much as I like diesels, it's gonna have to be
petrol. My yearly mileage is not high, but I do end up carting junk about.

We were very happy with our last couple of Astra estates. Boring but
quiet and pleasant to drive, nice practical boxy space and useful set of
roof bars.

[Andrew]

Post by newshound

Post by WhatAPrat
My parked 13 yr owned car got reversed into by an unknown driver,
bumper bent torn but car's a write-off - as it's only worth £200
(jamjar.com).
Why am I paying for comprehensive Esure insurance that will scam me
the first £250 of a claim, then give me £200 back as they won't fix it?
Why is third party only insurance more expensive?
Why is (breathes for air) insurance such a rip off?
I'm tempted for my next car comprehensive insurance quote to put the
value of the car down as 1 pound, might that get a lower quote and I
could put the savings in the kitty for the next motor?
Grrrrr, got to find a replacement banger now.
Best value 5 yr old estate anyone? replacing an Octavia which I've
found pretty reliable. And much as I like diesels, it's gonna have to
be petrol. My yearly mileage is not high, but I do end up carting junk
about.

We were very happy with our last couple of Astra estates. Boring but
quiet and pleasant to drive, nice practical boxy space and useful set of
roof bars.

+1

I'm on my third, but the roofbars from my 1998 Astra F dont clip
securely onto the Astra H bars. Bugger.

[Roger Mills]

Post by WhatAPrat
My parked 13 yr owned car got reversed into by an unknown driver, bumper
bent torn but car's a write-off - as it's only worth £200 (jamjar.com).
Why am I paying for comprehensive Esure insurance that will scam me the
first £250 of a claim, then give me £200 back as they won't fix it?
Why is third party only insurance more expensive?
Why is (breathes for air) insurance such a rip off?
I'm tempted for my next car comprehensive insurance quote to put the
value of the car down as 1 pound, might that get a lower quote and I
could put the savings in the kitty for the next motor?

Since you know that the insurance will never fix your car, a good ploy
is to opt for a large voluntary excess - say £1000. That should bring
the premium down by more than reducing the notional value.

Post by WhatAPrat
Grrrrr, got to find a replacement banger now.

Is there any structural damage to your car - or is it just the plastic
bumper? If the latter, get a replacement bumper from a breakers yard.

[WhatAPrat]

Post by Roger Mills

Post by WhatAPrat
I'm tempted for my next car comprehensive insurance quote to put the
value of the car down as 1 pound, might that get a lower quote and I
could put the savings in the kitty for the next motor?

Since you know that the insurance will never fix your car, a good ploy
is to opt for a large voluntary excess - say £1000. That should bring
the premium down by more than reducing the notional value.

Thanks, I might investigate that idea when my next car loses its resale
value.

Post by Roger Mills

Post by WhatAPrat
Grrrrr, got to find a replacement banger now.

Is there any structural damage to your car - or is it just the plastic
bumper? If the latter, get a replacement bumper from a breakers yard.

Unfortunately a lot has been pushed in, sides and lights damaged as well
as a re-enforcement bar pushed into the aircon radiator. So I could
spend a fair bit at the breakers, and then there is the bonnet to close.

It would be cheaper me buying another working car of the same age, and
swapping parts between them to keep one going. And selling bits I don't
need on eBay. However, need space to store things. Er, no.

I'll be shopping, probably end up with another Octavia.

[Peter Hill]

Post by WhatAPrat

Post by Roger Mills

Post by WhatAPrat
I'm tempted for my next car comprehensive insurance quote to put the
value of the car down as 1 pound, might that get a lower quote and I
could put the savings in the kitty for the next motor?

Since you know that the insurance will never fix your car, a good ploy
is to opt for a large voluntary excess - say £1000. That should bring
the premium down by more than reducing the notional value.

Thanks, I might investigate that idea when my next car loses its resale
value.

Post by Roger Mills

Post by WhatAPrat
Grrrrr, got to find a replacement banger now.

Is there any structural damage to your car - or is it just the plastic
bumper? If the latter, get a replacement bumper from a breakers yard.

Unfortunately a lot has been pushed in, sides and lights damaged as well
as a re-enforcement bar pushed into the aircon radiator. So I could
spend a fair bit at the breakers, and then there is the bonnet to close.
It would be cheaper me buying another working car of the same age, and
swapping parts between them to keep one going. And selling bits I don't
need on eBay. However, need space to store things. Er, no.
I'll be shopping, probably end up with another Octavia.

You don't do that much damage by accidentally reversing into a car. That
amount of damage suggests it was a ramming.

I had my 200SX reversed into by a petrol tanker about 2 years ago. He
was using a weight limited road as a cut though. Someone saw it and left
me his reg number. Just put a small scratch up the nose, broke the
number plate, distorted the number plate mount and pushed the wing out
so it detached about 10mm from the arch liner.

[Theo]

Post by Roger Mills
Since you know that the insurance will never fix your car, a good ploy
is to opt for a large voluntary excess - say £1000. That should bring
the premium down by more than reducing the notional value.

Beware that the excess also applies if you have an at-fault claim. For
example, you run into the back of another car and it's clear that it's your
fault. So you're not putitng at risk just the value of the car but the full
value of the excess.

That said, you may still reckon it's worth it given your assessment of the
risks.

IME changing the voluntary excess doesn't make a huge difference once you go
above £150 - maybe about £5-10 on the premium per step (£250 -> £500
v.excess, etc). So for me it doesn't work out worthwhile, but everyone's
quote is going to be different.

ISTM they don't pay a lot of attention to the value figure you provide, they
calculate costs based on the make/model of car you have, its age etc. So if
you want to save on insurance, run some quotes with different cars and see
how it affects the premium.

For example, one car has a base spec model in insurance group 15, and the
model with Bluetooth and better speakers in group 16. There seems to be a
threshold at 15 that means the group 16 car has a noticeable jump in
insurance, even though the actual difference is irrelevant to the number of
accidents (it's not a car for boy racers).

Theo

[Roger Mills]

Post by Theo

Post by Roger Mills
Since you know that the insurance will never fix your car, a good ploy
is to opt for a large voluntary excess - say £1000. That should bring
the premium down by more than reducing the notional value.

Beware that the excess also applies if you have an at-fault claim. For
example, you run into the back of another car and it's clear that it's your
fault. So you're not putitng at risk just the value of the car but the full
value of the excess.

With my insurance policy, the excess doesn't apply to third-party claims
- just for damage to my own vehicle.

[Nick Finnigan]

Post by WhatAPrat
My parked 13 yr owned car got reversed into by an unknown driver, bumper
bent torn but car's a write-off - as it's only worth £200 (jamjar.com).
Why am I paying for comprehensive Esure insurance that will scam me the
first £250 of a claim, then give me £200 back as they won't fix it?

Because it is the cheapest option ?

Post by WhatAPrat
Why is third party only insurance more expensive?

Because the people who ask for TPI insurance are bad risks.

Post by WhatAPrat
Why is (breathes for air) insurance such a rip off?
I'm tempted for my next car comprehensive insurance quote to put the
value of the car down as 1 pound, might that get a lower quote and I
could put the savings in the kitty for the next motor?

People who have a car worth only £1 will be bad risks.
Just play about with a online quote sites; 'Household duties' is a much
better then being 'unemployed'.

Since you know that the insurance will never fix your car, a good ploy is
to opt for a large voluntary excess - say £1000. That should bring the
premium down by more than reducing the notional value.

People who have a large excess will not be a standard risk.