Key Post What are the options for shopping around for car insurance?

Brendan Burgess

Brendan Burgess

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I would like to list out the options in a systematic manner, but don't know much about it. So please reply to this thread and I will update this Key Post

www.123.ie represents only RSA

Gave me the best quote, but that was because I only wanted third party and no open driving or anything else.

[broken link removed] checks with a number of suppliers
Was very expensive for me.
 
Here is my own experience:

Profile
Age 59
No penalty points , no claims, 30 years driving.
Car Audi A3 2005 - 1600 cc
Car value €3,000 - so I only want Third Party
Drive around 5,000 km a year
I want as big an excess as possible



Frank Glennon Ltd Chartered Accountants Scheme €550.71

I was going to renew automatically with them.

I got a quote of €550.71 It does include open driving which is about €100 extra. The insurance is with Allianz.

Chill.ie : €676.53

Quote
AXA FreedomFirst Standard € 676.53
AXA DriveFirst Basic € 714.86
AXA FreedomFirst Plus € 730.79
Asgard - MotorFirst € 983.05
Aviva Broker Motor Choice € 1,779.04

These include Open Driving.

Although I deliberately ticked the box "I don't want any promotional literature" they made an unsolicited phone call to me within 5 minutes of my asking for a quote online.



www.123.ie RSA Insurance €307.81

They don't do Open Driving . If someone wants to borrow my car, I have to get them on as named drivers, if they are not covered by their own insurance.

I rang them to check if this price was correct. They said that they are often cheaper for plain third party cover.
 
I have previously been with RSA and they tended to be cheaper. I changed cars and had a difficult time trying to contact them to transfer insurance. So I cancelled and went with AVIVA. I then had difficulty trying to get the NCD certificate from them. It didn't give me confidence about how they would handle a claim. It was with RSA directly, not through 123.
 
My cover last yr was €400.00 with Axa this year the best quote I got was €525.00, AXA had looked for 600+, but they matched it in the end.
 
So here is my experience with car insurance. I shop around each year for my two daughters too.

My eldest age 25 was with 123.ie for 4 years built up her no claims in her own right, added her spouse as an N driver last year part way through policy, spouse is 28 there was no added cost to that policy at the time. her renewal was up in June this year 3 months after her 25th birthday so the assumption was this was reduce monthly premiums of 100 per month with 400 up front last time and 10 months as 100. It did note quote was almost 500 euro higher. when questioned they stated "a difference regarding age would show at end of the year you are 25? ) she switched to AVIVA with a better lower quote for her and her spouse I think it was around 900 for entire year cant remember exact fee. her car is a 1.9 skoda saloon.

My youngest daughter was the most difficult to get cover for. She has a 1.2 2 door ford fiesta valued at 2000. She had one year named driver experience built up at age 21. Firstly to try and get a cheep quote she found a company last year called boxy moi . At the time they were new into the south of ireland from the north, their documents reference mileage etc designed for the north. They fit a box into the car, no issue with that and you have to "top up" if you exceed the mileage given, their box reads in mileage too. Problem with this was the box which also checks your driving does not register any new road here. The duel carriage way from tralee to killarney does not exist and therefore on this road it registers the car as speeding. She kept going over mileage and the texts are continual to top up wanting 300 euro a time. I thought this company could be a scam as the killometers covered did not match the demand on mileage they were making. So we cancelled and switched to the AIB as they take monthly payments with no up front fee. AIB gave an APP for the mobile phone once again the app does not register certain new roads and logs the car as speeding when it is not on the new duel carriageway. We finally switched again insurance to AXA with no app on a student policy got it at 185 per month with a quarterly review that give her 10 euro off if there are no claims etc. This is easiest and reasuring as their is nothing to have to remember regarding distracting apps and systems that simply do not recognise our roads in Kerry. On a student policy my daughter cannot add another named driver. She has almost a year done on this policy and her monthly premium has reduced a little, with a "well done" letter letting her know.

I have always driven but not always on my own policy. I had a jeep in 2011 insured through AVIVA the gear box gave in and it was pulled off the road. I have not got my own car back on the road until this year. I have evidence of protected no claims 5 years from Aviva on an updated letter that states insurance up until 2011 in my own right and 3 years named driver on my daughters insurance. Aviva will accept evidence of no claims going back two years but not many will. the age of the car was a factor too. 03 1.6 ford focus is classed as too old by some insurances. I got insurance through AIB backed by AXA on the three years named driving experience at 1100 for year and that is third party only with break down assist and windscreen cover. I could add my spouse but they will not allow me to add my son in law as I wanted stating as I only have named driver experience this cannot be done?

So guys if you dont have a car for a while you basically loose all reference to your driving experience. I am 49 and have been driving since age 17 passed my test in the UK, and have never had any claims.
 
Apropos of this thread that I just posted and just in case it's of interest in this context...

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/first-time-cover-for-50-year-old-on-learner-permit.200582/

On the advice of a broker that I spoke to I found that adding one or two named drivers (full license, the longer the better, claims/points free for 3+ years etc.) to a policy can (depending on the insurer) significantly reduce the cost (especially in my specific circumstances as explained in that thread). Maybe the impact would be marginal or none for a policy holder who has a full/clean license for several years though - and it does depend on the insurer's policy on named drivers too.
 
My experience this year.
Both drivers under 45, full no claims bonus, driving for 20 years, full licenses, no points. Full comp quotes below

Peugeot 307,1.6, 2008
Allianz last year 454, renewal this year 541.


Other car for wife, Citroen C5,2.0. 2005
Allianz last year 405, renewal this year 667.
 
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Brendan Burgess said:
[broken link removed] checks with a number of suppliers
Was very expensive for me.
Click to expand...
That was my experience too - as mentioned in the thread that I linked to above.
Liberty were the only underwriter of Chill's list that would quote.
As a result of incorrect advice from Chill the best that they were offering was just over €2K for TPFT.
When I went to Liberty directly they quoted under €800 for comprehensive!
The guy in Chill seemed genuine and helpful but was maybe misguided (or just a good salesman? :oops:) but their quotes were way out of line with what Liberty offered directly.
The usual advice applies - shop around as much as possible, initially online but also by calling directly.
I and others close to me were surprised that adding named drivers could also have such an impact on premium (at least in my case) so always play around with the underwriting criteria (always being honest of course!).
And choose the cover that suits your specific needs best - e.g. Brendan is obviously comfortable with basic cover (TP/TPFT, high excess, no frills) but some people may want/need these.
BTW - some of the online forms are really badly designed and don't easily allow you to go back and tweak the data. I found Liberty's to be one of the easiest to use and their quote system was similar allowing you to easily go in and tweak/correct data.
 
Cover in a click gave me the best quote by far this year.

"At Coverinaclick.ie we are the young driver insurance experts. We've negotiated specially discounted rates tailored specifically for new, learner and student drivers. You can use our online quotation system to get a provisional quote and then one of our specialist young driver insurance agents can iron out the finer details for you."
 
Last edited by a moderator:
ClubMan said:
That was my experience too - as mentioned in the thread that I linked to above.
Liberty were the only underwriter of Chill's list that would quote.
Click to expand...

Quotes I'm getting from Chill are in the €1150-€1650 range. Best so far is 123.ie @ €550, Allianz and Aviva then next best of those I've tried so far.

ClubMan said:
The usual advice applies - shop around as much as possible, initially online but also by calling directly.
Click to expand...

I end up calling every year, and every year I get a better deal than offered online.

ClubMan said:
I and others close to me were surprised that adding named drivers could also have such an impact on premium
Click to expand...

All down to stats on those with named drivers often having their partners listed, being more likely to travel with them in the car and drive more conservatively when they do.
 
It's funny though - my sisters are highly unlikely to travel with me or even drive my car and yet naming them has a significant downward impact on the premium that I am charged...
 
losttheplot said:
I have previously been with RSA and they tended to be cheaper. I changed cars and had a difficult time trying to contact them to transfer insurance. So I cancelled and went with AVIVA. I then had difficulty trying to get the NCD certificate from them. It didn't give me confidence about how they would handle a claim. It was with RSA directly, not through 123.
Click to expand...
This mirrors my experiences with 123.ie/Richardsons/RSA exactly plus demands for premiums already paid, renewal documents missing, policy details incorrect (wrong car, wrong reg no).

If you haven't been insured with them stay away.
 
Car Insurance due next week so shopping around.

Existing insurance with Zurich through Glennons that includes a €49 broker fee. Total €438.

Aviva direct €423. We have one other car plus house insurance with Aviva and the quote includes these.

123.ie €320.

Each of the above have a NCD step back cover.

It seems to make sense to switch to 123.ie as there is a saving of €123 from the next lowest quote.

Any thoughts?
 
Yes, as a former 123.ie customer stay away from them They are an administrative disaster. I have posted about them before. My Experiences with them included, but are not limited to:
  • Incorrect car details on insurance documents (car disposed of 2 years previously, insurance and NCB transferred)
  • Payment demands for premium increase already paid and receipted by them, my cheque had cleared two months beforehand. Premium increase due to changing car and deleting named (female) driver from policy.
  • Insurance documents not issued. When queried I was told they had issued two weeks previously. Next day the documents arrived, postmarked the day of the phone conversation
I could go on but the financial investigations and the departure of their head and the circumstances surrounding it give cause for thought. The rescue package issued by their parent UK company to plug the financial black hole in the recent past speaks volumes about the financial funny business 123.ie and RSA Ireland have been involved in.

for example see:- http://www.irishtimes.com/business/...ireland-head-denies-culture-of-fear-1.2135159
 
I haven't shopped around the last two years because my current insurer (Allianz) gave me a decent quote last year. But the year before I got online quotes from: 123.ie, 25plus.ie, AA, Allianz, AXA, OneDirect.ie. My top tip for getting online quotes if you don't want to be plagued by email and text spam from insurers are: use a fake phone number (e.g. 5555555), and use a one-time email address from mailinator.com. Don't depend on marketing opt outs -- they usually don't respect them. You have to use a valid postal address to get a valid quote but they rarely spam by post as it costs them money. Once you get a quote you are happy with you can just go back online again with valid details.
 
Allianz just upped my quote from €417 last year to €568, a 36% increase. The only thing that's changed in my details is I have three less penalty points. Have a quote from FBD for €520, so unless Allianz match it, it'll be bye-bye. Couple more online quotes to get first.
 
Certainly looks like it to me at the moment. 50-year old, driving and insured in own name for 30 years, retired, <5000 miles per year, no accidents or claims ever, 3 penalty points, comprehensive insurance on an 8-year old car:

€417 last year with Allianz
€568 renewal quote from Allianz
€629 fresh online quote from Allianz

Other online quotes:

€520 FBD
€588 123.ie
€648 Zurich (via compareinsuranceireland.ie)
€662 Aviva
€718 Post Insurance/One Direct
€718 Wrightway (via compareinsuranceireland.ie)
€790 AXA (via chill.ie)
€851 Liberty Insurance
€890 Kennco (via chill.ie)
€1134 Asgard (via chill.ie)
 
If over 50 try Caoga, their plan is aimed at our age group...;-), An Post were also competitive this year and only lost out by €50.

I shop around every year, my cover went from €440 to renewal €671 and I got it from Aviva for €471, we now have 3 cars in the house with Aviva so I qualified for the 25% multi car discount, I drive a 2.1 Ltr E Class <15000km annually, full stepback protection, windscreen, breakdown etc, very happy with that.

My wife's renewal on a 1.6 petrol went from €360 to €600 and I got that to €400 by switching to its for women.ie.

The shopping around is painful but you will be paid for your time with savings.
 
Holy bajoley, Palerider ... never heard of Caoga but they just quoted me €350 online!!! For that sort of money I can put up with the annoying glossy website pictures of retirees who look like they spent their entire career in a tanning salon. :p

Looking at their website their insurance seems to be underwritten by some partnership between JF Dunne Insurances and AIG, so I tried AIG direct and they quoted me €832. :eek:

Will chase up Caoga tomorrow to see if this really to good to be true. (My initial quote is always with a fake email and phone to avoid spam).

Ta for the tip!
 
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