Well they are Wilsons Group who have been around since 1969 and regulated by FSA so they sound ok to me.

Quoteline direct?

Right. Cos they have LOADS of experience in insurance dont they??!

I hope you have to make a claim, because I once went with an unknown insurer and it took months and in the end had to take them to court bla bla.

I thought exactly the same thing about krypto's comments on loyalty. My experience of loyalty with NU Direct having insured with them for 5 years on 2 cars, 2 houses contents and buildings - until we wanted to insure a Maserati. Despite my husband having never ever had an accident or claimed on motor insurance in 23 years, driving around 50,000 miles a year, NU Direct wouldn't quote. Best price was with Quoteline direct who gave an excellent quote £1000 cheaper than most other quotes - and the call centre is in Manchester not India so I can understand what they are saying! I've now moved all my insurances to Quoteline Direct who came in much cheaper than NU Direct every time - so they lost all my business just cos they wouldn't quote and I'm better off.
Stuff loyalty.

There was no change of address, nor did we change the car. The only thing that happened over the last year were two incidents of damage to the car which was covered by the other person's insurance though, so not even a loss of no-claim. Also trying to get a quote as new customer, these incidents were mentioned.

By the way, the insurer was Elephant. Their service so far was great, which made me want to stay with them.

Im sorry but there must have been a valid reason for a 30% increase.

Had you changed your car? Moved address?

An inusrer wouldnt increase by 30% fo rno reason, unless your with norwich union direct who have put their costs up by 40% this year.

Many customers at direct line never understood why the price could increase if they moved address - its very obvious!!!!!

Loubie - yes from what I heard its by 2009 - insurers either make customers have a policy under contract for 3yrs minimum - which I think is fantastic, or all insurers will go under the same roof - i.e. direct line, norwich union, they will just join forces hence making alot more money! Brilliant idea if you ask me, customers treat insurance like a flea market, always wanting more and wasting phone resources by calling up and asking for more discount.

Im talking about the majority of people who scrimp and save if they find a quote £5 cheaper elsewhere - iv seen it happen trust me, it does and its disgusting!!!!!

Trust me, if you move insurer every single year, then come to make a claim, its going to be really really stressful for you - I've seen this so many times and Im not saying what it is as you can find out for yourself as you all seem to like shopping around so much.

And no the insurer wont tell you, they willl just say they will take care of it, but wait til you make a claim - then see what shopping around does for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Insurers are getting stricter - good on them.

Exactly, which is why everyone should always shop around! As I said earlier being loyal costs!! The more money in your pocket the better. Its not just on motor insurance either, health insurance has great introductory gifts, The Pru is currently offering £100 Boots vouchers, the Post Office on home & motor are giving users £50 cash back for going with them. This website is great for telling you things like this when you're shopping around.

Here's to more money in our pockets for christmas!

Thanks. Looking at this; Do insurance companies deserve any loyalty at all then? As a thanks to being loyal you just get an enormous increase - they do however give great quotes for newcomers.

Well done you for being so thrifty! You know a friend of mine was with Direct Line and had their renewal thru to which it was more than they thought it would be due to being claim free for a year etc etc... He phoned them up asking them to see if they'll match a price he'd been given by NU. They very clearly refused by telling him that they don't price match so he bought the policy with NU. When he called DL up to cancel the policy the operative asked him did you do a quote on our site as if you were a new customer? He had, and it was the same price as the NU one. They then told him that he could of cancelled the original policy and taken out a new one online benefiting from the introductory price. Why they didn't tell him this when he phoned up in the first place is a mystery. More Th>n recommends the same, if you can get a cheaper quote on their site compared to your renewal from them they encourage you to do the same thing.

Krypto, you didn't answer my question about the 2009 thing...

Hi there.

Interesting arguments. I was new to the country and did find a good car insurance deal. I do not like to change insurers, especially not when everything functions well. However when I received my renewal quote last month, I was completely shocked. There was an increase of over 30%! In this case (expensive car and comprehensive cover) this amounted to over GBP 550. I called the insurer and asked them why this was, there was no better explanation than that insurance costs had increased. After trying on their own website to get a quote on my husbands name, it was a lot cheaper. I called them again and then they mentioned that if I would get a quote on their website under my own name and the same conditions that would be cheaper, they would take this quote as a renewal quote. So I did. I saved GBP 550 and am still with the same insurance company under the same conditions (which I was happy with).

It's great to get cheap insurance to start with, but it is criminal to increase with over 30% at renewal under the same conditions that is better conditions as the car has lost in value over the last year and there is an extra year of no-claim.

I was really shocked! As from now I will always check quotes!

Loubie, theres a big difference there. People wouldnt go to tesco and buy a can of tesco beans and ask if tesco can do any better on the price because they found it cheaper elsewhere would they?!..........well probably........

I also read at the weekend, that alot of insurers are going to impose a 3 year contract on an insurance policy as people change every single year and its costing insurers a fortune in wasted documents and paperwork/time/effort.


All im trying to say is, insurance isnt a flea market, dont get your renewal documents then call the insurer up and ask if thats their best price...it is, otherwise the renewal documents would have said O.N.O.

Hi Again,

Its been interesting reading both of your posts albeit I think Krypto's comments are a little extreme. At the end of the day it's up to the individual as to how they tailor their car insurance policy. Most people just want to make sure that in the event they run someone over and kill them the liability of the policy will pay out rather than you which could run into millions.

I am quite intrigued by your comment though Krypto about 'all insurers will be under the same roof" in 2009. I don't understand what you mean - how can this even be possible both politically and techncially??? I do know that Direct Line power a lot of sites at the moment, are you saying they propose to power them all? I can't see insurance companies rolling over for them, this'll never happen.

People groan about motor insurance because it's a legal requirement. Home insurance isn't legal and you never hear about people winging about the home ins prices. People groan at anything they have to buy so they always look around to find the cheapest possible price. If everyone took your philosophy surely people would be asking "whats the point in having lots of supermarkets?" It's called 'choice'. Consumers will always expect to have a choice which is why I don't understand your 2009 comment.

He claimed because he wanted to save the £40 - so just paid £500 - little does he know his insurance will go up next year.

I don't dispute that some people are rude I know sometimes lack of understanding insurance, and when common errors occur it can be annoying - people calling for help should realise that being polite gets them much better service as shouting and balling at anyone gets their back up!

I also would like to point out that I don't scrimp and scape on my insurance...I make sure I have the best cover for the best price. I certainly don't have a £500 excess!!! It would be very naive of me to take out a 'poor quality' insurance policy given the fact I work in insurance.

The circumstance you scripted above doesn't really make sense. Why would someone claim through their insurance for a claim worth £500 when they could get the work done for £540?? Surely they would be better paying it without claiming. Just because he removed his legal fees....it doesn't mean he can't claim, he would just have to provide his own solicitor. As for personal injury cover...that covers for death, loss of limb or loss of eyesight in an accident, not loss of earnings. - I personally would recommend all people to take legal fees but people do have an option.

What i'm saying is 'scrimping and scraping' on insurance is a bad idea.....you want to make sure you're properly covered, but paying more money for the same level of cover is pointless.

I didnt need to persuede people to remove cover to save money, they did it themselves because they are just price fixated.

How about people moving companies because they found it £5 cheaper than their renewal?

How about people who are rude and ignorant to those they speak to at their insurance company because they canthave any more money off?

Some companies do offer legal protection at £5000, but customers dont seem to care.

I will give you an example. A usual customer just like yourself, scrimped and saved their way through their insurance, putting the excess up to £500, removing legal cover and personal injury, only to have an accident a few months later against an uninsured driver - he couldnt claim because he removed his legal cover (£20), paid out £500 on the excess for repair of his vehicle which cost £540 altogether (higher excess = £15 saving), AND had no personal injury cover so he was off work for a month and he was self employed (a loss of probably £1200).

So, altogether, he LOST nearly £2000 of his own money, because he wanted to save a measly £35 at his renewal.

Fair enough, people like to SAVE on their insurance, but in the long run, its not worth it.

My insurance gives me the highest value of each cover - £100,000 legal, £50 excess, personal injury - everything, I paid £318.74 at renewal - £80 of that was breakdown cover (which is worth it - customers think they wont breakdown ever!!!!!! wait til they have to pay £80 for a toe truck!!!!!) - yes i shopped around and I could get it all in all with another company for £279.74 - about £40 cheaper - but they offered less cover - £10,000 legal, less on personal injury, so I stuck with who I was with.

Customers never think they will have an accident, but these days most drivers dont care.

I'm loyal to my insurer, I only shopped around to see what was out there and I knew no company would be the cover I had.

The whole point of insurance is to protect you in the event of a claim, customers dont think this.

I cant wait til 2009 when all insurers will be under the same roof. No shopping around, you have to stick with the same insurer so you have to pay the price your given - although I pity the people who work for the insurer as most customers are very rude when they call up.

Its a shame.

In response to your response.......

Motor Legal Protection covers you for any uninsured loses...ie: personal injury, loss of earnings, recovery of your excess in a non fault accident. If your hit by a driver that is uninsured you claim though your own insurance as they have none or..... All insurance companies pay into the MIB (motor insurance bureau) this is for innocent drivers to claim from if they're hit by a driver with no insurance.

In all my experience from working in insurance i have never come across legal fees as little as £5000??

Who needs to spend 'days and days and days' looking for car insurance when you can use search engions on the web that take...oooooh....lets think about it......10 mins maximum!!!! You're deluded!!! Direct Line seem to have brain washed you!! Maybe half of the people at direct line scrimpt and scrapped and took less cover to make them more in line with the more competitive companies..... people like you probably convinced them to stay by removing additional extras to make them more competitive.

Sorry you're wrong....people should shop around checking that they are recieving the benefits they need and if they are and they can save some money.......good for them.

Some insurance people are on the side of the consumer!