Hello I'm hoping you could advise me which car insurance company to choose from

I have used money supermarket to get the cheapest car insurance quote and it has come up with 6 insurance companies that are the cheapest

Autotrader

Yes insurance

Hsbc

Swinton

Budget

Post office

I would like to know from fellow members which insurance company to go with that offers the best overall service

Is it also best to take legal cover?

Hi

Budget, Auto Trader, Yes Insurance , HSBC and Post office branded Insurances are administered by BISL Ltd ( Budget Insurance) based in Peterborough. I did have a post office policy and had no problems with service, documents received ok. I have read other comments advising that Renewal Documents have not been received and policies have been automatially renewed. However, I certainly received all my documents in a timely fashion. I didn't sign up for automatic renewal !!! Do a search on forum for Budget Car Insurance and see what others say.

I have never used Swinton so I don't know what policies they offer or what there service is like. Do a search for Swinton on this forum. There are some critical posts.

Check the admin/amendment charges that you may incur if you made any changes to the policies mid-term. Also check policy wordings, particularly how excesses are applied.

As another poster to this site says, cheap is cheaper for a reason !!

Over the years I have personally found Direct Line and AA to be the best. Others may have different opinions. I have heard many positive comments about Insurance through Direct Line, NatWest, RBS and Tesco. These policies are underwritten within the RBS Insurance umbrella.

Huckster

Swinton are decent, they are actually a broker chain who use different insurers who can deliver competitive quotes based on your details, just don't take out a policy from their "Gateway" insurance alternative.

They will give you a choice of other insurers with a few pounds variation on the original quote...pay a few quid extra and go for a policy with "NIG" instead of the other, if your only choice is Gateway... then use a different company. !

Thank you for the replies...

Would it be best to take the option of legal cover too?

Which of the above companies would you take a policy with if you were in my position?

I personally would avoid NIG as their service has gone really down hill in the last year, I would also avoid MMA who Swintons like to quote, possibly because they are owned by MMA

Hi

From the replies you must be thinking, are there any companies people would recommend? People have different experiences. I am lucky as I have only had to claim twice in the many years I have been driving. These were with Direct Line who handled the claims quickly without any hassle. If you are going to go with one of the cheaper quotes through the companies mentioned above, I would check which Insurer Swinton are using for the quote. If it is the Gateway option, then as Conmankiller suggests, perhaps contact Swinton for alternative or look elsewhere.

If you go with one of the brands that use BISL, check the policies carefully and take into account negative comments made on this and other forums. If you pay monthly the interest on the Post Office policy is a typical APR of 23.6%. The interest rates vary, so you will need to check this if you need to pay monthly by DD. On this comparison site just go through to the Insurers sites and you can view most of missing details.e.g policy wordings, monthly DD costs etc.

As for Legal expenses, this can be worthwhile having, to cover cost of obtaining refund of uninsured losses e.g your excess if the 3rd party is at fault. I dealt with claims for awhile and customers who used the services of DAS at the time had very high opinions of the service provided. The cover and services provided by the Legal Expenses companies does vary, so check the details.

At the end of the day, whichever company you choose, they are regulated by the FSA and most come under the Ombudsman scheme, so you have a way of seeking recourse if required. Just check policies carefully and ask questions of Insurers/brokers if in any doubt.

Huckster

I checked Swinton for my car insurance and the insurer is "Markerstudy Ins Co Ltd - Markerstudy PC" I could see no mention of "Gateway" is it okay to go with Markerstudy?

No comment. !

Seriously I personally have not heard of them good or bad, hang fire...hopefully others will add their opinion.

Autotrader - Rubbish

Yes insurance - Rubbish

Hsbc - Not as bad as rubbish as a product but not great

Swinton - Swindlers who are controlled puppets with Towergate holding the strings. Not independent by any stretch of the definition. Their staff in the branches know nothing about risk presentation and are not vigilent. They told me personally that they do not look for peple with long term ambition but pure driven sales people. Obviously this leads to negligent acts and lack of experience/industry standards.

Budget - Rubbish

Post office - Misleading wording although their travel policy is acceptable and fairly clear wording.

Anything in the BISL/BGL group should be scrutinised. They are all low-premium insurances who will not look after you during a claim.

RE NIG, yes, be careful. They are suffering bad press at the moment and have issued industry press release along the lines of 'bear with us'. They are laying off Underwriting staff all over the place and therefore they are not committed to the job anymore. Classic sign of stripping the company and for RBS to sell NIG. Shame, as they were a very good company. But RBS are the people that spend £300k on champagne parties and £300k on corporate entertainment at Wimbledon. Go figure !

MMA are not too bad.

As for legal cover. Split opinions from people here. I can get it free of charge through work but I don't even bother. It's a waste of paper and I'm trying to keep my carbon footprint down !

Direct Line highlight how they try to bullsh it their way selling it...

If you have a road traffic accident involving your car that is not your fault, you have a right to be able to claim back your uninsured losses from the driver responsible.

The hourly rate for a qualified solicitor or legal executive’s costs is likely to be in excess of £100. Our legal protection cover will provide up to £100,000 of legal costs to help you to recover losses that cannot be claimed from any insurance policy.

Examples may include:

• Compensation for death or Injury - But, as stated, this is for a non-fault claims only therefore this loss is recovered from the other side.
• Your car insurance excess under your comprehensive policy - Again, non fault accidents only and therefore you get the excess back. This policy explains that it attempts to get it back within 90 days. Majority of cases are settled quicker than this anyway where it is non-fault.
• Accident repair costs if you do not have comprehensive cover - Crap! It clearly states that Legal Cover is designed for Non-Fault accidents and therefore irrelevant if you are Fully Comp or Third Party. The third party who is at fault pays damages.
• Damage to your clothes, luggage or personal belongings if you do not have comprehensive cover - Again, rubbish. If a third party damages your property it can be claimed for.
• Hire car costs - Expenses that the Insurer, through subrogation, gets back from the other side. Courtesy vehicles are usually provided these days anyway.
• Loss of earnings - through what? Injury? Lack of vehicle? Although technically an uninsured loss this can be claimed for anyway via injuries sustained.

Very misleading! Most agents selling this 'benefit' will often not know what the correct 'benefits' are subsequently mis-selling the product (ESPECIALLY Swinton - they should rethink their name 'GCSE Swinton' as most of the staff either haven't sat them [yet] or have failed them). Be warned.

---

Coyote

As the above companies are the cheapest who would you recommend i go with?, also AA has come up the cheapest too and direct dial....

previously i was with Quinn but they were unable to beat or match the cheapest quotes i found

Ash2009:As the above companies are the cheapest who would you recommend i go with?, also AA has come up the cheapest too and direct dial.... previously i was with Quinn but they were unable to beat or match the cheapest quotes i found

Depends these comparison sites offer premiums from cheap companies although, as reported by MoneySupermarket, more and more people are choosing policy cover over policy premium.

If you are content using the online tool, find an independent intermediary or broker. There are a few on here. Avoid the ones where you are directed to one Insurer or product.

---

Coyote

This is all new to me could you recommend any broker websites that i could use?

I think if all fails i may go with AA as its a reputable company

Ash2009

I went with the AA at my last renewal. If you are an AA member, you receive additional cover benefits. I have heard that their claims service is good also. I have not read any complaints regarding their service, apart from that they will phone you to try to sell other products, even though you may opt out of receiving this information.

Huckster

i'm not an AA member used confused.com also and AA are offering breakdown cover at no extra cost, in regards to legal cover does it mean that if i do not take out legal cover and if i were to be involved in an accident that was not my fault i would be unable to claim if i was injured, loss of earning etc, is that what legal cover is for?

Hi

Do a search for AA Motor Legal Protection policy wording and you can read a pdf copy. It is essentially to cover legal fees in pursuing a 3rd party/Insurers for uninsured losses. e.g. personal Injury damages for car accident caused by 3rd party to you or your passengers. Uninsured losses that can be pursued are defined in the document.

Have a read and I am sure you will think it is worthwhile.

Huckster