# Car insurance: on line competitive quote



## Marion

*This post was originally posted by Mac*

Any suggestions for car insurance for lady aged 40+, and years of no claims etc.?

MAC


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## eilis

*Online insurance*

If you visit www.eforecourt.ie you will find a full list of insurance company websites which will provide you with various online quotes.  My quotes for 40+ ranged from 258 euro to about 550 euro!!!


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## sherman

*Easy as...*

www.123.ie - this site is worth a gander.


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## garrettod

*....*

Hi, 

When you get to www.eforcourt.ie, you will have to search around a little, so I've saved you all the trouble  

==========================================

Hibernian Direct  [broken link removed]  

AA Insurance  [broken link removed]  

Eagle Star  [broken link removed]  

Premiere Direct  [broken link removed]  

Royal & SunAlliance  [broken link removed]  

First Call Direct    

Quinn Direct Car Insurance


Solmon Motor Insurance  www.solmon.com/motornew/ 

Insureweb [broken link removed] 

Insure.ie   

123 Insurance Online www.123.ie/ 

Insurance Ombudsman
[broken link removed] 



<!--EZCODE BOLD START-->*  Don't be afraid to tell the insurance companies where to stick their quote, if  you feel your being ripped off *<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

We are all being told that our insurance premiums are going up, due to such things as the very sad events of 11-09-02.  

However, lets all be clear about this .... the insurance companies are not there for the benefit of their customers. 

They will not give us all a rebate of our premiums, or distribute their profits to us, when they do well. 

So why should we help pay for their losses ?

The insurance companies are in the business of taking risks & get paid well for taking those risks.  Furthermore, they have the option of covering their own risk, by re-insuring with a re-insurance company. 

If you have enjoyed claim free motoring, you should be rewarded, by a cheaper car insurance quote the following year .... its that simple, when all is said & done !

If a company gives you a higher quote than you deserve, tell them in no uncertain terms what they can do with the quote .... then take your business elsewhere. 

Power to the people... vote with your feet (& your cash)


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## Dearg Doom

*Re: ....*

I just had an interesting chat with Quinn Direct. They refuse to give me an allowance for insurance I had in my own name in the US, which I'm not too surprised at. However they also refuse to recognise the 1 year named driver experience I have since I came back... because I had insurance in my own name (which they refuse to recognise)...


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## kevin

*watch this ...*

Quinn also refused to quote me because I had one recent claim for windscreen breakage !

Value was 292 euro, and I had the bonus protection on my policy.  However, some insurers don't care what protection you had on your bonus.  The no claims statement from my insurer states I have a full no claims discount/bonus, but that the number of years claim-free in the last 5 years is zero !

It is legally correct, but works in the favour of some insurers.  Most companies I spoke to have not been concerned with the windscreen claim and quoted as if I had no claims.


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## Sure

*car insurance*

Just renewed my car insurance for 2004. Tried online sites, brokers and calling the co.'s directly.

Found that the online quotes are pretty useless. For example, Hibernian Direct online won't accept quotes if you have made a claim in the last five years. I have made two claims in the last five years and I got a quote from Hibernian through a broker.

Of all the quotes I received, online were the most expensive. My cheapest quotes were from brokers.

In the end went with a broker.

Difference between the most expensive and cheapest quote was €700!


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## kevin

*sometimes the phone is best !*

Be careful with online quotes.  I just tried www.123.ie

I checked and rechecked the details I entered and found the best quote out of the 8 responses was worse than 5 quotes I got by phone a few days ago.  In some cases, the better quotes were from companies that supplied higher premiums via 123.ie

In my case, the best comprehensive quote from 123.ie was 787 euro.  I got the following by phone for equivalent cover ....

Premier; 1-890-909090; Euro 657
National; 1-890-484840; Euro 675
Top Quote; 1-890-788787; Euro 724
Hibernian; 1-890-332211; Euro 635
One Direct; 1-890-222222; Euro 633

Again, just to repeat - these should all be compared to the "best" quote from 123.ie of Euro 787 !


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## saver

*sometimes the phone is best !*

Yep, sometimes the phone is deinitely best!

I got various quotes on the web a year ago and decided to go with the Quinn Direct quote of €3200 (It seems I'm "high risk" :rolleyes  ).  Quinn allow you to actuallt start a policy in its entirety over the website, so, I did.

A week later, I was still expecting details in the post, having printed off all of the relevant acknowledgements from the site as it processed my new policy.  No sign, so I phoned Quinn...

They told me that they didn't have a policy for me! After a week of driving around :eek  .  Apparently, "something must have gone wrong on the website".  Not my fault, I design these web application things for a living, so I was pretty careful with it.  Anyway, they did a bit of digging around and said that they'd found the records of my online quote, well, maybe that's something.  However!  The girl said that she'd run the figures through herself and that the quote should have been €2400. *€800 cheaper!*  They started a new policy there and then so all's well that ends well but... *Wow!*   I don't trust web quotes any more funnily enough!

saver


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## Shanks1

*Re: sometimes the phone is best !*

I "bought" a motor policy from Quinn Direct last year over their web-site (which is very slow by the way) for €2100. I had included 5 years named driver's experience from the mid-nineties which the form on the web-site accepted no problem. While I was expecting proposal forms etc in the post, the next day they called me saying that because more than 3 years had elapsed since this named drivers experience it was actually of no benefit to me and my actual quote was €3700! I told them to stuff it as I had much cheaper quotes elsewhere. Because the policy was active in their eyes they then "cancelled" it and charged me €56 for less than 24 hr cover. The web isn't always the best way to go!!


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## Ben Gan

*Re: sometimes the phone is best !*

I dont reckon they can do this. They are trying it on. What "exaxtly" are they charging you for?
There was an error on their part giving you an incorrect quote. When this was highlighted to you and you were offered an alternative, you said no.

They cant charge for this.

Ben


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## Shanks1

*Re: sometimes the phone is best !*

I didn't initially pay for the reasons you state but they were adamant that I was covered for those 18 hrs at the €2100 rate. After much correspondence I sent them a cheque for €5.75 which is a 2100/365, (the remainder of the bill was admin charges etc) and they just lost interest in the whole thing then.


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## Joey

*insure.ie*

I tried insure.ie and got quotes for both car and house insurance.
When they list the quotes they give you a list of benefits with the insurance.
So they sent out proposal forms to sign and then send back with payment.
Lucky i read the benefits etc, because all of the benefits i thought i was getting werent there.
When i called them they just said that it was the insurers fault.
Surely this has to be considered a waste of time.
I'll never trust an online quote company again.
The problem was that i stopped looking when i got that quote and then when ifound out they were doing some false advertising  i only had a few hours left to look around before my policies ran out.


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## highwood

*Quinn Direct*

Anyone else have the same problems as I am having with quinn Direct?
I have been 10 yrs with this company and never had a claim or an accident ---touch wood
I simply recieved a letter out of the blue saying my insurance had been cancelled a week before-hand, which meant all of my family had been driving the vehicle on the public roads of Ireland without insurance' for nearly a week!!
Needless to say I'm furious. MY wife and I then spent 2 full days of excuses and passing the buck, from their offices, and eventually after many hours of phone calls, a supervisor tells us that NO--the insurance was never cancelled??  Can you believe that in this day and age of modern technology they still can't get it right?? We took two days off work after recieving the cancellation letter because we have no other transport
Fuming
 Kelvin


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## highwood

*Quinn Direct*

After my experience of the last couple of days with quinn direct , Im not too surprised at your dilema. 
I lived in england for a fair few years, and never came across the kind of incompetence i suffered from some of the staff during the last couple of days.
I am taking my complaint right to the top with this one
FURIOUS--yes I am !!

Kelvin


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## Alex

*Quinn Direct*



> Anyone else have the same problems as I am having with quinn Direct?
> I have been 10 yrs with this company



Quinn Direct has not been around for 10 years.


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## highwood

*Quinn Direct*

Wel, Maybe 9 years then??  Put it another way , right from the beginning , at a time when they DID respect their customers.. I am now in the process of reporting them to the appropriate  authority with my complaint, and will post again with an update. Thanks
Kelvin


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## Alex

*Quin direct*

They launched in mid/late 1996 I think.  I'm surprised you ever found their customer service good.


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## highwood

*Quinn Direct*

Well, In fairness to them I thought they were ok for the first few years until now, but I have noticed in the last 2 years that one hand does'nt seem to know what the other hand is doing.  And, it took 5 different phone calls over 2 different days  asking them to fax me my no claims bonus until eventually a supervisor took the matter in hand and it was done . Having to insist on a supervisor dealing with your query everytime you contact them, is a bit much I know, but it seems to be the only way .
Kelvin


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## Marion

*Re: >>Car insurance - information required*

The following was posted by *Freddie Kruger* elsewhere:

*INFORMATION REQUIRED BY INSURERS TO PROVIDE A QUOTATION FOR MOTOR INSURANCE.*


Renewal Date of existing policy
Age of Driver/s
Sex of Driver/s
Who is main driver and who is to be named on the policy
Occupation of Driver/s
Employed or Self-Employed – all drivers
Full or Provisional Licence – all drivers
Any Accidents Claims or Convictions – all drivers
Make and Model of Car
CC of Car 
Petrol or Diesel
Year Of Car
Value Of Car
Cover Required –TP/TPF&T or Comprehensive
Windscreen Cover Required –Y/N
Have you ever been named on another motor insurance policy –all drivers
Do you have access to any other vehicle – all drivers
Milage per annum
Use – Social Domestic & Pleasure or In connection with work
Any Disability
Years No Claims Bonus
Do you require step back of bonus in the event of a claim
Do you require Bonus Protection
Do you require driving of other vehicles TP cover
What district is the car normally parked in at night


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## corracramph

*Britton Insurance*

I got vey cheap insurance from Britton Insurance. Their website is www.brittoninsurance.com


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## gillyken

*insurance*

cant find that web address


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## monk

*Re: insurance*

its:  [broken link removed]

out of interest I got a quote from them the other day and they quoted me nearly half what I paid last month to another insurer....DOH!! Too late this year but they will be first port of call next year. PS - the on-line quote can be reduced if you ring them up.


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## corracramph

*Britton Insurance*

I got a really cheap quote from the above mentioned.  They were by far cheaper that anyone else I got quotes from


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## Statler

*Re: Britton Insurance*

My insurance is up shortly so I took a look at Britton (to prepare myself for the dreaded renewal notice). I was surprised to see a bargain quote of EUR1090.20 for an AXA policy. Convinced this couldn't possibly be right I went back and checked the details.
There was one mistake I had put "Axa Insurance" as my previous insurer so I changed this to "Axa Broker" and continued, expecting the same pleasent result(it seemed such a small change). Instead I got a quote of EUR1548.04 for the same policy with Axa. 
I'm no insurance expert, but I fail to see how obtaining a policy through a broker, rather than direct from Axa last year could justify a 42% higher premium this year!

Also, it struck me that the whole experience of filling in the form for Britton was very similar to  so I tried it there. Exactly the same results, except they were offering a discount off the premium for the same policy(approx. 10%).


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## Marion

*Re: >>Car insurance survey*

You can find IFSRA's car insurance survey [broken link removed]. It is to be updated every 3 months. The PDF file also contains some general useful information.

Marion :hat


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## din0saur

*Re: Britton Insurance*

Ringing around looking for insurance for a provisional driver and Britton Insurance ar 33% cheaper than next 2 quotes and 50% better than highest. They wouldn't say who the policy is with, who could it be..

PS Hibernian Direct wouldn't quote - so that's how they "bring down the price of insurance" LOL


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## Freddie Kruger

*Re: Axa Direct & Axa Broker*

Statler,

The difference in premium between these two distribution channels is supposed to be 5%. At least, this is what the providers tell the broker market. 

In practice, this is a fallacy. Your premium is now based on how hungry the provider is for business at the time of the quotation request and how targets are going.

I think that underwriting has taken a back seat, in fact I would say that it is in the trunk at this stage.


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## maryd

*Re: Quinn Direct*

STAY AWAY FROM QUINN DIRECT!! had exactly the same problem and they kept taking payments. Customer service is dire! I ended up going to the FSA and complaining to the QD manager. Ended up getting 300 euro off my policy (which is nothing to them) but defo wont be renewing with them.....ever!


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## happyinvest

*Re: Key Post: Car insurance: on line competitive quote*



			
				Marion said:
			
		

> *This post was originally posted by Mac*
> 
> Any suggestions for car insurance for lady aged 40+, and years of no claims etc.?
> 
> MAC


 
Try Hibernian on line, saved almost 500 euro


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## zabbo

Guys who done my Travel Insurance, have car/house insurance as well - www.quoteme.ie


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## Bgirl

think the OP got her answer a while back - this was originally mooted in 2003!!


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## Satanta

Bgirl said:


> think the OP got her answer a while back - this was originally mooted in 2003!!


And the great thing about AAM is that while one person asks a question, many can benefit from it! Someone with a similiar query today can search, find the thread, and the continued updates will help provide them (us!) with more information.

Apologies. Totally OT....


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## askalot

Try

http://www.tesco.ie/finance/carinsurance/index_quote.html

Found them to be the most competitive.


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## cian8

Just thought I'd post an update on buying car insurance, as I've recently been looking to renew my insurance and have found that a lot of the links listed on askaboutmoney don't work anymore, as the address has changed or the company has stopped trading, also some new offerings were missing. Hope this is of some use.

The IFRSA website has general information and also cost surveys here.


These are a list of brokers and insurers that will give quotes online.


www.123.ie


www.hiberniandirect.ie (3000 piggy points available for going through pigsback.)

www.bestquote.ie
[broken link removed]
www.quoteme.ie
http://www.tesco.ie/finance/carinsur...dex_quote.html
www.fbd.ie
www.insureme.ie
http://www.topquotedirect.com/ (online facility not live yet)
[broken link removed]


Some brokers/insurers do not have online quote facilities:
AA Ireland (01) 6179950
One Direct 1890 222222
Eagle Star 1850 447799


Royal and Sun Alliance only offer motor insurance through brokers, on their website you can find a list of brokers divided by county, find it here.


IMPORTANT: Online quotes are not necessarily the lowest price (especially if you are not in a prime insurance category for example if you are young, old, male, in a risky occupation or driving a powerful/high-value car!). Even with online guarantees (e.g. 50euro off for ordering online) it can still work out cheaper to ring the company in question. It would seem that the human operators have significant leeway to discount premiums to secure your business, so haggle!


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## cian8

With regards to my last post I thought it might be useful to highlight my recent experience of getting car insurance to illustrate the savings that can be had, and also I thought it might be particularly helpful for other young male drivers like myself.

A quick review of my situation male, 23, full Irish license (for 1 year), 1 year no claims, no named driving experience, based in Limerick, driving a Renault Clio 1.2L 2000 worth ~4,000euro.

For my first year of driving I was insured with Quinn Direct on a provisional license for ~2,200euro (eek!) for Third party, fire and theft. I have since passed my driving test and am due to renew my insurance. The renewal quote was 1,088euro. But I endeavoured to beat this, I received the following quotes online:

www.123.ie No Quote!
www.firstcalldirect.ie €1776
 €1111 (AXA)
www.hiberniandirect.ie €1575 
www.quinn-direct.com/ €895 
www.bestquote.ie €1404
[broken link removed] €1661 
www.quoteme.ie €1973 
http://www.tesco.ie/finance/carinsur...dex_quote.html €1292
www.fbd.ie €2211 
www.insureme.ie €1520 (AXA)

Amazingly, the Quinn Direct quote was €193 cheaper.

Some of the online brokers email you after you leave the site with an offer to email/phone them if you have received a better quote elsewhere, where this option was presented I availed of it, but again Quinn was the cheapest.

I also phoned the AA who transfered me to AXA, the best quote available was €971. (Cheaper than the 2 online quotes received for the same policy!) The person I spoke to was very helpful and did their utmost to get me the cheapest possible quote, applying as many discounts were applicable!

From the list of brokers I received on the Royal and Sun Alliance website I emailed a query to any brokers with emails listed (quite a few of the emails bounced) and got a number of replys, unfortunately none of which beat my Quinn Direct quote. However when I move into a lower risk category this might be a useful way of lowering my premium.

I also investigated the Hibernian Ignition program. This offers discounts of 20%, 30% or 40% off Hibernian premiums for qualifying drivers who pass the program. 

The Hibernian premium of €1575 would be reduced as follows:

20% €1260
30% €1103
40% €945

I know Hibernian provide the insurance for Tesco, Premium Direct and One Direct, but I don't know if the Ignition discount is applicable to these or whether it is applied differently. Does anyone know what the situation is?

So Quinn it is


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## Trish2006

Cian8, why don't you do the ignition course.  It doesn't cost you anything and if you get a 40% discount it beats your Quinn quote and you're with what appears to be a more reliable company.  Hibernian also give another 17% for no penalty points.  I did the ignition course a few years ago and for me, female, 29, 5 yrs no claims with a 99 astra I'm paying €300 fully comp for both me and my husband.

I don't think there's such thing as the best company for quotes cos every case is treadted differently.  A few years ago my husband got a couple of hundred quid knocked off his quote when he added me to the policy.  At the same time a friend with the same company got €30 added to his policy to add his wife, same ages as ourselves, she had a year's extra driving over me, no claims for any of us, etc.  Can't see why it would be different but that's the way it goes.


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## cian8

Thanks for your reply Trish, but, I think you missed (it was a very long post!) the fact that I got an updated quote of 895euro from Quinn when I went online! So Quinn are still the cheapest!


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## Dub

*Don't go with Quinn Direct*

Hi,
It was interesting to read all the bad reviews about Quinn Direct. I have had the same experience with them. In a nutshell.... yes they are cheap, but if you make a claim, Quinn Direct will not base their decision on what actually happened or who is in the right. They'll make their decision based on how they can make the most money for themselves in the long run. In my case, I had to repeatedly request that both vehicles and the scene was investigated and still it didn't happen. My previous insurance was with AXA and the difference in professionalism and customer care is staggering. I've since gone back to AXA. Colleagues and family warned me about switching over to Quinn Direct..... wish I had listened to them!


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