Key Post Car insurance comparison websites

Brendan Burgess

Brendan Burgess

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I got a renewal quote from 123.ie for €478 which is for RSA Insurance - same price as last year.

I checked with Chill and I got Allianz at €356 and Zurich at €369.

I see that when I checked on Chill a few years ago, they were dearer.

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

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...
www.askaboutmoney.com

I have an old car so I don't need comprehensive cover. And don't want any gimmicks like windscreen or step back.

Any downside to using Chill?

Is there any other price comparison website I can use?

Brendan
 
Thanks jpd

I had already emailed them.

I am scared of ringing them as they say


"If you choose to renew by phone, your renewal price will be €531.06."

:)

Brendan
 
I get quoted by CHILL every year (since I asked for a quote a few yrs back). They always seem to offer a btter price and eben better cover (for me anyway). I didn't take up the offer this year as I am likely to sell my car and will get a pro rata rate from my current insurer Aviva.
 
AXA through a variety of brokers are offering good rates (to me) this year

123.ie is a tied broker only offering RSA policies
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Is there any other price comparison website I can use?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I have never found one and find that the only way to try to get a competitive quote is to shop around with online quotes, maybe also calling them to refine certain info that the online forms don't deal with, and/or to ask a broker to do the legwork.

Some other observations:
  1. Beware of anybody saying "company X is great/cheap/the best" because no underwriter is cheapest for all individuals' risk profiles and needs and even a seemingly small difference between one person's data and another's can have a significant impact on the premium.
  2. The fact that one broker or underwriter was not competitive for your business last year or the year before is irrelevant to today.
  3. Only insure for what you need - e.g. as you say you don't need comprehensive so TPFT will suffice and you don't need many of the optional (or even bundled in some cases) bells and whistles.
  4. In some cases adding a named driver (not just a partner - even a relative or friend who lives elsewhere - ideally with no points and no claims) can have a significant impact on the premium - in some cases reducing it - in others increasing it!
  5. Be truthful when filling in forms but be aware that there can be legitimate ways to tweak things to get a better quote - e.g. a stay at home parent who describes themselves as "unemployed" rather than "homemaker" will most likely pay a lot extra than they should.
  6. Sometimes tweaking the car value (within reason) can have an impact - e.g. my car was worth about €10K last time I shopped around but reducing its value below €10K actually increased the premium!
  7. Read the terms and conditions/small print to understand what's covered and what's not and when. It's a pain but doing it can avoid nasty surprises should you need to claim.
  8. Bear in mind customer service although this is more difficult to judge - after all, those who have had a bad experience will normally shout louder than those who have a good experience and it can be very difficult to get a balanced picture from negatively biased anecdotes.
 
I used Chill this morning for the first time. Found them fairly easy to deal with. Got a good quote with Zurich (switch from Liberty). Funnily last year was the opposite (went to Liberty from Zurich).

I used 123.ie last year, experience was also good.

I have rang insurance companies directly and dont really find they beat the prices of the aggregates by too much if at all to be honest. Where I have found it might make a small difference is if you have a few other policies (eg spouse, or house insurance), where you can perhaps get a bit more leverage.

I suspect its cheaper for the companies to let the aggregates do the legwork, though I dont know this.
 
What do you mean by "aggregates"?
Are there other multi-underwriter online brokers like Chill?
Many others seem to be subsidiaries or tied agents of a single underwriter.
 
I rang Liberty to cancel my policy just now. The lady asked me what Zurich were offering and if she could give me a quote. I said sure, and I told her the quote. She said the best they could do was +100 euro on the renewal quote which I had already received from Liberty. Incredulous. I dont have any claims or penalty points. When I explained that that was actually more then the emailed renewal quote I had she said well thats whats on the computer. I just said no thanks.

There are lots of vagarities to it all, seems to depend on who you talk to, when you apply, what method you do it by.
 
Anybody know if there's a problem securing insurance for Jap Import cars?
I'm hearing that many Insurers simply don't recognize the Reg. number on their online quotes page
despite these cars carrying full NCT certs and Road Tax.
Is this the SIMI influencing the car insurance market?
 
johnny2shoes said:
Anybody know if there's a problem securing insurance for Jap Import cars?
Click to expand...
Usually they're different spec to here, so seen as non standard from a underwriting perspective. They can be tuned as higher performance, or use parts that are not standard here so can be costly to repair under a fully comprehensive policy.
If its a standard spec car, I've heard Liberty don't load the fact it's an import. There are also some specialist brokers that do it.

johnny2shoes said:
Is this the SIMI influencing the car insurance market?
Click to expand...
I doubt it. Most importers are members of SIMI. It's also an issue in the UK market with Japanese imports.
 
Thanks for that RedOnion. It just seems odd that our NCT people issue certs for these cars and Revenue have no problem
accepting funds for Road Tax yet three different big Insurers that I've checked since above post all decline to quote.
It's one thing to load the policy because of the issues you highlight but declining to quote smells.
I was about to buy a beautiful jap import car but will now have to think again and inform the seller ( A reputable dealer BTW).
 
Using the excuse that parts for Jap imports are more costly is a lie. A wing or bonnett for any BMW or Merc is far more
expensive but they will quote for those without question............I suspect.
Using the spec upgrade is also a lie as the Road Tax and NCT both certify that this is standard.
I presume that these vehicles are coming into other EEC states and would love to know the insurance situation there?
 
For the past number of years I've been with Aviva (no broker) for both house and car insurance, because they have consistently been the cheapest.

Having both policies with them means that we get a 15% 'loyalty' discount on each policy and also eligible for free yearly travel insurance, which is a nice add-on.
 
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