Car Insurance - Shopping around really makes a difference

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stefg

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Hi All,

I just thought I would post up about my car insurance because I found a huge difference between one insurer and all the rest. Switching insurer saved me as much as €685.

My renewal quote was €1400 (it was €1850 the previous year) and I was disappointed with it so I shopped around and found a lot of quotes (7 or 8 different companies) for around €1100 to €1300 so I thought that €1100 was going to be the best I could find. However, I managed to get one quote for €715 with all the extras I needed included.

I think everyone knows to shop around but I think it's important to get as many quotes as you can and not just to get a few and estimate the best price available as I was intending to do.

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the of the insurer but if I am and anyone is interested I'll post it (they are well known). I know it varies from situation to situation but I'm delighted they had such a great quote.
 
A friend of mine in the trade got his best possible quote then rang back one of the dearest and spoofed that his lowest quote was €100 less than it actually was and they matched it! You're right about shopping around. After all, the Motor insurance sector at one point went from a loss situation to profits of over €250 million ... in a year! Quite an achievement (or else they were lying!)

It's important to bear in mind the cheap - vs. - value end of it though ... a certain Irish insurer had me running around for 3 months in order to get my money. I'd pay a bit extra any day to avoid that.
 
WicklowMan said:
It's important to bear in mind the cheap - vs. - value end of it though ... a certain Irish insurer had me running around for 3 months in order to get my money. I'd pay a bit extra any day to avoid that.
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Yeah, I understand that, however this policy let me choose exactly what extras I wanted and as a part of FBD I would imagine they would ok to deal with so hopefully there will be no issues...
 
Years ago I worked for a large broker. The premium differences between different insurers could be incredible. It always pays to shop around, and although cheap can mean lower cover, it often doesn't. I recall switching people to much cheaper policies and much better cover. You should do it every year, there is no loyalty with insurers, and all you need to do is execise a bit of care about the cover, ncd protections, etc. One small warning, if you know something is going to change, like you might add a driver, or need open drive check before you switch. An insurer good for one thinglike self -only drive, can be expensive for add'l drivers, and cancelling a policy to switch back can be very expensive.
 
NorfBank said:
I hope you're right but usually with any cheap product something has to give.
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I understand what you are saying but in my case I have gone from one "cheap insurance company" to another but I am paying a lot less.

So I haven't really lost much.. but I have more money in pocket that would otherwise be going to the insurance company.

Hopefully I will never need to contact them...
 
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