OV9

So i've realised I'd make a huge rookie error yesterday... I'd been checking Confused.com for quotes given that had been the site I'd always used and then saw an article noting that each site has their own arrangements with the insurers and the quotes may not necessarily be the same...

Well, F me they really are not and I'm not talking about small margins! Confused.com was a full 30% more than Moneysupermarket. Now clearly that is big in percentage terms but given I was running quotes for the Range Rover, the difference was enormous!

So long story short, I was in a quandry for next year as the best quotes were coming in at over £4k which were just unsustainable but difficult if you look at it with a hard head financially as swapping to something else and the cost to change would mean you wouldn't see a net gain for several years anyway. The best on Moneysupermarket was £3,300 and I got nearly a grand refund from cancelling the old policy early so a net £2,300 to cover it for 12 months.

I'm aware that these are astronomical numbers (and I made the mistake of looking at how much my 997 insurance was pre Covid which was something like £6-700 for the year) but that's the unfortunate reality of living in inner London and the upward trend in insurance prices - the Smart is £800 a year to insure and I think the average car in London is something like £1,700. Given the theft and accident history on my record I can't really expect much else for the next couple of years.

One consolation is that on running quotes again, the 911 renewal next year with 1 years NCB, etc. looks like its going to drop from £2k to probably £1,300.

Yes Confused and the Meerkats are usually the more expensive sites. Moneysupermarket is usually the best. If you go to Money Saving Expert they have their own link to Moneysupermarket with tips on how to further reduce prices.

Damn, didn't know this either! MSM coming in cheaper than the other sites, £440.

Every day a school day.

Not strictly car insurance... but an insurance backed product moan. Land Rover approved warranty - 2 grand this year! Has gone up by 15% in a year from an already high base.

I wonder whether they are actually underwriting these on an individual basis now (I did claim c £1k for a new turbo actuator last year but IIRC they refused to pay and LR had to pick it up!).

As the car is intermittently flashing "Charging fault" at me (which I think is either an auxiliary stop start battery (which won't be covered) or an alternator), it still made sense to renew... just. I also feel I'm probably overdue something significant needing to be fixed...

If it weren't such a big gap to a new one it would be tempting to change to get 2 years of this included. Then again, I think the "heroic" depreciation phase of the L405 is probably coming to an end now. Seems to be closer to £1k p.a. now rather than £1k PCM

I didn't realise that, I assumed the insurers all provided quotes and commissions to the portals, but it was up to the portal to market themselves to get all the traffic. Never knew they offered differing deals!

Gavster wrote: Tue Jan 28, 2025 6:17 pm I didn't realise that, I assumed the insurers all provided quotes and commissions to the portals, but it was up to the portal to market themselves to get all the traffic. Never knew they offered differing deals!

Yes I assumed that too. The odd thing about it all is that the comparison sites don't say "on average we save you x". Maybe there are just too many variables for them to accurately assess it but in my case there was a dramatic difference between Confused.com and MSM.

We need a car insurance copmarison site comparison site

Just out of interest, following this discussion I ran an MSM quote for a new style range rover - previously I was quoted £25,000 p.a. ( ) on confused.com. Surpisingly the best quotes were £3,700 which is not dramatically more than the L405 but... only 2 in that range - esure and Sheila's wheels with none of the main insurers wanting to touch it. Looks like I'm going to have to wait a bit

I’m guessing if you took out insurance with either of those two next years renewal will be delivered without lube.

John wrote: Wed Jan 29, 2025 10:27 am I’m guessing if you took out insurance with either of those two next years renewal will be delivered without lube.

Or not delivered at all but just a "we are no longer in the market to insure your car"...

This year was my first renewal year of the Admiral multi-car policy. I got the renewal quote through a couple of weeks ago and the Macan renewal was mad, about £1000 more than last year, while the S6 and MX5 seemed vaguely sensible. Since I didn't know exactly when the Macan was to be replaced I held off actually renewing but finally got round to it today. The meerkat gave me premiums pretty much in line with the renewal quote for the S6 and MX5, but the Macan premium was about £1000 less than Admiral's mad renewal figure. So I called them to see what was going on, but also to work out the car swap which (of course) is due to happen on the day of renewal.

On the phone Admiral gave me a much more sensible quote for the Macan renewal, which went down £100 for changing to a Cayenne (surprised, but pleased) and then started adding loyalty discounts of about 10% off each car, then the multi-car discount which wasn't set out in the renewal premiums, so the total to renew with them ended up quite a bit lower than doing each one individually through the meerkat. Which is the way it should be, but it may well take a call to the loyalty team to achieve. Anyway, I'm pleased to be paying less this year than last for each car, but mildly surprised that a Cayenne is so much cheaper to insure than either a Macan or S6.

Admiral multi-car quote landed this morning for the main cars.

Dakar - £1137 and the Hilux £463, so an increase of £300.

Not sure I'll get that any cheaper v the hassle of setting it up as I changed my car twice last year so the £300 bump seems to be for going from an M3 to the 911.

That sounds reasonable for a Dakar Mike!

Ascender wrote: Fri Mar 28, 2025 8:02 am Admiral multi-car quote landed this morning for the main cars.

Dakar - £1137 and the Hilux £463, so an increase of £300.

Not sure I'll get that any cheaper v the hassle of setting it up as I changed my car twice last year so the £300 bump seems to be for going from an M3 to the 911.

As per my post above, it's worth calling and threatening to take one car off the policy; that gets you into a conversation where they start offering loyalty discounts. Our renewal ended up less than last year with them.

Dakar may be a very different risk profile to a Cayenne but I was gobsmacked to insure the Cayenne for not much more than £500.

I might give them a call @Jobbo later, thanks for the tip.

Like @IanF says, I was kind of surprised by the Dakar cost, but maybe that's a benefit of now being 50 and living in the Highlands. I'll have a look back at the last year's changes and costs.

I wonder how long it'll be until we're higher risk because we're getting on a bit

Can you remember what the GTS was? I’m guessing similar, which shows how messed up insurance quotes are!

IanF wrote: Fri Mar 28, 2025 9:13 am Can you remember what the GTS was? I’m guessing similar, which shows how messed up insurance quotes are!

I'm pretty sure it was only £135 increase midway through the policy when I switched which was a big surprise, so yes, relative to the value of the car its nuts.

My boy is coming up next week to look after animals while we're away so we wanted to add him to the 13 year old Navara, just 3rd party cover for going between here and the croft (under a mile).

No can do until he's 25 according to LV. Even with him being 20 and nearly 3 years NCB.

Ascender wrote: Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:50 am My boy is coming up next week to look after animals while we're away so we wanted to add him to the 13 year old Navara, just 3rd party cover for going between here and the croft (under a mile).

No can do until he's 25 according to LV. Even with him being 20 and nearly 3 years NCB.

Aviva are the same as we can't add my 19yr old daughter to my wife's Sportage to take dogs out if we are away.

Try Veygo for temporary cover though as it only works out about £30 for the weekend.