There’s no love lost with car insurance companies

My wife received her car insurance renewal today. In round figures they want £450 to renew when she paid £250 last year. My wife is a keen shopper but she’s also a loyal customer. Whatever she buys is well worth the money but normally from the same sources. Unfortunately she has to become an unfaithful customer.

Because there’s no love lost with car insurance companies. Despite my wife’s loyalty the insurance company will take her for £200. Sounds silly but think how it makes up for the tight deals they do to win new business.

What’s amazing is the results of her shopping around getting direct online car insurance quotes.

The first 9 car insurance companies she got quotes from directly online were all under £250. 4 of which were under £200.

I suggested she search ‘car insurance for over 50s.’ She got the same range of price so they want your business but the quote won’t necessarily be the cheapest because you’re over 50. She didn’t get any advantage by searching, ‘car insurance for women over 50.’

My wife was so incensed she decided to visit her insurers site to get a direct quote. WOW. No £450 quote – they were the cheapest. She wouldn’t give it to them though, out of principle. It’s a pity.

Next she visited one car comparison site because she was ‘confused.’ They asked her for her renewal quote. She entered the sub-£200 direct car insurance quote from her insurer, not the £450 she received in the post.

The car insurance comparison company beat the quote. But the question is what would she have got if she’d entered £450 as a renewal quote. It also mashed up every quote she’s previously received – some higher – some lower.

I can only say after 43 years selling cars that car insurance companies are respected as master marketers. They take a product and create many different products through different distribution channels and different promotions with different prices. You have to pick the bones out of it all.

It is worth the hours of effort to shop directly with car insurance companies before you go compare the market. Saving hundreds of pounds can contribute to other costs like interest payments, fuel costs or servicing.

I’ve tried to unpick car insurance over on carbuyersinfo by detailing what you need to know and making the point savings are real. I’ve detailed the information you need before you start shopping, made the point the quotes are free car insurance quotes and added the FSA’s advice. I maybe patronising when suggesting how to make comparisons and providing a list of car insurance companies to contact direct.

The point is you can save a lot of money. Up to £2,000 in some instances I’ve come across.

I hope this post is interesting and useful. If you go across to carbuyersinfo the advice could help you save money.

If you think your family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances could benefit from this please Facebook or tweet it.

You may wonder why I don’t name and shame our present insurer and recommend our new insurer. The reason is not only do car insurance companies mix products, distribution, promotions and prices, I believe they change the odds like bookies. So if they have a volume of bets, or profit for the day they can switch from profit to volume or visa versa. In the same way if they have their quota for sex, age, occupation – whatever and types of cars they up the price and move to different mixes. It’s fair enough because they must balance their books – I don’t know! Who does – shop around.

Regards
Ralph
carbuyersinfo.co.uk. car comparisons to help you find a car to suit your purpose and purse

Ford Fiesta vs Vauxhall Corsa

The Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Corsa are the two best-selling small cars in the UK so it’s an important comparison.

However before comparing the two it’s worth noting being a best-selling new car isn’t social proof of being the best small car. This is because new car sales include fleet sales and dealer ‘self’ registrations. Also tiny city cars are almost a different market sector.

When you take into account the used car market which is over three times the size of new then small cars like the Mini, Clio, Polo, Ka, Micra, Yaris, Ibiza, Fabia and 207 all become strong contenders.

Another point is the growth of small diesel car sales can be put down to fleet sales which means private buyers who don’t do high mileage should think twice about this option.

Two other important points are the rising costs of car fuel and car insurance which will emerge when comparing the Fiesta and Corsa.

The Fiesta and Corsa have very similar entry prices. Both are basic models with sluggish engine performance. You will find their salespeople will walk you up their model ranges with manufacturer’s marketing programmes offering discounts and low rate finance.

Both cars come in a similar wide range of trims and engine options. So it’s important to know which equipment level and price you’re looking for and then make comparisons. The Ford Zetec and Vauxhall SXi seem the ones to buy. You should find the Corsa and Fiesta so similar it’s worth buying the best deal subject to your taste in driver comfort and style.

The Fiesta is styled with a window sill line that sweeps up reducing the size of the side rear windows. The Corsa 2-door has a roof line which drops down reducing the size of the side rear windows. This may give a more dynamic appearance but in both cases it reduces all-round rear visibility. The Corsa 5-door is much better.

The Fiesta and Corsa are virtually the same length with very similar luggage capacities.

The Corsa’s 3-cylinder 1.0 petrol engine is slightly more economical and cleaner than the Fiesta’s 1.2 60 PS. The more powerful 1.2 options are very similar in efficiency. The 1.4 petrol engines are also very similar given the slight trade offs for economy vs acceleration.

 The diesel engines are also similar for power output, fuel consumption, emissions and performance with both offering advanced fuel consumption options.

The DVLA make the point that fuel consumption figures are the result of lab’ tests and when cars rank closely there may be little or no difference on the road. I personally wouldn’t be swayed in any direction by these figures.

If you consider diesel compare it with a petrol engine with a similar performance and calculate at what total mileage savings in fuel costs cover the added cost of a diesel car. You should find you need to be a high mileage driver for diesel to be viable.

With car insurance premiums it’s also important to get in the quotes for the model you fancy. Car insurance groups have widened from 1 to 20 to 1 to 50 meaning a wider range of premiums can be charged. You may be able to get cheap car insurance quotes for the entry models but the premiums quickly climb as you walk up the model ranges. The Corsa 1.7 CDTi and VXR will be more expensive as will be the Fiesta 1.6 120.

Where you see car insurance advertising targeting young drivers or the over 50s do not assume it will automatically be a cheap quote. You can save hundreds, sometimes thousands of pounds by shopping around and collecting as many online car insurance quotes as possible. It’s frustrating but definitely worth it.

It may be disappointing to make car comparisons and find no real difference to give one car a definite advantage, making the choice easy. However when size, engine efficiency and safety features are so similar it does mean you can focus on what you personally like in driver comfort and style.

You can also play one against the other to get the best deal for discount, finance, part-exchange and add-ons – all four – don’t be swayed by just one aspect of an offer. Go for the best discount plus the best finance deal plus the best part-exchange price plus discounted add-ons. There are some great sounding deals out there at the moment – just ask for more.

Regards
Ralph
carbuyersinfo.co.uk car comparisons revealing differences and similarities to help you find the car to fit your lifestyle and budget

How long does it take to phone a long list of car insurance companies?

This is worth near 4 million pounds to you – a spoof but true. It’s a bit like Jamie’s 30-minute meals. He’s done the preparation, got the resources, and the ingredients are sitting on his shelves. You just get to see 30 minutes of action.

Over on carbuyersinfo I’ve prepared a list of car insurance companies. You just need to copy and paste my list into a column on a spreadsheet to make them a resource – something you can benefit and profit from in the future.

You need at hand your name, address, DOB, marital status, gender, email address and telephone number – you know that.

You need correct details of your car, parking, mileage and use.

Your licence is something to look after and protect in terms of convictions, points, fines and bans. The word care covers it.

So you’ve got a list of car insurance companies and the answers to their questions. You need to create columns for premium, excess, duration, quote reference, breakdown and legal cover, hire and injury for inclusion or added cost.

You need the one payment price and monthly cost.

I say phone a list but nowadays your pushed online to do the work of their receptionists. The online quote only counts if you make an upfront payment. If you go monthly you lose the online discount and then pay added interest. Something you might like to complain about to the FSA. Why should you lose the online price by paying monthly? You just spent an age doing their work for them plus given them data they sell on. Interest is something else. BUT IN TOTAL YOU’LL PAY 25% MORE PER ANNUM. What’s the base or interbank rate today?

How long does it take to get quotes from all the companies on my list. ALL DAY. 8-hours. BUT we did this exercise against a £1400 renewal quote and got it down to £600 cash. We got that on quote #15 but still kept going – you never know. £800 saving in one day. Which is about the return you’d expect if you had near £4 million invested. Not a bad days work. Take the day off work. Break the British economy with absenteeism until we get cheaper car insurance.

Save yourself  a fortune by going over to what everyone needs to know about car insurance and read the whole boring sequence just because it can mean so much money to you. There’s nothing to buy, no subscription, it’s all free like car insurance quotes. The message is they are free car insurance quotes, get as many as possible.

Regards
Ralph
carbuyersinfo Car Comparison Site Differences and Similarities Revealed.

Are You Planning To Cut Your Car Insurance Premium?

Car insurance premiums are escalating. Some say by an average of 30%. I’ve heard of car owners receiving renewals with 50% increases. There’s no love lost in the car insurance industry.

Can you cut your car insurance costs? Most definitely. But first bear in mind when you buy a car, the type of car you choose fixes your costs. There’s little you can really do thereafter about depreciation, interest and running costs. But you can shop around for car insurance quotes and save hundreds, sometimes thousands.

Before you buy a car make car insurance comparisons to see where they stand in the new 1 to 50 car insurance groups. For example, even though you may think small cars are the cheapest to insure, if you make a small car comparison you’ll a significant variation in group numbers for models. Once you’ve decided on a car it is best to get in the insurance quotes before you commit.

You can get quotes between £400 to £1,600 for the same car. I’ve seen one £800 to £2,800 difference in quotes. Saving £1,200 or in one instance £2,000 is hugely significant. Think how this money would cover your other motoring costs.

It takes about 2-hours on the phone. It can be a massive return on the investment of a little time.

The secret to cutting your car insurance costs is simple. You simply need to phone directly a long list of car insurance companies. You must never give up half way. Phone the whole list. Say your first quotes were between £1,600 and £1,200, you’d be tempted by quotes of £1,000 or £800. You’d be very excited with a £600 quote. Keep going because you just might get a £400 quote.

If you first contact car insurance comparison sites they will bag you as their customers so you won’t be able to get following quotes from hundreds of car insurance companies. First phone direct.

Be careful of adverts to insure young drivers, elderly drivers, and female drivers. Just because they advertise doesn’t mean they’re the cheapest.

Simply by selecting your next car carefully and spending two hours on the phone every year you can significantly cut your car insurance premiums.

Regards
Ralph

Need a list of car insurance companies to phone direct?

The bigger your list of car insurance companies, the more car insurance quotes you can get in, which increases your chances of saving big money.

Here’s your big car insurance companies list.

You must phone car insurance companies direct before you use car insurance comparison sites because once you use a comparison site they bag you as their customer. If you use a comparison site and then phone direct the insurance companies will say they’ve already quoted you through the comparison site. Getting quotes from comparison sites severely limits your ability to later shop around directly.

Regards
Ralph

How To Find The Best Small Car

A lot of people would say a small car is all you really need. Certainly small cars have a lot going for them. Most are fun to drive, more spacious than you’d imagine and comfortable. They all seem very stylish in their own way. Of course they’re the most economical class to own. Many small cars are EuroNCAP 5-star rated and by the end of this year ESP will be standard.

There are three things to watch out for – small cars come in three different sizes, car insurance groups vary and the small differences there are in fuel economy are starting to matter. So it’s not important only to do a car comparison or twenty you also have an insurance car comparison.

Which small car suits you best will depend on your purpose and pocket. It is good idea to buy a small car with a 5-star EuroNCAP rating and ESP. If you fancy a performance model check how added fuel costs and insurance premiums will dip into your purse.

You’ve the choice of three sizes. Tiny city cars about 3.5m in length which are handy around town, very easy to drive and park. The problem is they have a tiny amount of boot space. There are only a handful of super-minis around 3.75m, this is the size most motorists liked. However many small cars have been super-sized to 4m making them the most versatile and comfortable.

Watch out for poor rear visibility with the stylish models.

If you compare the fuel consumption of small cars you won’t find a significant difference in most so you can’t be certain there will be a real difference on the road for those that rank closely.

Having said that if a car returns less than 40 mpg, over 12,000 miles – a years motoring for most – it will cost near £2,000 at todays pump prices.

So the best small car is the size that fits and is affordable. Watch those rising insurance premiums and calculate your fuel costs on the urban mpg to be on the safe side.

If you don’t like your small car, they’re easy to sell – someone has a 17th birthday every minute of the day.

Regards
Ralph

Is Car Fuel Now The Biggest Motoring Cost?

There are three types of motoring cost – depreciation, interest and maintaining the car on the road with car insurance, vehicle excise duty, fuel and replacement parts.

Motoring costs are rocketing so before you buy a car compare costs because once you take delivery you’ve subscribed to these fixed costs.

The moment you drive out of a showroom with a car you lose thousands in acute depreciation. But that can be reduced by negotiating a lower purchase price. In the following years you’ll probably lose about £1,500 per year in depreciation on a small/medium popular car.

Replacing parts which will inevitably wear out will cost a few hundred a year, say £500. Car insurance depends on the driver but let’s say that’s another £500. VED £100 to £200. Interest costs about £300 to £600 per £10,000 borrowed per year. You can make car insurance comparisons directly to save on your premium.

The shocker is running a small car for 12,000 miles per year can now cost £2,000 per annum. That’s the cost of 300 gallons of fuel and assumes you’re returning 40 mpg in something like a Hyundai i10.

So gassing up now costs more than depreciation or interest plus insurance plus VED plus parts. It’s probably something like 40% of annual motoring costs.

I know they’re rough figures but hopefully you can see what I mean.

Regards
Ralph