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

Over 50, looking for car insurance? You’ve got problems

Seriously. If you’re over 50 you may have noticed ads for car insurance for 50 years olds. When you see cheap car insurance for over 50s advertised you think you’re going to get cheap car insurance. When it comes to cheap car insurance women – who were previously targeted – will tell you insurers seemed to just want their low risk business and the quotes weren’t that cheap so they still had to shop around.

That’s problem number one.
Problem number two is being over 50 and insuring a small car.
Problem number three is being over 50 and insuring an MPV.
Problem number four is being over 50 and insuring a Crossover, SUV or 4×4.

Problem number five is frustration.

It’s worth looking into because you could save the equivalent of 3-months state pension, even five months.

It sounds unbelievable a driver over 50 would have problems insuring a small car. The problem with insuring small cars is the new car insurance groups 1-50 have widened the range of premiums that can be quoted. In some cases small cars that were group 2 under the old system are now group 8, not 4 as expected. Plus some small engines are now more powerful pushing them further up the group ratings. This all means motorists over 50 not only has to calculate if they are getting value for being a low risk driver, they have to be very careful which small car to go for based on insurance groups.

The problem is worse with Crossovers, SUVs and 4x4s because the variations for sale have expanded with new crossovers and premium brand entrants and therefore the range of premiums has increased. This sector has retail prices ranging from £15000 to over £75000 with various dimensions and engines. The problem is becoming similar for MPVs.

Knowing which car insurance to go for is further confused by various promotions, packages, premiums and different car insurance companies.

This all calls for some serious comparisons to be made which brings me to the last problem – frustration – and the tendency to take the first quote you think suffices. I know what it’s like. I qualify for car insurance for the over 60s. I get very frustrated not being able to talk to people and when I do they have english as a second language and are reading a script. It’s like talking to a wall. Did you know some supposed customer service departments are internally referred to as shield teams. It gets more frustrating filling in online forms with the same information. I feel like I’m doing their job for them and they’re robbing my time.

However it is worth shopping around because of the huge range of quotes available and the huge savings to be made. Car insurance is one cost where you make savings.

All you need is:

• all your personal and car information in front of you
• remember they are free quotes so get as many as possible
• note what you get for your money
• make comparisons in a table not on the back of an envelope
• have a big list of car insurance companies
• shop directly before using car comparison sites

It’s no fun, it’s frustrating but keep going with an eye on saving big money. Don’t take the first quote that seems OK. A car insurance quote can be half the highest quote BUT there are cheap car insurance quotes a quarter of the top price.

Regards
Ralph
carbuyersinfo.co.uk Car Comparisons to help you find the right car for your purpose and purse.