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

Car Insurance Companies Comments On Young Drivers

Yesterday young car drivers and their driving competence came in for some stick from the car insurance companies.

This may be a worry if you’re looking for car insurance for young drivers under £1,000. However there are safety issues that weren’t mentioned. They’re important and if understood by younger drivers might improve their driving.

According to Renault there are four aspects to car safety:

• Education
• Perception
• Prevention
• Protection

Education. Young drivers seem to be totally unaware of the shocking figures for car safety. Here are a few:

• 80% of accidents involve human error
• 70% of motorists have experienced emergency braking
• 66% of rear end collisions are caused by inattention
• 60% of fatal accidents are caused by side impact due to skidding
• 33% of accidents are caused by lane changes
• 30% of accidents happen at night
• 9% of accidents are caused by tailgating

Perception. Accidents can be prevented if the driver anticipates a hazard. Car manufacturers have made significant advances in visibility, lighting, mirrors, wipers, ergonomics and comfort. Note 30% of accidents happen at night but account for 50% of deaths.

All this equipment is of little use when awareness is focused on loud music and mobile devices. When we focus, we reduce the number of cues from the environment to concentrate on the object of focus. Any distraction further reduces the number of cues reducing awareness. But you still see motorists, especially the young, holding mobile phones.

Prevention. In 2005 only 50% of motorist knew what ABS does, only 18% identified it as an active safety system. Only 1% knew of ESP. My experience is the majority of motorists don’t even know whether or not these systems are fitted to their cars. Worse still, some regards them as enhancing performance rather than safety.

Protection. 89% of motorists are aware of airbags, 76% of seat belts. I’ve yet to meet a motorist who understands Euro NCAP ratings. Motorists, especially the young, seem to think they’re protected or can be repaired by the NHS. They forget immoveable objects like bridges, trees and lorries. And there’s another mistaken idea – people in SUVs and 4x4s thinking they’re safer when nothing could be farther from the truth.

From memory, the figures above were findings by Bosch who manufacture ABS and ESP and Mori on behalf of Euro NCAP.

I’m sorry to deliver such a gloomy message. However, I sold cars for over four decades and thoroughly enjoyed delivering something that improved peoples’ lifestyles, but working in garages all with body repair shops really drives the consequences of safety issues home.

Young drivers should be aware insurance premiums are a reflection of risk which means how safe they are. It’s common for young drivers to be quoted £1,500 to £2,000 by most car insurance companies – generally. To find car insurance for young drivers under £1,000 is going to take a lot of shopping around direct car insurance companies.

You can find car insurance for young drivers tips over on carbuyersinfo. For more information about ESP see the link at the bottom of carbuyersinfo home page.

Regards
Ralph