Drastic Insurance Rise

brightside_

brightside_

brightside_

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So last year, I was looking at getting a quicker car and was starting to get some more reasonable quotes for insurance at about £800 for group 15-17 cars. So I ended up with my Dad's Saab 900 Aero, and I ended up ditching it in the ice an snow due to lack of experience on ice, and going slightly too quick. Not claimed on the insurance, no others involved.

I'm currently driving a 2.0 focus and having only had it a couple of months I'm already bored, the acceleration compared to the Saab I had is just so limp wristed and so I've been looking round at cheapish (say up to £4k) hot hatches and more specifically the 172 Clio as everyone reccomends them for a fun drive. They seem spot on for me, being able to reach mid-high 30s for mpg but have a good turn of speed and handle nicely.

Then I went and got a quote for insurance. Group 16 car so 1 lower than the Saab I had. They want £1600 off me from several companies that gave me cheap quotes before, which I thought was a little mental considering the quotes I had last year, and what I actualyl managed to insure a lightly modified Saab for. The quote was for what will be my new address in the next couple of months, so I also tried it with my current address and they still want over £1400 for it (moving to a worse postcode :rolleyes: )

So, I have 3 years no claims, 23 years old (24 within a couple of months) and have 6 years driving. It seems completley wrong that they're giving me quotes at this level, have insurance prices hiked dramatically since last year?
If they keep on the way they are I'll be priced out of the "fun" car market for the next few years which is a bit depressing!
 
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Insurance in general has gone up due to snow and the like.
Groups mean almost nothing, and are just indicative of prices, insurers do it on a car basis as they know certain cars get stuffed more often than others.
 
Goes to show how meaningless insurance groups are.

My relatively fast Saab is only costing a few quid more than my old boring diesel mondeo, but hot hatches would cost a fair bit more.

Either shop around, change the sort of car you're looking at or suffer the cost
 
Get a cheap car to insure and run around in and a nice 600cc motorbike, you dont know what you're missing!

A Saab is more likely considered to be and mans car and a hot hatch comes with a boy racer attitude, and they get stuffed up all the time so the insurance companies expect to to be like every other chav driving one.
 
I had been eying up a 172 as well as it happens, was looking at them late last year and was looking like £480 fc (26, 0 ncb but no claims, nice area) which i thought was pretty reasonable from a quick comparison

I re-ran the same clio (except now at 27) last week and its up at £830! WTF people!

Probably wont be picking up a 172 at this moment so i didn't shop around too hard but its a big chunk out of the belt replacement fund it'd need
 
That's odd, because I ran a quote for a 530i 2007 M sport only last week (group 17 IIRC), through Go Compare. Two quotes (Swiftcover) came out at under £450 and there were a host of others under £500.

Claim experience will tell insurers that someone is more likely to claim if they are driving a higher insurance group car than a lower one, and that when they do, the claim will be bigger. This isn't rocket science. Also, I suspect the OP is not comparing like for like.
 
Mine has also gone up this year, a quick comparison shows that eveyrone is 50quid higher for my mondeo estate than last year.

Sticking with Swift as they have been a painless insuring experience in the past. And the "real" difference in packages is about 15 pounds between swift and A.N.OTHER noname insurance company.

Try Swift Cover, they might suprise you...or they might not.

The likelyhood statistically I imagine is that more prangs happen in a 172 then they do in a saab.
 
The harsh reality is that , from their viewpoint, you are a young inexperienced male wanting to hoon around in a car thats too fast for you to handle. They price accordingly.

Once you get over 25 and get 5 yrs no claims under your belt you can start to get better quotes. Its something we have all had to live with over the years. Either find the money or drive a "boring" car to notch up your no claims discount.
 
I ran the Saab through the same insurance company as I am using ( and was using for the Saab) and that came out about £300 more expensive too. It just seems to be a dramatic spike since October IMO. I mean I was getting quotes at this price 3 years ago and now they're high again even though the accident I had in 06 isn't involved any more? The Saab wasn't claimed on so I don't see how it could have had an effect and what other possible reasons could be.
 
Insurance groups are pretty much meaningless.

My 231bhp 330ci sport was cheaper to insure than :

Mini Cooper S
Renault Clio 182
Honda Civic Type-R
Ford Fiesta ST :o
 
lozza23_uk said:
27 with 9 years no claims, mondeo estate renewal next month. 410quid fully comp protected.
Click to expand...

do you live in the ghetto?

Ive got a manchester postcode and my girlfriend pays less than that @ 21 with 3 years ncb (albeit for a smaller car, but still)
 
Rule 1: Comparison sites and web quotes don't always give the insurer the full picture and therefore quotes can be rather inflated. Use it as a guideline but don't rely on them. If you want a car that's remotely different/rare/performance then you'll probably be unhappy. Especially if you're <25.

Rule 2: Calling is more accurate and just as quick. I quoted with Chuirchill my then current insurer before I renewed elsewhere. The website system doubled my current costs. Calling them to cancel they then beat my offer with Bell and I was a made man. A phone call I never nearly made but saved me £400 IIRC.

Rule 3: Try non-mainstream brokers. The current list is Sky, A-Plan, AON, Chirs Knott, Knoel Dazely, Adrian Flux and Greenlight. They're great for hot hatches and imports that mainsteam companies will inflate or ignore. Always call and forget their somtimes rubbish websites, this is becasue they reduce overheads to give better quotes. They are stricter on area and some cars but this again makes the mmore competative if you meet the prerequisites.
 
EddScott said:
^^^^This - you know your getting old when you complain about £300 for group 17+ cars :D
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Does not exactly work for me

25 years old,
2 years NCB

One Accident in 2007 which cost £672

Driving a VW Passat 1.8TDI 130BHP (Not exacltly a Fun Car)

Have got my Dad /Sis In Law on the policy as adding experienced drivers reduces the premium,

Paid £742 last year, This year £1005.05p

if i take the Named Drivers off The Premium goes up to £1598

So where do i report Highway Robbery!!!
 
insurance companies only use groups to start their rates they then look at how popular a car is and also how many bumps and claims they have had
 
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