How much must direct line loose not being on comparrison sites?

Must be in a minority here but currently have house insurance with Direct Line and when I had a car had their insurance for that as well.

I do try comparison websites as well but have never found insurance cheaper on them (apart from my motor traders policy which Direct Line didn't do).

Tesco was £120 more expensive for house insurance!!!!!
 
Combat squirrel said:
I find them horrifically more expensive to the point where they must be having a ***** laugh.

13 years iv been driving, and I have never claimed, 13 years no claims I tell you 13 years !!!

Swift wanted £225 (fair), direct line well over £400


HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHHAHA funny -_-

Weird business model that, scaring people off with daft prices, they must not like money ? *shrugs*
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I've found the direct opposite to this, Direct Line were the cheapest home and car insurer by a long long way for me (circa £300 / year for my Accord vs > £400 for every other insurer)
 
Combat squirrel said:
I find them horrifically more expensive to the point where they must be having a ***** laugh.

13 years iv been driving, and I have never claimed, 13 years no claims I tell you 13 years !!!

Swift wanted £225 (fair), direct line well over £400


HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHHAHA funny -_-

Weird business model that, scaring people off with daft prices, they must not like money ? *shrugs*
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7 years no claims and £230 with direct line here, next closest was £419 (I was shocked too)
 
I only use comparison sites to find the cheapest in the list, I then go directly to the insurers website, usually by going through topcashback.co.uk if they have a cashback offer, bypassing the comparison site completely

8 times out of 10 it is the best way to search.
 
Direct Line have always been good to me and as others have pointed out, my renewal is often better than most other companies (even Direct Line as a new customer) can offer.

Though this year Directline quoted me £269 renewal with £300 excess and Liverpool Victoria was ~£256 with a £250 excess. Called Direct Line up and they matched it for £256 with a £250 excess. Can't complain :D.
 
I use direct line because they are nice, cost less when you want the best amd give discounts on everything when you have been a 5 year long customer on car and home insurance.

My home insurance went from 330 to 276 when I rang them to renew. Thats a insurance plus plan with unlimited everything and 0 excess. To get that else where would be 500+

Car is £320 thats also a 0 excess and myself and missus are under 25... its a 5 year old Megan. Who else would give that cheap insurance? They have us for customers for life
 
From the sound of it many people on here don't know that you should clear your browser cache before using a comparison site.

Thew best way to use the sites is to clear your browser cache, find the top 5 best deals, then clear it again, go to a cashback site and get the best combined price/voucher/cashback deal from those 5 companies.

Having said that, the last 4 years I've done all this and my current insurer renewal has been either the same price or within £20 so not worth the hassle changing.
 
EdGey said:
The only times I've tried comparison websites I've received ridiculously high quotes...

I think they're crap and I'd imagine there are plenty more with similar views.
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Seriously? Well confused saved me about £300 on my car insurance this year :)

Swiftcover jacked up my premium to £560 but ended up paying £240 with admiral!
 
Selekt0r said:
Nothing, because Direct Line group also has other brands which are on comparison sites... ;)
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This

Redgie said:
Amazed at the hate for comparison sites, they've saved me a fortune as a young driver!
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But have they really? I just think you were to lazy to get the Yellow pages out and do it the old fashioned way.

IMHO Direct Line are a good company but their prices seem to fluctuate a lot more than others, I have used them a few times in the past for various types of cover BUT, I don't think you can beat going down to your local independent insurance broker and having a face to face.
Sure they still compare in the same way a website does, but they also know all the tricks and options you cant get on these comparison sites.
Insurance is a serious business, it should be treated as such.
 
nick.lidgett said:
But have they really? I just think you were to lazy to get the Yellow pages out and do it the old fashioned way.
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Yes, they have :rolleyes:

I rang through to easily 10+ companies to get various quotes, as well as doing quotes through god knows how many sites directly, because as anybody knows, young driver insurance is unbelievably high these days. In the end, going through confused.com shaved £50 off of my policy with Quote Me Happy (Aviva division), and gave me cashback on top of that. I imagine this is because they work much in the same way as Phones4U and the likes, who cut into their own finders commission to lower prices and beat the companies prices themselves.

Obviously if you somehow convinced the company themselves to operate on a 1% profit margin or less, then you'd find it pretty hard to find a comparison site that can beat it, but seen as how insurance companies who you haven't been with for long aren't exactly bending over backwards for young driver business, the comparison sites reigned supreme for me.

So no, I was not too lazy to get out a yellow pages. Though I was intelligent enough to look online for the free phone numbers instead of ones out of a book :rolleyes:.
 
Probably not much, most people I know search the price comparison sites then go direct with the top 3-5 results and pit them against each other on the phone.
And usually I run a quote on direct line as well, it's "price comparison website and direct line"

It's always cheaper to go direct.
 
Redgie said:
Yes, they have :rolleyes:

SNIP.

Though I was intelligent enough to look online for the free phone numbers instead of ones out of a book :rolleyes:.
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OcUK top tip of the day!!!

Just out of interest how much was your policy and for what car?

When I passed my test the first time round in 2002 I paid £1400 on a F reg Renault 19 1.4

It does seem young drivers get stung a lot more these days/ did you get one of those gps thingys that spy on your driving to lower the premium down?
 
  1. Run a few different comparison quotes
  2. Run a separate quote on the seller that is quoted the best
  3. Compare the two prices
  4. Go through TopCashBack if applicable
  5. ?????
  6. Profit
I've always found Direct Line to be more expensive than those found on comparison websites :o
 
I like the comments in this thread... shocking news as different insurance companies charge different people different amounts and have different pricing structures for different quoting methods.

DJMK4 said:
I only use comparison sites to find the cheapest in the list, I then go directly to the insurers website, usually by going through topcashback.co.uk if they have a cashback offer, bypassing the comparison site completely

8 times out of 10 it is the best way to search.
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Whenever I've tried the cashback sites, the quote I get is more expensive than the comparison site to the tune of the amount of cashback you would be getting anyway.

Depends on the company I guess.
 
On the subject of DL, don't believe their 'named drivers get NCD' marketing blurb. They don't, not even when I tried to move a named driver onto their own policy with DL.
 
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I've been with DL for five years now and every time I search using comparison sites DL have always come out best. My premium has reduced every year with them by about £50 or so. Can't complain and I renewed this year as well.
 
I usually just use comparison sites for a rough idea, and then go to the cheapest sites direct anyway, as it's usually more accurate that way. Last few years though Admiral have been miles cheaper than everybody else for me.
 
Basher said:
On the subject of DL, don't believe their 'named drivers get NCD' marketing blurb. They don't, not even when I tried to move a named driver onto their own policy with DL.
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Lol?

I have been a named driver all my driving life, and i do in fact have a 5 years no claims bonus to my name. I asked them.

That's why its only £50 extra to add me to my missus policy for 12 months! I am a 24yr old male.
 
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