Weird insurance

[Jasonn]

Thanks for this Mgrlane,

Latest quotes are £381 without a remap and £477 with (Admiral).

I have to have the class 1 business as a condition of my employment, but I've reduced it to 2k business miles per annum (did around 200 last year so that'll be plenty).

Next question is whether it's worth getting the remap as I haven't pulled the trigger on that yet (it'd be nice but not essential) - I have a feeling that this'll open up a can of worms

[mgrlane]

Thanks for this Mgrlane,

Latest quotes are £381 without a remap and £477 with (Admiral).

I have to have the class 1 business as a condition of my employment, but I've reduced it to 2k business miles per annum (did around 200 last year so that'll be plenty).

Next question is whether it's worth getting the remap as I haven't pulled the trigger on that yet (it'd be nice but not essential) - I have a feeling that this'll open up a can of worms

Depends who you have your insurance with really.

You need to speak to a modified car specialist.

They way we used to do it (again 10 years ago) was simply just add a percentage on. Example a remap that increased bhp by 20% we would stick on a load of about 20% on the premium (if we were doing things "by the book").

Back then there wasn't to much in the way (or no where near as much as today) companies that specialised in modified cars. The numbers back then suggested that people who modified their cars, were members of owners clubs etc paid more care to their cars and were less likely to claim. (In general we were told to insured cars cheaper that were modified than their standard counterparts)- Obviously a crazy power increase would effect the premium.

I would try Greenlight, Adrian Flux, KeithMichaels those types of companies- I assume Chris Knott here also do modified car insurance. I don't know if these go-compare websites are set up to look at modified car insurance? I thought they were more for the masses.

Tell them after they have quoted you that you forgot to mention that you are part of an "owners club" and you might get another 5-10% off the quote.

Remember I only worked for one insurance company for 5 years back in 2002- so perhaps alot of things have changed since then.

[Pbondar]

I'm with LV..they charged me £25 extra for re-map/alloy wheels/LSD/steering mods/exhaust mod etc etc

[Jasonn]

I'm with LV..they charged me £25 extra for re-map/alloy wheels/LSD/steering mods/exhaust mod etc etc

LV wanted £690 without the remap, weren't willing to consider a remap

[Pbondar]

I'm with LV..they charged me £25 extra for re-map/alloy wheels/LSD/steering mods/exhaust mod etc etc

LV wanted £690 without the remap, weren't willing to consider a remap

I assume you must be less than 85 years old without a 25 year unblemished record?

[Jasonn]

Well my wife calls the zed my "mid life crisis mobile"

[Jasonn]

It just gets more bizarre - greenlight no longer insure BMWs (according to their website)

Adrian flux took my details, then couldn't get near the nearest quote so transferred me to "Bewiser" who took all my details (again) then transferred me to sales who had the car details but nothing else and tried to quote on non business use (Inc no commuting) so had to go through the whole f**king offered me a quote of nearly £700 and then advised that they'd need to go to the underwriter for the remap (but then said it'll probably put the price up).

Performance Direct quoted £900 and seemed proud of it!

Love the car, hate the insurance (20+ years ncb, no claims, no points/convictions)

[mcbutler]

Go to direct line and get a multi car policy if you have another vehicle, then add your home insurance as well. Excellent company, not the cheapest but nearly. More importantly the support you will receive when its needed is second to none.... AND they pay out, unlike most of the cowboys in this game.

[acm]

Just renewed mine with Admiral on a multi car deal for the same quote as the OP.

£650 for Z4 35i, Q7 S Line and A3 Sportback. Saved nearly £250 switching from LV who had hiked this year's renewal by 10%.

LV did the same to my daughter (not yet 25) and hiked it by 10%, so she got a quote from Admiral and saved nearly £300 with higher annual mileage.

The agent from Admiral that I spoke to said that you can have multicar with different addresses as long as you are all (close) family... we saved another £100 by adding all 4 cars on the same multicar policy

I was told years ago never try to switch too close to the renewal date, insurers are suspicious that you are hiding something and trying to pass it on - not that you can hide much in these days of connected digital services. Martin Lewis recommends about 20 to 25 days before renewal date is the right time to get the best saving.

I suspect after today's anouncement that the same price needs to be quoted by insurers for existing and new customers must be the same will mean the loss of these new customer discounts

Cheers!
Andy

[ihadablackdog]

I think the moral of the story is that insurance companies use secret, non standard formulas to work out premiums...otherwise they would all be the same, surely?

If a company does a good price for your renewal, it doesn't mean they will be best for someone else.

And remember (especially with life insurance) to declare that you stubbed your toe on the corner of the bed when you were 5 years old. Fail to declare it and they may refuse to pay out when you try to claim for loss of leg due to attack by chainsaw wielding psycho, siting undeclared previous trauma to the limb.

[acm]

Spot on... black art... shop around and don't rely upon comparison sites, they didn't work for me.

Cheers!
Andy

[Jasonn]

Hmmm contacted tesco insurance £447, not too bad with a £500 excess, saw that I could increase the excess, so I increased it to £975 and my premium went... Up (to £960)

And its still not quoting for a remap.....

[Colin_E]

In your position I'd be sorely tempted to see if anyone is able and willing to at least point out what factor is driving your premiums up. Until you know what it is you're shooting in the dark. May turn out that knowing what it is DOESNT give you any options - but perhaps worth a try?
I have in the past chucked spurious (incorrect) data into price comparison sites just to see how flexing one variable or another changes things. Never with any intention to actually use or apply the inaccurate stuff... but just to try to understand where the levers are.

[Jasonn]

I've done a little bit of tweaking... looks like it's my postcode - I used the postcode for a house two roads along and it went down by around £80, then I used my in-laws address (a village in Devon) and it went down to around £250 with business use!

I live on the border between Essex and London, the insurance companies must think it's the Bronx or something!

[flybobbie]

I had one nightmare insurer.
Gave me good quote, paid up three weeks before due. Same old story, pay now or it will go up.
They then asked for no claims evidence.
Current insurer couldn't until insurance ran out.
So new insurer threatened to add £100 if i didn't provide within 2 weeks.
Because bought on internet i cancelled it and had refund.
So now i leave it until the day before expiry.