Direct line vs Admiral

[DrNick]

Sorry to bring up the age old discussion of insurance...

my renewal with direct line has gone up form £620 last year to £1050 this year despite no changes to my policy - they say its due to the high number of claims over the winter. I can save about £180 by switching to admiral but they dont offer the vandalism/uninsured driver promise that direct line offer plus I know that direct line are reliable and am trying to way this up vs the money!

Does anybody have any good or bad experiences of admiral that might help with the decision?

Thanks for input as ever!

 

[IK.]

I would just go with Admiral. I have been with Bell for two years (same company) and they have been excellent.

 

[JonW]

Hi,

I was with Admiral last year and had no issues but never made a claim. It was a multi car policy (3 cars) but when the renewal came through this year found it cheaper insuring the 3 cars seperately elsewhere. I think to get the best deal you have to switch reguarly but until you have a bump there's no way of knowing how good they are.

JonW

 

[DrNick]

I have just read this on Admiral website

What is not covered
We will not pay:
n for replacement of the hood/roof structure of a convertible or cabriolet car when the glass forming part of it is not repairable

compared to direct line which says:

We will pay to:
• replace the roof and rear windscreen assembly together if your car is fitted with a folding roof and it is more cost-effective than replacing the glass alone.

which has just tipped the scales a lot in favour of staying with direct line!

 

[IK.]

In reality, that wouldn't happen. They can't insure you and then not fix the car. They'd then realise the glass is not repairable, and would have to get a whole new hood. Simple.

By the way, I had to claim with Bell last year (well, had to get assistance with a third party claim after someone hit my parked Z4) and they were brilliant.

 

[RX-78]

Funny I've just moved from bell to admiral myself - they were about 200 squids cheaper and QUIDCO had (still has?) £30 cash back as well. Not sure what they are like to deal with a claim though!

 

[original guvnor]

i won't use direct line on principal. when i was a young driver struggling to get an insurance quote (unfortunately a long time ago) they consistently refused to offer a quote. for that reason they can get stuffed now that they deem me worthy of their cover.

so it's admiral for me !!!

 

[maxman]

Ive gone with Admiral based on price saving .Admiral £372 . They had the lowest excess also £320.Saga £560. LV Refused to quote as the car did not have a tracker fitted 3.0Z4.Their were plenty of similar quotes to Admiral ,but they had sky high excess When you are fully comp you are going to get paid out in the event of a claim,even if it is your fault.So based on that i went for Admiral.

 

[JonW]

With insurance I go with the cheapest fully comp policy I can get and that's usually achieved by switching every year.

Lets face it when push comes to shove they will try not to pay out. That's what insurance companies do!! :thumbsdown:

 

[mikedav]

I've been with Admiral for a few years and I was fairly complementary; never had an issue with them and the service was prompt and efficient. HOWEVER....

My sister is also with them and her car was stolen from the drive 5 weeks ago. They have been total crap. 4-5 weeks after it happened we get a call saying the case has just been passed to a new handler. He's asking for all the same information and checks we did 5 weeks ago. They are even asking for a copy of her home insurance policy - I mean WHY?

So this week, I am not a fan of Admiral.

 

[ksher]

Is it the cheapest one that you can get? Did you try moneysupermarket or confused? I always search and buy the cheapest policy with reasonable excess. Now I am with morethan, which is much cheaper than Chris Knott.

 

[richard100]

Sorry to bring up the age old discussion of insurance...

my renewal with direct line has gone up form £620 last year to £1050 this year despite no changes to my policy - they say its due to the high number of claims over the winter. I can save about £180 by switching to admiral but they dont offer the vandalism/uninsured driver promise that direct line offer plus I know that direct line are reliable and am trying to way this up vs the money!

Does anybody have any good or bad experiences of admiral that might help with the decision?

Thanks for input as ever!

Have you tried Direct Line through their Online quotation? Every year the quote comes through the post and it's a big increase, and every year I go online (whether for car or house) and it's a lot cheaper than the letter. If you want, you can then just pay for the insurance through their website or telephone them and they'll match what you got on the web.

I have to say, that although this approach (that relies on consumer apathy) always p*sses me off, Direct Line have always been pretty good with me.

 

[DrNick]

thanks for input guys.

yes have tried the usual things of confused.com etc and phone direct line and got them 150 less than the renewal quote, admiral still less.

Will mull it over at bit longer!!

Year ago today I purchased my Zed!

 

[Redzedfour]

Had renewal quote from admiral which was a bit higher than last year so did the usual Confused,money supermaket etc did get some slightly cheaper quotes through the price comparison sites.But i thought i'd give direct line a go they were almost double.So i phoned admiral and told them what i can get on the price comparision sites and they knocked off £40. So i'd go Admiral

 

[mad_mackem]

iv been with elephant for the last few years no with different cars, and for my age (23) they are by far the cheapest. Remember that Elephant, Bell and Admiral are all effectively the same company, a few times now when i have renewed i have had a cheaper quote from admiral and elephant have matched it with no issues. I do agreee that you dont know how good these companies are until you have a crash, and i am sceptical over elephant but i simply cant afford to insure the car with other companies. Elephant insure me for £650 where others typically want in excess of £1000.

before i moved to elephant i had a policy with More Than when i had an astra coupe, i found there service excellent, and one thing i particularly liked was that you get one indidual which you deal with whenever you have an issue which can make the whole process alot less stressful. the only reason i moved from More Than is because at my age the Leon i got after the Astra was deemed to much of a high risk, as was the Z4.

 

[stevedruidstone]

Had a claim with Bell in January and they were fine.