# Online Quotes - A Word Of Caution....



## Shiny

This is just a heads up really for those of you that use comparison sites and the like and do your own online quotes.

I’ve had something highlighted to me today which is a bit of an eye opener. The top half a dozen quotes on an online comparison quote were very cheap but with a £1500 excess, on the principal that a higher excess saves you premium. I believe they were all from the same insurer, although from different suppliers.

The main issue is that the excess is an “All Sections” excess, ie the £1500 excess applies to each section of the policy that you claim on. So, if you plough into the rear of someone, your own damage will be dealt with under the Accidental Damage section so you will have to pay the first £1500 of your own damage. HOWEVER, an excess will also apply to the Third Party section of the policy, so you will also have to pay the first £1500 of the other person’s damage! This makes a total excess of £3000! Is cheap insurance really worth this?

I haven’t seen an All Sections excess in years and those policies that did carry them all them years ago, were “non-standard” policies for high risk drivers. It’s a worrying state of affairs when things like this come back into policies for the sake of a cheaper premium!

I can never recommend using a Broker enough over using online comparison sites. I’m not even allowed to provide a quote unless I can prove (documented) competence, continued training and product knowledge to the FSA if asked, or else I would be hauled over the coals and fined. Yet online quotes allow the butcher the baker and the candlestick maker to arrange their own insurance with no previous knowledge and advice in the form of a pop up box. 

Just remember that these types of online policies are underwritten at the claim stage. By that I mean that you will get cover regardless of what you type in at quote stage. It’s when you come to claim that you find out you are not actually covered because of some reason or another.

This isn’t a pro-Broker post, but a helpful warning about the pitfalls of online buying. People will continue to use online quote systems for as long as they are cheap enough. If you want to buy insurance this way, make sure you understand what you are buying, the cover, the excess (how much and whether AD, fire, theft, windscreen or, god forbid, “all sections”), the exclusions, the benefits (windscreen, protected NCB, courtesy car etc).

Make sure you answer the questions fully and understand what answers you are giving. A builder may think that going to work is commuting so he only needs SDP, but as SDP only usually covers a “permanent” place of work, a builder will in fact need “Class” 1 or “personal business use”. Be wary of mileage restrictions, make sure main users are disclosed accordingly, accident and conviction details are fully entered with the correct dates and costs. Also don’t forget to disclose any modifications, no matter how trivial you may think it is.

Remember, the worse time to find out you have bought the wrong type of policy is when you need to claim on it.


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## Tricky Red

Good post - I did the comparison site test and More Than were quoting £750 excess just to bring the quote down. Seems very underhand.


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## Hair Bear

Don't suppose you're at liberty to share these company names?


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## Brazo

Lloyd come November i'm ringing you again:thumb:


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## rx8passion

Other point to remember even a replacement windscreen counts as a claim.


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## Shiny

rx8passion said:


> Other point to remember even a replacement windscreen counts as a claim.


I didn't realise some were doing that as well! I know a few companies do if claim above their windscreen limit, but that is another eye opener for me.

Windscreens have always counted as claims on Fleet policies, but that's a different thing entirely.

I'm surprised the FSA haven't clamped down on these types of policies by insisting that they are much more clear about their shortcomings in cover.


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## rx8passion

I only found out because I asked about it to the insurer and they stated that it was classed as a claim. They also stated if I had not declared it my insurance could have been void.


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## ade33

Great post.


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## autodetailer

Thanks Lloyd for the heads up:thumb:


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## smegal

I noticed this with the cheapest company for me on a price comparison site. The company was b*ll that did it on my quote.


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## Yoghurtman

Thanks for the post Lloyd. I just renewed my Insurance with you after checking the comparison sites, I was getting some slightly cheaper quotes but with a £650 excess rather than the current £250 I have.
This website comparison business seems to be getting crazy with stupid standard excesses and more Insurers seem to be saying they are not on comparison websites any more (Direct Line and Aviva Norwich Union say this in their TV ad's).

By the time you try a couple of comparison sites and go direct to Aviva Direct Line etc., you may as well get your broker to do the legwork. 

:thumb:


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## Davemm

i had my renewal through this year, and now they want to charge me 10 quid to have a chip repaired on the windscreen, used to be free.


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## Shiny

I was told Direct Line removed themselves from the comparison sites as weren't competing enough and showing up high enough on the table. These sites are all about bottom line cheapness and not the quality of the product, insurer or cover.

It's kind of interesting that when Direct Line started they were all about being cheap, now their own philosophy is biting them in the **** and they too are trying to sell products on cover rather than bottom line price.

The good new for us old fashioned high street brokers is that apparently Direct Line's attempt at commercial business has been a bit of a failure, as businesses still want the reassurance of a professional broker to handle their insurance needs rather than a telephonist in a sales team, so hopefully we will still be around for a few more years to come! lol!


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## Shiny

Davemm said:


> i had my renewal through this year, and now they want to charge me 10 quid to have a chip repaired on the windscreen, used to be free.


It wasn't that long ago that windscreen replacement had no excess and the standard policy excess was £50. Lucky these days to find a policy excess less than £250 or less than £60/£75 for windscreens.


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## Shiny

Yoghurtman said:


> Thanks for the post Lloyd. I just renewed my Insurance with you after checking the comparison sites, I was getting some slightly cheaper quotes but with a £650 excess rather than the current £250 I have.
> This website comparison business seems to be getting crazy with stupid standard excesses and more Insurers seem to be saying they are not on comparison websites any more (Direct Line and Aviva Norwich Union say this in their TV ad's).
> 
> By the time you try a couple of comparison sites and go direct to Aviva Direct Line etc., you may as well get your broker to do the legwork.
> 
> :thumb:


This is so true! You may pay a little extra for the service, but as you well know, a Broker can deal with everything for you in a one stop shop, be it motor, business, home, caravan or travel insurance etc. And they will always fight your in your corner if they feel they you have not been treated fairly in a claim, often getting claims paid that have been refused or higher settlement offers. :thumb:


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## chunkytfg

Shiny said:


> I didn't realise some were doing that as well! I know a few companies do if claim above their windscreen limit, but that is another eye opener for me.
> 
> Windscreens have always counted as claims on Fleet policies, but that's a different thing entirely.
> 
> I'm surprised the FSA haven't clamped down on these types of policies by insisting that they are much more clear about their shortcomings in cover.


BIt of a thread ressurection of sorts but i thought i would my 2p in.

IN july when searching for insurance I came across the above types of policies. Off the top of my head I couldnt tell you who(possibly hastings i think) was offering 'value' policies but they removed things like windscreen cover and the 3rd party entitlement on other vehicles etc to bring costs down. As it turned out though the 'value' policy was only about £30 cheaper than there normal one but if you took it as a %age then when you are 17 and getting £2k quotes if probably makes hundreds of pounds of difference!

In the end living in rurla norfolk I visited my local NFU office sat down face to face with a very nice lady who went thoguh everything with me and although couldnt beat my best quote got very close to it and because of the personal service I went with them. When I bought a private plate I popped in on the way past to tell them what I needed and got greeted by 'Hello Mr Churchill' now remembering me is one thing but to remember the customers name is something wholely different and a credit to the staff in the office! ON top of that I was expecting a 'Admin charge' but no I got the new Ins Cert printed there and then FOC and I left a very happy man
:thumb::thumb::thumb:


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## Shiny

I totally agree Chunky, with a decent Broker you will get competent staff and there's no beating personal service.

The kettle is always on here and we have mince pies in the office today, you won't get offered them online


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## chunkytfg

Shiny said:


> I totally agree Chunky, with a decent Broker you will get competent staff and there's no beating personal service.
> 
> The kettle is always on here and we have mince pies in the office today, you won't get offered them online


Thanks for the offer but swindon isnt really local to Norfolk!:lol::lol:


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## parish

I used a broker for about 20 years and they always managed to get me a better premium (with sensible excess and other Ts & Cs) than any online site. Yes, sure, I could find cheaper on-line but things like excess were always poor.

One other advantage of using a broker is that if you are unlucky enough to need to claim you do everything through them rather than directly with the insurance co. which means it's easier to get to speak to someone and the same person will deal with the whole thing :thumb:

Lloyd, what is your professional opinion of getting car insurance through the likes of Saga? Are they classed as brokers? I switched to them this year (since I'm now 50+  ) and the premium was nearly £100 cheaper than the renewal (I suspect there's some "introductory discount" in that). I've since joined the CSMA and they too offer similar insurance deals.


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## Shiny

SAGA place all their business though their own company, Saga Insurance Ltd.

As far as i understand it, you don't actually deal with the Insurance Company though, but with SAGA insurance services which is the insurance arm of the Saga group. The only drawback i can see is that they won't give the independent point of view that you get from a broker as i guess ultimately they will be acting on the best interest of Saga.

I would say they are a bit like NFU, Co-op etc, in as much that you still get to deal with a person at the end of the phone and are perhaps a little "old fashioned" in their ways, but in these "modern" days where cutting costs means cutting customer service, that can't be a bad thing!


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