# Changing car - insurance now overpriced



## Dave Spalding (Apr 16, 2008)

Can anyone give me some info on this.

My current car is a Toyota Celica GT4 and for that my current insurance provider was the best option. However I am going to possibly buy a new car tomorrow (Mitsubishi Lance Evo 6) and for this car they are considerably higher than another company. Now my current policy runs untill the 13th of March 2011 so obviously I cant really cancel as I would loose the no claims discount for this year. 

Is there anyway I can transfer my policy to another insurer for the remainder of the time?


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

You will either have stick with the same Insurer and pay the difference which will give you an extra years NCB at renewal, or cancel your policy and take a new policy on your current NCB.

It may be worth while finding out the short period charges for cancelling and against the cost of the new policy on the current NCB and on an extra years NCB. You could find that for the 6 months cover has been in force with you current insurers, you may be charged 80% of your current annual premium (meaning you will only get around 20% of what you have paid back). Unless of course you are paying by direct debit, in which case you may have to pay the shortfall between you outstanding payments and any return premium.

Once you have these figures, you make a calculated decision on whether you are financially better off cancelling and replacing, or sticking with your current insurer until renewal.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Can you tell me -

what you currently pay
how much extra your current insurers want to charge
what the alternative quote you have is and how much NCB is that based on (ie your current NCB)

If you are quick, i can give you a very rough idea before i walk the wooden hill to duvet land...


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## Dave Spalding (Apr 16, 2008)

current insurers want an extra £300 on top of the £650 I already pay other insurer will cover me for £660 for a year

I currently have 4 years NCB

Thank you for the quick response


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

How we used to work it out in the good old days...

OK so assuming for the calculation you have paid the £650 in full, £300 extra is going to cost you £50 a month for the next 6 months.

So staying with your current Insurers will cost you £50 a month for the next 6 months.

Lets assume the £660 was based on 60% (4yrs) NCB and you will have 5yrs 65% in March. BASED ON THERE BEING NO RATE INCREASE, the gross premium is £1650, so net of 65% the premium with an extra years NCB will be £577.50. So you will save yourself £82.50 a year from March 2011.

So over 18 months, we have £300 plus £577.50, which works out at £48.75 per month over the next 18 months.

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Now, if you cancel your current policy and take a new one. Lets assume an 80% TOR charge, so you get a 20% refund on your £650 paid, which is £130 (may be slightly less if they also deduct an admin charge.

So a new policy will cost you £660, but you will get back £130 from you old policy, so in effect a new policy policy is costing you £530. Divide that by 12 and you get a cost of £44 per month. 

Provided your refund if you cancel is around the £130 mark, you will be better off by around £4 a month by swapping insurers. You also secure the rate of £660. Come March, that may end £850 the way things are going and you will have wished you had changed.

Forgive my warbling, but if it were me, provided my figures are there or there about, i'd swap to the new Insurers.

You need to consider the excess/cover as well though as this may affect your decision a little bit. Also, not all insurers will offer protected NCB as 4 years and will only offer it a 5 years. If your alternative quote on 4 years NCB includes protected NCB though, i'd definitely go with it.


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## Dave Spalding (Apr 16, 2008)

Thank you very much mate. £4 is nothing really but as you say it would secure the lower rate for a year. Thank you very much again :thumb:


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

If you get more than £130 return from your current policy, it will effectively bring down down the monthly cost of the new policy. So the more they give you back, the better off you will be by replacing it.

However, if they say "no refund" if cancelled, stick with them for the remainder of your policy and replace it in March. It all depends on their cancellation charges as to the best route for you to take.


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## Dave Spalding (Apr 16, 2008)

Yeah I'll need to get the cancelation figures from them in the morning. Then take it from there.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

How did you get on with this in the end Dave?


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