Just passed your driving test? ....

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Re: Just passed your driving test? ....

Post by white exec »

CitroJim wrote:I have a vague memory my first car insurance with Norman Frizzell (now LV, who I'm still with) with my Civil Service Motoring Association discount was £26...
I was Frizzell and CSMA too, bsck in 1966-7, when I worked as an assistant traffic engineer for the London Borough of Ealing, in a year between school and college.
Like Peter, I started with a 125 Vespa; insurance in 1965 was £6 a year on that. Then a 250 Norton, before my first four wheels, a 1935 Rover Ten (insurance £18 a year - as an 18-year-old student!).
Petrol, 4 gallons (18 litres) for £1.
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Re: Just passed your driving test? ....

Post by CitroJim »

NewcastleFalcon wrote: Cheaest Quote so far is from Elephant! Just over £2,000 for 4000 miles and a box.
That is outrageous! How can that sort of figure possibly be justified?
Jim

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Re: Just passed your driving test? ....

Post by white exec »

Youngsters should
Join a recognised union or professional association.
Be careful about how you describe your occupation.
Enlist on a an advanced/defensive driving course, or similar.
Garage the car (or look into how much ths could save).
Choose your model of car very carefully, and avoid anything new.
And stop having accidents - which seems to come with being under 21/25.
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Re: Just passed your driving test? ....

Post by CitroJim »

Good advice Chris :D Especially the last one ;)

Just one thing to add.. Often a useful reduction in premiums can be had by putting one or two mature named drivers on the policy, ones who have very good long accident and conviction-free driving records. Often parents make a very good choice...

This seems to spread the risk with a concomitant reduction in cost...

Likewise, negotiating bigger excesses can also help...
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Re: Just passed your driving test? ....

Post by white exec »

Forgot those, Jim. And another, maybe: Offer to accept a journey logger.

Long time since I've had to haggle with insurance companies over cost, but I do find (with Linea Directa/Direct Line here) that they will make suggestions about how the premium could be reduced, if you push them, express surprise, or even just hesitate a bit. I wonder if folk are too ready to accept the first figure given, or think it's non-negotiable.

After all, they'd rather not lose your business. Worth asking the open question, "What can you offer?"
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Re: Just passed your driving test? ....

Post by CitroJim »

white exec wrote:
Long time since I've had to haggle with insurance companies over cost, but I do find (with Linea Directa/Direct Line here) that they will make suggestions about how the premium could be reduced, if you push them, express surprise, or even just hesitate a bit. I wonder if folk are too ready to accept the first figure given, or think it's non-negotiable.

After all, they'd rather not lose your business. Worth asking the open question, "What can you offer?"
Very much the case here too Chris... Never ever accept a quote at face-value... Robyn challenged her renewal premium for her new C1 and Admiral knocked £150 off after a bit of stern speaking to...

I was impressed with how Robyn did and handled it... There is a moral to this tale - never argue with or try to get one over on a nurse :lol:
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Re: Just passed your driving test? ....

Post by bobins »

Insurance companies seem to want to share the fault around these days. If you have a prang, they seem to want to incriminate both parties - so both parties have to pay their excess, and the insurance companies reduce their outgoings a bit. When I was hit last year, Admiral (my insurers at the time) actually made up the other guys statement to say that he thought I was partially to blame - bizarre, really, considering I was stationary at the side of the road and had a dashcam running. I soon got onto the Motor Insurance Bureau to find out the other guys story - only to find there was no record of Admiral ever having lodged the accident / paperwork (I was hit whilst abroad). When I challenged Admiral about this, I got the somewhat expected "Oh, sorry, there's been a mistake, we'll sort it......" Yeah, right !! :^o I don't trust insurance companies in general.... but some I trust less than others :?
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Re: Just passed your driving test? ....

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

I know of somebody who ended up in dispute with an insurance company when somebody ran into the back of his Audi A6. They wanted him to accept some of the blame as well. He refused to so this, as he had no part in the accident. When they asked him to explain how this was the case, he said he was able to prove that he had parked his car safely and in such a way as to not cause hindrance. When they asked how he could prove it, he explained that where it was parked was overlooked by a camera, which had filmed him parking the car and getting out to do what he had to do. It also caught the moment when the other driver ran into the back of the Audi. They still tried to argue the point, until they were told that the camera was operated by the local Constabulary, and they were willing to let the footage be used in a potential court case. They stopped arguing after that.
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Re: Just passed your driving test? ....

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

CitroJim wrote:
NewcastleFalcon wrote: Cheaest Quote so far is from Elephant! Just over £2,000 for 4000 miles and a box.
That is outrageous! How can that sort of figure possibly be justified?
Thanks all for the little tips about reducing quotes but I'll give you all the best one.....

Move to rural Northumberland!

Manchester is unlikely to be alone in UK Cities for having a massive effect on premiums for recent driving-test passers. Having driven round it today though-if you can drive in Manchester you can drive anywhere!

We got offered a bit of a deal by Elephant where if i committed to renewing with them on Luton's finest they would take the other quote down by about £500 which was tempting until I worked out that my own insurance would be £560 ish for the period May-November to bring our renewal dates into line, an equivalent annual premium of £922 ish. Had to look up how much I was paying now....£152 fully comp-so win £500 lose £770.....not a good deal as it turns out but it did sound like it on first hearing.

Regards Neil
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Re: Just passed your driving test? ....

Post by white exec »

We have been driven into several times (in our RAV4) while living in Spain. The insurance companies here take the line that if one of the drivers was stationary at the time of impact, it has to be the other driver's fault.

Thus, the golden rule is, if you think you are about to be hit, come to a halt before the impact. That way, your NCB remains intact. So far, this is how they seem to work down here.
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Re: Just passed your driving test? ....

Post by Gibbo2286 »

bobins wrote:Insurance companies seem to want to share the fault around these days. If you have a prang, they seem to want to incriminate both parties - so both parties have to pay their excess, and the insurance companies reduce their outgoings a bit. When I was hit last year, Admiral (my insurers at the time) actually made up the other guys statement to say that he thought I was partially to blame - bizarre, really, considering I was stationary at the side of the road and had a dashcam running. I soon got onto the Motor Insurance Bureau to find out the other guys story - only to find there was no record of Admiral ever having lodged the accident / paperwork (I was hit whilst abroad). When I challenged Admiral about this, I got the somewhat expected "Oh, sorry, there's been a mistake, we'll sort it......" Yeah, right !! :^o I don't trust insurance companies in general.... but some I trust less than others :?
It has always been the case that you have a no claim discount not a no blame discount, so if you make a claim you discount is at risk regardless of who is to blame.
To avoid problems you must 'inform' your insurer but not claim, just make a claim direct to the other cars insurer.
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Re: Just passed your driving test? ....

Post by bobins »

Gibbo2286 wrote: It has always been the case that you have a no claim discount not a no blame discount, so if you make a claim you discount is at risk regardless of who is to blame.
Indeed so, but it's not the loss of NCB/NCD I was highlighting, it's the fact that the insurers can be quick to jointly apportion blame so both parties have to pay their relative excesses - thus saving the insurers money with very little effort.
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Re: Just passed your driving test? ....

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

Well its done. Elephant's got the business. They were for us "much cheaper" although that doesn't seem to be the right phrase) and a bit of negotiating got it down a bit. Those kind of levels, in the thousands, are the market at the moment for insurance for new test-passers right now in our big cities.

Our only motoring worry in the 1970's was whether there would be enough petrol to enjoy our own motoring freedom. Insurance and getting a car was not a problem. I do think now though that the standard of car you can pick up today in the bargain basement range under £500 is far better than the collection of cheap rust buckets available in my first few years of motoring.

Thanks for you advice and anecdotes. I had to enquire of a previous insurance company the value of a claim they had settled. In Geordie it was just a slight dunch, which resuted in one broken numberplate to the other car. Staggered to see that the claim was settled at £6,000. which I duly had to report up in my insurance renewals until it dropped off their event horizon.

Regards Neil
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Re: Just passed your driving test? ....

Post by CitroJim »

Pleased it's now sorted Neil :D
NewcastleFalcon wrote: I had to enquire of a previous insurance company the value of a claim they had settled. In Geordie it was just a slight dunch, which resuted in one broken numberplate to the other car. Staggered to see that the claim was settled at £6,000. which I duly had to report up in my insurance renewals until it dropped off their event horizon.
And that sir is one reason I would think why insurance is so expensive nowadays...
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Re: Just passed your driving test? ....

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

Excuse me while i go just a touch off topic...
CitroJim wrote:
NewcastleFalcon wrote: PS.. and just for the record...that was my 3000 th post to FCF.....do I get a virtual "orange" belt for that landmark?!
Definitely Neil... Consider yourself an orange belt =D>
That tallies nicely with karate grading :D Never knew that about an orange...

So.. Blue for 1000 Posts, red for 2000 Posts, orange for 3000, yellow for 4000, green for 5000, purple for 6000, Purple and white for 7000, brown for 8000, brown and red for 9000 and for 10,000 black (Shodan) !!!
That makes me a Sandan...
The belt colours seem to be a bit variable across martial arts, and even within martial arts, but I quite like the idea of an orange belt :-D

So I see you are only awarding degrees of "Dan" for blocks of 10,000 posts classifying yourself as 3rd Dan. I don't think there is enough time for anyone to achieve 10th Dan under this system! (not that it should be easy of course!) Now blocks of 5,000 you would get to 10th Dan at 55,000 posts, although you may have find out a bit more about Norfolk, and spot a few AA Boxes in your quest for enlightenment and wisdom.

So I would personally award you currently Godan, on the brink of Rokudan

Regards Neil

Shodan 10,000-14,999 Nidan 15,000-19,999 Sandan 20,000-24,999 etc
Last edited by NewcastleFalcon on 02 Dec 2016, 19:58, edited 1 time in total.
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