Insurance

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van ordinaire
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Location: Live & work in London but weekend in Devon (or do I now live in Torbay & work in London?)
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'81 2CV Club (quietly sleeping in a parallel universe)
'05 (yes, really) C15
'97 Xantia Exclusive estate
others:-
'96 Jeep Cherokee Limited - the "donor"
'99 Jeep Cherokee Orvis - the green one
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'99 Cadillac Seville STS
'96 Cadillac Eldorado ETC
& numerous what might be described as abandoned projects!
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Re: Insurance

Post by van ordinaire »

My a/c @ RBS has similar "benefits" to the Nationwide's & I recently derived some satisfaction from telling them what they could do with it - spelling out why I derive insufficient to merit the, now, not inconsiderable cost: the travel insurance was convenient, not requiring any thought (although the one time I tried to claim, I gave up because it was just too difficult!) & the breakdown cover was handy but not at all user friendly: no freefone No, apparently no emergency call centre, so you were always in a queue behind people making routine enquiries, then you were interogated, not about the vehicle, the problem & your whereabouts, but whether ir was yours, the address at which it was registered, what type of a/c you had &, often the full gamut of security questions.
Bizzarely my letter explaining why this a/c no longer suited my needs was treated as a complaint &, surprise, surprise, in the (largely computer generated) response they had the temerity to say they didn't agree with me.
Citroens:-
'81 2CV Club :cry:
'05 C15 :!:
'97 Xantia Exclusive estate [-o<
others:-
Jeep XJ Cherokees x 3 :?
'96 Cadillac Eldorado
'99 Cadillac STS :|
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Re: Insurance

Post by Paul-R »

I'm not at all sure about whether there's an 0800 number or even a dedicated number for the breakdown service but I simply used the dedicated Flexaccount Plus helpline number (the normal number, not the 0845 number) and was put through in very short order.
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Re: Insurance

Post by Zelandeth »

van ordinaire wrote: 05 Aug 2017, 00:26 I need breakdown cover for everything as I no longer run anything that can be fixed by the side of the road. Apart from the AA (which I wouldn't touch with a bargepole) who else offers "whatever you're driving" cover? I do, ostensibly, have that, courtesy of my bank, but only the Cherokees have been dependant on it - & that'll change when the insurance comes up for renewal because I just can't stand the delay & the grilling if I have cause to call them (& it doesn't include foreign use)

Limited mileage is no good to me, when I only had one car, it did 20,000+ miles a year, just weekends & holidays. Now I reckon the C15 & (in a good year) the Cadddy do about 10,000, even the red Cherokee, which seldom leaves Devon, will rack up about 3,000 miles just going out to Princetown for breakfast on Saturdays.

Also foreign use is, for the moment, only imprtant for international recovery, as it's actually quite difficult to drive out out of the EU now. (The opportunities to get beyond, say, Poland or Croatia being fairly limited.)


Van, look into a recovery group called Autoaid.

They're essentially a dispatching agent more than anything else. If you break down, you phone them and they arrange recovery by an appropriately located subcontractor. You then either pay for the recovery and reclaim the expenses from them through a relatively painless process, or can request that an invoice is issued at pickup which can be submitted directly to them if you don't have funds available to use the former option.

It's a bit more convoluted than the RAC etc - but it does give any vehicle cover for me and my husband for £40 a year so I'm willing to jump through a few more hoops. Can't remember off the top of my head, but I think it covers EU travel as well.

Haven't had to use them in recent history, but they're well regarded over on UKSaabs where I heard of them in the first place, and they seem to be a brand who use reputation and word of mouth as their sole form a of advertising, so'm not anticipating any problems.
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Re: Insurance

Post by Gibbo2286 »

I would recommend looking around your locality and finding a breakdown operator offering 24 hour call outs, take down their phone number and keep it with the car, you will pay nothing unless you actually need them and a call out will usually cost no more than one annual bill from the AA, RAC etc.

No good if you make a lot of long distance journeys but a chat to them can often get information about others all over the country in the business they have associations with.
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van ordinaire
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Location: Live & work in London but weekend in Devon (or do I now live in Torbay & work in London?)
My Cars: Citroens:-
'81 2CV Club (quietly sleeping in a parallel universe)
'05 (yes, really) C15
'97 Xantia Exclusive estate
others:-
'96 Jeep Cherokee Limited - the "donor"
'99 Jeep Cherokee Orvis - the green one
'97 Jeep Cherokee Limited - the red one
'99 Cadillac Seville STS
'96 Cadillac Eldorado ETC
& numerous what might be described as abandoned projects!
x 405

Re: Insurance

Post by van ordinaire »

Zel, that is very similar to the breakdown cover for the C15, except you don't have to pay, as it's included in the insurance & when the clutch went they provided a very superior service (I lost count of the calls to check if all was going to plan) to any recovery service I've used, which is odd because they all use the same local agents. So, yes, I'll look into that - thanks for the tip.

Gibbo, it's an idea (& I can see how it might work for you) but I thought the whole raison d'etre for breakdown cover was to avoid those sort of costs, on the rare occasions I've had to pay, I'm sure it was best part of £100, getting on for 10 years ago. When I lived just outside Northampton, I had the best of both worlds: a local breakdown insurance provider!
Citroens:-
'81 2CV Club :cry:
'05 C15 :!:
'97 Xantia Exclusive estate [-o<
others:-
Jeep XJ Cherokees x 3 :?
'96 Cadillac Eldorado
'99 Cadillac STS :|
& the numerous "abandoned projects" #-o
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van ordinaire
(Donor 2017)
Posts: 2537
Joined: 23 Jun 2015, 14:45
Location: Live & work in London but weekend in Devon (or do I now live in Torbay & work in London?)
My Cars: Citroens:-
'81 2CV Club (quietly sleeping in a parallel universe)
'05 (yes, really) C15
'97 Xantia Exclusive estate
others:-
'96 Jeep Cherokee Limited - the "donor"
'99 Jeep Cherokee Orvis - the green one
'97 Jeep Cherokee Limited - the red one
'99 Cadillac Seville STS
'96 Cadillac Eldorado ETC
& numerous what might be described as abandoned projects!
x 405

Re: Insurance

Post by van ordinaire »

Paul-R wrote: 07 Aug 2017, 10:29 I'm not at all sure about whether there's an 0800 number or even a dedicated number for the breakdown service but I simply used the dedicated Flexaccount Plus helpline number (the normal number, not the 0845 number) and was put through in very short order.


Obviously Nationwide have got it all over RBS, at least in that respect.

The whole problem with having to use the helpline is that you're phoning the bank, not a recovery service, which has no sense of urgency, much less a grasp of "emergency". I've explained to them that such calls are made in stressful, difficult, sometimes dangerous situations when you, or another, might be injured & it is not acceptable to be kept hanging on, then treated as though you are making a routine enquiry of your branch, all the time wondering if you will have enough credit left to actually tell them where you are - but they won't have it.
Citroens:-
'81 2CV Club :cry:
'05 C15 :!:
'97 Xantia Exclusive estate [-o<
others:-
Jeep XJ Cherokees x 3 :?
'96 Cadillac Eldorado
'99 Cadillac STS :|
& the numerous "abandoned projects" #-o
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Paul-R
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My Cars: 2015 1.6 Blue HDi 120 Peugeot 308 Active SW
2013 2.0 HDi 163 C5 Exclusive Tourer
2003 2.0 HDi 110 C5 Exclusive Estate (Gone)
2001 2.0 HDi 90 Xsara Estate (Gone)
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Re: Insurance

Post by Paul-R »

I've looked it up and there is a dedicated insurance line. It's not 0800 though.
As I get older I think a lot about the hereafter - I go into a room and then wonder what I'm here after.

Inside every old person is a young person wondering what the hell happened.

"Trying is the first step towards failure" ~ Homer J Simpson​
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Re: Insurance

Post by doctle »

Am I allowed to say AxA insurance are all descended from bachelors?
Oh buggle
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van ordinaire
(Donor 2017)
Posts: 2537
Joined: 23 Jun 2015, 14:45
Location: Live & work in London but weekend in Devon (or do I now live in Torbay & work in London?)
My Cars: Citroens:-
'81 2CV Club (quietly sleeping in a parallel universe)
'05 (yes, really) C15
'97 Xantia Exclusive estate
others:-
'96 Jeep Cherokee Limited - the "donor"
'99 Jeep Cherokee Orvis - the green one
'97 Jeep Cherokee Limited - the red one
'99 Cadillac Seville STS
'96 Cadillac Eldorado ETC
& numerous what might be described as abandoned projects!
x 405

Re: Insurance

Post by van ordinaire »

You said it! Subtlety gets you past the mods - AND it was rather amusing!
Citroens:-
'81 2CV Club :cry:
'05 C15 :!:
'97 Xantia Exclusive estate [-o<
others:-
Jeep XJ Cherokees x 3 :?
'96 Cadillac Eldorado
'99 Cadillac STS :|
& the numerous "abandoned projects" #-o
Gibbo2286
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Re: Insurance

Post by Gibbo2286 »

I got a leaflet in the door from LV "We can save you money on your motor insurance." I had a few minutes to spare so I went online for a quote on the 06 C5 estate I'm fixing up, £451 and with a £300 'voluntary' excess................they must be joking! :shock:
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Re: Insurance

Post by doctle »

AxA refused to replace my windscreen on the grounds that I didn't have the car insured long enough. They sent a guy from autoglass to "inspect" the windscreen and this guy was able to objectively examine the crack and tell it happened "months ago". Funny thing is they don't mention this in the policy small print. They won't give me a reason in writing for this refusal so I cannot go to the insurance ombudsman with a "he said, she said" complaint. After ten years and no claims with my premium almost quadrupling I think it's time for a different insurer
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Re: Insurance

Post by daviemck2006 »

I had no problems with priviledge, which is part of the direct line group. They paid out a fortune to replace the panaromic roof on the c4 vts when i was running it 4 years ago, with me only paying the £75 excess. The total job was over 2 grand. I also had no problems claiming when I crashed the c5 a couple of years later. Our 107 is still insured with them so I keep the no claims going, which will be back to full no claims when the renewal is due next month.
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Re: Insurance

Post by doctle »

You guys in the UK have a great choice of insurers and comparison sites. In Ireland the difference in quotes is usually either very small or massive. No cartel nothing to see here....
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Re: Insurance

Post by CitroJim »

Gibbo2286 wrote: 16 Aug 2017, 09:22 I got a leaflet in the door from LV "We can save you money on your motor insurance." I had a few minutes to spare so I went online for a quote on the 06 C5 estate I'm fixing up, £451 and with a £300 'voluntary' excess................they must be joking! :shock:


That's odd. I get a great deal from LV... Cheapest by far for me. I do get a discount for being a member of what was the CSMA and having my home insurance with them too - which is also very competitively priced...

Their customer service is good too...
Jim

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Re: Insurance

Post by myglaren »

Gibbo2286 wrote: 16 Aug 2017, 09:22 I got a leaflet in the door from LV "We can save you money on your motor insurance." I had a few minutes to spare so I went online for a quote on the 06 C5 estate I'm fixing up, £451 and with a £300 'voluntary' excess................they must be joking! :shock:


I have my son on mine as we share the car daily. He is 35.
LV= renewal was £305 ish, £47 less than last year.
Could have knocked £18 off re-insuring with LV= by cancelling and using the online quote from money supermarket but couldn't be doing with all the messing around.
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