Multi Car Insurance

Ok, so now I have an XM and an AX, and I'm looking for a CX, plus I've got a bus that'll need to be insured sooner or later

I know a lot of you guys have a lot of cars; how do you deal with insurance, and keep the premiums down? Adrian Flux is the most obvious answer (and they're the ONLY people that'll ensure my bus), but does anyone know of any great solutions?

You must have been reading my mind! Since I decided to repair the 2.1 hatchback I bought for scrap, I was wondering what was the cheapest way to insure two cars, so this morning I tried 'gocompare.com' as i couldn't get any sense out of 'confused.com'. I had a quote of £185. for the hatchack with no, no claims as its a new policy. I didn't think that was bad. I have my green one insured through 'confused.com' and that cost me about £125. Thes prices were per car of course. If anyone can do any better I would be delighted to hear.

Peter.N.

Admiral Multi car policy.

I pay less for two XM's and a Mitsubishi VR4 than the premium for the VR4 on it's own.

Never had to claim so can't comment on how good they are in that respect- sure there would be some info on ciao or some other forums, but I haven't bothered looking.

Must admit I treat insurance as a legal requirement rather than a personal need and drive within my own / cars limits rather than driving like a loon and relying upon being bailed out when I screw up.

You can do quotes online.

This post has been edited by wirdy on February 10, 2008 11:59 pm

I'm only one person, but my advice would be don't touch with a vary long bargepole.

XMs are a bit more worthless now than when I had an accident, but at the time a decent 2.5 with a service history did sell for 3000 - other than ebay there were no listings for less. However, they valued mine at about 800 because (and they sent faxes to back it up) you could by a higher mileage petrol hatch with no service history for that kind of money. "You can get a similar condition Xantia for that price as well, sir".

They had put a write off on the cars history before even telling me it had been inspected and they as good as admitted liability to the other party before they had my version of events.

I called to double check the location of the car to get it collected specifying that I wanted the address to collect the car, they went away to look it up and gave me an address. The address turned out to be the head office of the chain that stored it 150 miles away from the actual car pound.

Many months of battle and stress that should not have been required before I could get the car back on the road.

The valuation bit doesn't bother me - my two cars together were a cost of £695, and I could happily do third party only. The other stuff? Well, I've never made a personal insurance claim, but what I've heard from others is that they're all like that. Adrian Flux tried to give my ex-wife £600 for her Beetle convertible when someone torched it, and that was DESPITE an agreed valuation of £3000.

Like Wirdy I only have TPFT insurance, working on the principle that if I hit someone, it's my fault and the cars not worth a lot anyway and if someone hits me their insurance pays. What you would pay for comprehensive insurance would in a very few years add up to more than the car would be worth anyway. So far I have managed to avoid hitting anyone or being hit for quite a number of years, apart from a clash of mirrors about five years ago, I also live in a very low risk area and am of a low risk age, although rapidly heading for supposedly higher risk age.

Peter.N.

Don't do 3rd party even if you don't intend to claim. The price will be virtually no different these days and you won't get the windscreen cover.

Some are better at times. Direct line have been good on valuations for friends of mine. eg "here is a sensible offer, if you aren't happy send us 3 classified ads for similar cars and we will average them and pay out no questions asked, all within a few days".

They failed to tell me some things that they are legally required to, and I'm sure the only reason I got the money I did out of them in the end was because I had a very good case to take to the ombudsman.

Yes, you have a point there. I never had a windscreen break in my first 40 years of driving, in the last 10 I have had a windscreen and side window go and got them both done under insurance with an excess of about £60.00. The price they quoted if I had to pay myself was horrendous, but I am told that if you take your car to a windscreen specialist it's much cheaper.

Otherwise comprensive is a waste of time, some offer legal insurance, who are you most likely to be in dispute with? - the insurance company! And they never pay out, we had a very nice BX TZD estate that someone ran into the back of when it was parked and did'nt even give us the option of keeping it, and we still havn't had a decent settlement.

The windscreen insurance is a factor though.

Peter.N.

I had the screen done on a Montego estate (don't ask). I got second hand glass, and fitting, for about £50 all in, and I even got to choose if I wanted it all clear, or with a tint strip.

I haven't been driving as long as many of this forum but I've concluded that no matter how much you pay for insurance, believing you have the best, it makes little or no difference to the pay-out offered in time of crisis. So I go with the cheapest.

Anything sub-£1000 is a TPFT no-brainer IMHO. Irrespective of what our cars are worth to us, being honest, that amount covers the vast majority of XM's for insurance purposes.

I get free legal cover on my RAC membership (I've used this facility for £800 of legal fees fighting uninsured losses) and the difference between fully comp and TPFT for me would pay for a brand new windscreen each year.

You pays your money and takes your choice.

I guess it also depends on the use of the car -

for me as a business user, high-mileage increases risks of glass breakage (had 3 front screens, 1 rear) and also accident, so full-comp is a must, for the glass cover and also loan car, etc. And of course, if you happen to carry a customer or their kit in the car....

I've not heard any good things re Direct line in particular (only to avoid) and neither they or Admiral would cover my use of the car when I was shopping for cover a couple years back. Think mine's around £460 full-comp at 25K miles/year at the moment.

regards
Dave

Hi Dave

I would agree but until I retired about four years ago I was doing 30k per year and I am still doing nearly 20k now, I did 166k in my last CX Safari. I reckon I had done about 800k before I had my first windscreen go.

I had mine fully comp until a couple of years ago with Direct Line but got my TPFT cover with budget for less than half the price, mind you I expect their comp would have been cheaper but I was so amazed at the price that I didn't think to check.

I would be fully comp if I could offset most of it as a business expense

I wish!

OK I claim mileage costs at £0.40/mile for first 10K and then £0.28 or something for anything above, but that doesn't help much, given the lower rate just about covers the cost of fuel!

But the penalties if you do have a mishap and they look at the mileage/use of car etc are not worth the potential hassle. The no-hassle screen replacement while at work for just £60 was worth it though

regards
Dave

I guess it does depend how crucial having a working car is. I can't live without one for work so need the hire car options (even though they are next to useless, but better than nothing). And can you generally get business use on TPFT?

I would be surprised if most people with a decent no claims would find the difference between TPFT and Fully comp is much more than £50 these days. All the cost is to cover the personal injury payouts and they are on the 3rd party bit.

Another big difference will be how far they are willing to tow the car from an accident. Admiral was limited to 30 miles or something silly. Direct Line is anywhere within reason. Even if you are repairing yourself, if the car is not drivable for any reason and you are any distance from home then it is easier if your insurance is willing to take it from the side of the road when the police require all the way home and not just to the nearest garage of their choice for you to collect it from at your expense.