197: Insurance renewal time - couple of questions

[Chrisgti6]

Ok, so my insurance is up for renewal 2nd June. My renewal has come through from my current insurer and I'm pleasantly suprised by the price. I'm with E-Sure, last year I paid about £370 and this years renewal is £328.77. It breaks down as follows:

Motor premium after deducting 7 years NCB = £300.79

Motor legal protection = £27.98

Total price = £328.77

My questions are as follows;

1) what does the motor legal protection actually provide? In what situation is it going to help? (reads as is it worth it?)

2) I don't currently have my NCB protected, however it does say if I was to have a fault claim during this next 12 months at my next renewal I'll still have 5 years. So again is it worth adding protection for the sake of potentially losing 2 years NCB. At this point I'm unsure how much the extra premium is.

3) My excess is set at £400, £250 voluntary £150 compulsary. Leave as is or lower it?

4) has anyone dealt with e-sure? Are they good insurers if the worst should happen?

Ive done some quotes with other insurers via comparison site, nobody is even close, any suggestions on who else to try?

 

[Chrisgti6]

Ps no posts about how cheap it is, no dodgy **** or fronting here, just old (well 30) and clean licence with a decent post code! I've paid my share of stupid prices over the years, I've earned my low quote!

 

[Foxspeed]

dont pay for "protected no claims bonus" as your only paying to protect a % on a piece of paper!!!

even with full ncb and protected it will still go up if you claim...

i would go for a lower excess :thumbsup:

 

[Chrisgti6]

Thanks foxspeed, I think I'll lower the excess before renewal

 

[deadmau5]

Unbelievably I couldn't get a better price than the auto renewal Admiral offered me from anywhere else, even if I got a new quote with Admiral as a new customer. Previous to this I saw some pigs flying over my house whilst a bearded man in a white shroud in sandals was walking past the front gates.

 

[Dave1rs]

I tend to disagree,I always protect my no claims,had two claims several years ago(wife on my policy).and my premium has never gone up. I don't however ever go for the legal,if there was ever any uninsured losses its easy enough to sort without a middle man.
But as with all insurance related issues everyone's experience can be different as they seem to be a law unto themselves .

 

[chettle]

I think the legal protection applies if you have other people in the car with you, then they will sort their legal issues too... but its better asking the insurer.

Id also lower the excess.... unless you wouldnt miss £400 if the worst did happen.

 

[Fernandez]

I never go for legal protection as a standard insurance policy covers the basic legal cover requirements anyway including legal protection for passengers.

Protecting no claims is a tricky one. Yes you can protect and keep your "No claims discount" but if you have an accident that's your fault your new policy will still get a loaded premium because you now have an accident on your driving history.

http://m.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/apr/20/car-insurance-protecting-no-claims-bonus

 

[Mentalpen]

tbh all the above is both good and crap advice depending on your point of view.

Firstly legal protection, you can do all the work your self if needs be and always do a "no win no fee" type lawyer, however they won't always take your case on. Legal protection should always do so.

excess, personally i have £150 excess but it affects my premium by bugger all. If you premium goes up £1000 by lowering it is it really worth lowering it?

My 2p would be to do different quotes and change the excess and do it without legal cover. Then choose what suits you and ring them and say you have a query that you want to make sure its all covered options wise, cup chassis on a sport for example. Then mention legal cover and see if they will do it for £5 or so.

It is a product much like anything else and the price is negotiable.

 

[chris1888-197]

Lol, I just took out insurance with e-sure I am 31- nearly 32 and have a clean license and 9 years no claims and my insurance with them was £396!! Must be a dodgy postcode I have lol. Got cheaper quotes at about £280-360 but excess is too high! I always go for the lowest excess in the off chance the s**t hits the fan. :scared:

 

[klem]

I went with Greenlight... mainly for trackday cover but they are extremely helpful and reasonably priced so worth giving them a call.

 

[Chrisgti6]

Thanks all,

I'll try a few of the 'specialists' for insurance too, as well as choppign and changing my policy (with/without legal, protected, the wife etc)

 

[GrumpyTwig]

Thanks all,

I'll try a few of the 'specialists' for insurance too, as well as choppign and changing my policy (with/without legal, protected, the wife etc)

Greenlight do some good policies in regards mods as well, low premiums too. Saved me a LOT of money this year.

I even got an insurance certificate for a Focus ST.... Not sure they meant to do that!

 

[Marv]

dont pay for "protected no claims bonus" as your only paying to protect a % on a piece of paper!!!

even with full ncb and protected it will still go up if you claim...

i would go for a lower excess :thumbsup:

Got to strongly disagree here.

First of all check the maximum number of years worth of NCB your company will issue. Most insurers cap at 5 years so the fact that you have 7 years doesn't matter. Each claim will knock 2 years off your NCB. I had 10 years NCB, then made a claim and my NCB dropped down to 4 years (was lucky that my insurer capped at 6 years).

Foxspeed is correct that you are only protecting the percentage so if you make a claim and your insurance goes up the % discount remains the same. If you don't protect your NCB and make a claim, not only will you premium go up but the discount will also go down!!! The clincher is that protecting your NCB has become very cheap recently so get a quote with and without NCB.

Finally, I am insured with More Than and my renewal came in at £575 with protected NCB which is pricey, but I live in London. Shopped around and am still insured with More Than for..........£299 :thumbup:

Always shop around.