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Car Insurance Advice

Hiya Folks, here's some of what I know about car insurance,and how it relates to getting a good quote from the First Car Insurance.com car insurance website. Please note that this page is for UK users, and does not apply to USA users.

• Car
• History
• Policy
• Drivers
• Company car experience
• Named driver experience
• Certificate
• Convictions
• Legal expenses cover - should you pay extra for it ?

The Price Survey
The list on this web site represents the results of a survey of home insurance quotes gathered from UK insurers and intermediaries operating online. The results are ranked with the overall cheapest first. Remember that you are unique! What is cheaper for someone else may not be the cheapest for you.

Introduction
Getting a cheap car insurance quote from the internet can be easy, I have written this page to help you find a cheap quote fast.

There are several factors to look out for, such as whether different quotes include legal expenses cover or not, whether it would be cheaper to get an alarm fitted etc etc.

It pays to shop around - you should also phone some call centres. If you phone, the call centre can quote for many policies which are not available online and also ask a more precise set of questions. Click here for phone numbers

Car insurance is required by law if you drive on the public roads. The driver must be insured for the full cost of any damage done to anybody or anything else. The other person is called the "third party". You must have at least third party insurance.

Most motorists also insure their own car at the same time as they get the third party cover - you can get "third party fire and theft" or you can get "comprehensive".
 

Certificate

The only legal proof of insurance is an "insurance certificate" - this is a piece of paper from the insurance company - it will have "Certificate of Insurance" printed on it. The certificate must mention the dates that it is valid and specifically state who is to drive the car ( it may say "any driver with the permission of ..." ). The certificate does not need to mention the car....insurance certificates insure drivers not cars.
 

Cover note

A "cover note" is a type of insurance certificate - but it is normally just for 30 days instead of 1 year.

Car

Insurance companies need to know exactly what car you have..

eg:

Make ----- Volkswagen

Model ---- Passat

Details ---- CL TD 1900cc.

The insurance company is mostly concerned with three things

1. The value of the car .... a Ferrari costs more than a Ford.

2. The performance of the car - a faster car will have more accidents ( and be stolen more often. )

3. The age of the car is very important to the cost of the policy. ( Older cars tend to be used less than newer ones and travel more slowly, also the car is worth less.)

DRIVERS

Select the driver(s) you want insured on the policy. Basically you can have as many people as you want insured on the policy, but you pay extra for extra drivers. Young drivers can be expensive.

Most people select either 

Insured only to driver or

Insured and spouse only to drive.

The cheapest is Insured only to Drive, but Insured and Spouse often costs the same or only a little extra.

If you select Named Drivers or Any Driver, you must declare everybody who you know will drive the car. 

Hint: Young drivers often try to get their cars insured through their parents. The problem is that in order to get a cheaper quote they must tell the insurance company that the parent is the main driver of the car....this is FRAUD....insurance companies are not stupid. If they find out then they may reject a claim and even prosecute!

Drivers who have not passed their test, or who passed less than a year ago tend to be charged more.

Hint: If you passed your test just under a year ago, it might be worthwhile to wait until there is a full year from the date of passing your test before taking out insurance....You can check by running some test quotes through First Car Insurance.

DRIVER AGE

Select the age you will be on the day you want the policy to start.

Hint: If you have a birthday just after the date you want the insurance to start, it might be better to wait until your birthday to start the policy.

eg: A driver aged 24 and 364 days might pay a lot more than a driver aged 25 and 1 day !!!!
 

GENDER

Select whether you are male or female.

Women get cheaper car insurance rates because they cost insurance companies less in claims.

Select whether you are married or single.

Married people tend to drive more carefully and so pay lower insurance premiums.

OCCUPATION

Select the option which best describes your job.

Generally speaking, your job does not make much difference to the cost of car insurance.

There are, however, some occupations that insurance companies charge extra for ( eg pop stars.....sorry.... I'm not going to tell what the others are ).

POSTCODE

The postcode is an important factor in the cost of insurance. Higher population densities ( cities ) and higher crime rates equal higher insurance premiums.

Insurance companies want to know the postcode where the car is kept overnight If you park your car away from your house, then you must give the postcode the car is parked in.

Policy

USE

Most people have Social, Domestic and Pleasure including to and from work. If you do not need cover for commuting you can might get a small discount for Social, Domestic and Pleasure excluding to and from work, but many insurance companies include commuting automatically at no extra cost.

Hint: Choose Social Domestic and Pleasure including to and from work unless you have reason not to

COVER

Third Party Only. ( TPO ) - covers you for any damage or injury that you cause to anybody else ( the third party ) or their property. There is NO COVER for you or your car.

Third Party, Fire and Theft. ( TPFT ) - covers the same as Third Party Only, and also covers your car against theft or theft damage and covers against the car catching fire. There is NO ACCIDENT COVER for your car.

Hint: TPFT can be disappointing - after you take into account any excess on the policy and the loss of your NoClaims Bonus, it is sometimes not worth claiming - if your car is worth less than £1000 think about whether Third Party Only might be better.

Comprehensive. - covers the same as TPFT and all your own accident damage. Comprehensive policies usually also include windscreen, courtesy car, roadside recovery, legal assistance and other benefits. This is the all in "peace of mind" policy - in theory, if anything happens to your car, you simply phone the insurance company, tell them where your car is then get in a taxi to go and collect a courtesy car.

A big advantage of a comprehensive policy is that in the event of an accident, repairs can be started immediately without having to argue about whose insurance will eventually pay for it.

With comprehensive insurance, you always lose your No Claims Bonus after a claim. You get it back if your insurance company gets its money back off the other person's insurance company.

NO CLAIMS BONUS

Select the number of years of No Claims Bonus that you have.

You earn one year of No Claims Bonus for each consecutive year of a policy in which you do not make a claim. 6 years is normally the maximum allowed, and gives about 60 % discount.

The only way to prove your No Claims Bonus is a piece of paper called the "Renewal Notice" from your previous insurance company - this is your "Proof of Bonus".

If you have an accident you normally lose two years of your No Claims Bonus. 

No Claims Bonus Discount ( approximately - insurance companies vary )

1 year 20 %

2 years 40 %

3 years 50 %

4+ years 60 %

COMPANY CAR or other DRIVING EXPERIENCE

If you can prove that you have been driving a company car or driving on somebody else's policy without any claims - then some companies will allow an "introductory" discount which works like real No Claims Bonus. Note that this is not real "No Claims Bonus" - you will only have one year No Claims Bonus when it comes to renew the policy - other insurance companies might only give you one year of discount.

PROTECTED NO CLAIMS BONUS

You can choose to "protect" your no claims bonus by paying a bit extra. Then, if you have a claim, you will still get the full no claims discount the following year. You do NOT have full no claims bonus anymore, but the insurance company still gives you the full discount...but if you change to a different insurance company now, you must take a protected bonus policy ( which costs more!!).

Excess

An excess is the amount that the insurance company will deduct from any claim which it pays you. There are good discounts to be had by choosing to have some excess on your policy.

Any excess which you choose to have on the policy is called a "voluntary excess" .

Insurance policies usually also include a "compulsory excess" of say £50 to £100, which they will always take off any claim they pay to you.

There may be additional compulsory excesses for such things as young drivers or theft claims.

There is no excess ( by law ) on any Third Party claims - this means that if you are at fault in an accident then your insurance company will pay every penny of the other person's claim.

History ( claims and convictions history ).

If you have claims or convictions then you will probably have to pay extra for your insurance.Try some telephone quotes as well as internet quotes - the best rates are not always on the Internet, especially if your record is not perfect.

Unfortunately, some insurance policies are only available to drivers with a clean history.

CLAIMS history.

You must declare all of the claims or accidents that you or any other driver has been involved in, even if it was in a different car with a different policy. Most insurance companies only ask for the last 3 years, but some ask for longer.

Don't forget theft claims and fire claims, but you do not need to mention an accident where you were only a passenger.

CONVICTIONS history.

Insurance companies always ask about the date of the court conviction, not the date of the offence. If you committed an offence 3 years ago, but got convicted 2 years ago - then the conviction is only 2 years old.

Most driving convictions are "spent" after 3 years, but many are not. Convictions can remain for 10 years or more ( eg drunk driving convictions ), so be careful.

Remember that in the event of a claim, the insurance company might ask to see your driving licence.

Hint: most insurance companies do not penalise you for a single speeding ( SP 30 ) ticket.
 

LEGAL EXPENSES ( uninsured loss recovery insurance ).

Many motorists also get a "legal expenses" policy - they cost between £5 and £20 or may be included in the policy.

Legal expenses cover can be very useful if you have an accident that is not your fault, but you do not have to have it.

Check any of the quotes you get to see if they include legal expenses, you can usually chose to have a quote with and a quote without legal expenses.

what is "legal expenses" ?
Legal expenses policies help if you have an accident that is not your fault. What they do for you depends on the circumstances.

The legal expenses people will try to get back all your losses that are not covered by your own policy.

If you have comprehensive insurance then your own insurance company will pay for most of your losses - but they will not pay the excess, and there might be other losses that they do not pay ( eg car hire, taxis, loss of income etc ) - legal expenses will try to get your "uninsured losses" back for you from the other person's insurance company.

If you have third party insurance then your insurance company will not pay you anything if somebody else damages your car in an accident - the legal expenses people will try to get everything back for you from the other person's insurance company.

do I need "legal expense"  ?
People often wonder if they need legal expenses cover. You do not need it but it is generally a good thing to have.

If you have an accident where you can claim from the other person's insurance then it is possible to pursue the claim yourself, but if there is a big claim, or an injury is involved, then expert help can suddenly become very important.

If you don't have any legal expenses cover, then you will have to get your money on your own or pay a specialist company to do it. You might end up getting less than you could have or paying a big percentage of the money you get to lawyers.

Legal expenses cover can smooth the hassle and uncertainties of claiming off somebody else's insurance.