UK Car insurance

[Colonel]

I need some help. Can anyone recommend a good (cheap) car insurer in the UK, preferably one that isn't on comparison websites. I've exhausted all those and got nowhere. If anyone can tell me a decent insurers that aren't on these sites that would be great.

Thanks in advance,

Adam.

[stin]

Ok, you had been driving for years or first time? or you just decided to change insurance?

My insurance is Swindon, I`m 100% fully comp and been driving for 20yrs now. But they were extremely helpful to me and it`s does makes my life alot easier.

My insurance are pretty reasonable prices. But, how much are you looking for and what type of car are you using?

stevie:)

[infoxicated]

What's weird is how many of the smaller companies are just fronts for the bigger ones - like Sheila's Wheels, Diamond, and Admiral, for example - they're just subsidiaries of parent companies in a sort of divide and conquer tactic.

When I got my renewal quote from Elephant last year it was £310, so I shopped around and got a quote of £228 from Admiral. I called Elephant to tell them I was cancelling and the guy in the call centre said "Ah, we're actually Admiral's parent company, so we can honour that quote rather than going through the administrative process of having you switch."

Which I thought was really stupid - if the same company under a different name could cover me for £80 less then why weren't Elephant stepping up to do that?

I guess that's how they make a profit if people don't shop around. :|

Not sure I'm helping with the above, but it is something to bear in mind. :)

[Colonel]

Well thanks both of you. Just to give you a bit more information, I'm 30, have had a licence for 12 years but have only been driving regularly for the last two, hence only 2 years no claims. My car's a 1995 1.8 escort cabriolet. I've paid high insurance premiums on it since I bought it, but this year I'm struggling to get anything under about £1200.

To be honest I'm fed up with it, it's a great car to drive but it's insurance group 15 and I just can't afford it. It drinks petrol as well and the running costs just aren't worth it for the miles I do.

So my girlfriend and I are going to sell it and get something cheaper to run. With that in mind does anyone have any recommendations for cheap, economical cars that aren't completely ****? :lol

[infoxicated]

Ouch - that's steep. £1200 for a 15 year old car just seems crazy unless you live somewhere dodgy in Liverpool or Manchester - I wouldn't have thought Preston was a hotbed of grand theft auto, but you live and learn. :)

It was the same thing that caused me to get rid of my lovely Chrysler Neon that I bought myself as a 30th birthday treat. Thought being 30 would lower the premiums, but the first quote I had was over two grand because I had zero no claims. I was on the verge of calling the dealership to cancel the order when I got a £1100 quote from Egg and reluctantly accepted it.

18 months later and I decided I just couldn't live with it any longer. Even though I'd got the premium down to about £800 by that time, it was a 2.0l car and when my girlfriend passed her test we just couldn't find a firm that would insure her for a sensible sum of money. Petrol had hit the giddy heights of 85p a litre by then, too(!), so it made sense to look for something more frugal.

Ended up selling the Neon to my Crazy Uncle John and buying a Honda Jazz after lots of painstaking research. I really like the Jazz, but it's a utility vehicle - I can't even remember the last time I washed it - with the Neon I was out every second Sunday, polishing it down, cleaning the alloys and treating the leather interior with the stuff that kept it soft. :)

With the Jazz I throw my mountain bike in the back and head off in search of adventure. The "magic" seats are so useful that you wonder why other cars don't have them - with a bit of clever folding you've got a minivan. It handles like a kart and I can get high 40mpg out of it if I'm sensible with the right foot. The first time it's let us down in seven years was last month when the -20° temperatures killed the battery. I can forgive it that - it's started first turn the rest of the time we've had it.

[stin]

:blarg<-----That`s me!

Seriously, you know what I`m thinking at the time, I had thought your car was a sport car or fancy alloys or whatever.
Now, you say two year with no claim bonus. With that price!, to me that is massive!

I was thinking, why not get a smaller engine like below 1 litre, but looks like that`s out of the question!:|

Mine is four times lower than you and I`m driving a 2litre diesel car.

Like foxy says, it`s depending where you stay which are possible.

stevie

[Aeroracer]

want cheap car insurance...get a sex change..

guys get such a crap deal.my insurance is about £350 fully comp and i drive a toyota mx5 and a tf160 (gasket has gone)..

[Colonel]

It does seem I'm doomed, I've being trying a few different cars on price comparison websites and even with a 1.4ltr fiesta I'm looking at around £800. I don't live in a dodgy area at all and I've had no claims, convictions etc.

Thoroughly depressing :frown:

[Aeroracer]

get your mum or gf to insure it and put you as name driver its cheap that way.provided your girl isnt a stock car racer :)

[Colonel]

Unfortunately she doesn't drive, although she is planning to learn. Having said that I'm pretty sure she'll be cheaper than me, even as a new driver!