Car Insurance
We talk to lots of customers about their car insurance. Direct Line, and Tesco come highly recommended by our clients for pricing and service. Both are large reputable insurance companies with good policies where you can include the useful extras such as windscreen cover and legal cover. Their policies are really good value for a wide range of drivers. Neither advertise on comparison websites so you do need to go to their sites directly. But hey presto! We've made it easy...click on the links below for extra online savings. (P.S. Van insurance too!)
Tesco Car Insurance (currently includes 15% ONLINE DISCOUNT)As an example, in November 2007 we got car insurance quotes from over 50 different car insurance providers for a 26 year old female pharmacist living in Birmingham driving a new Mini Cooper, with 3 years no claims discount having had a no fault accident in 2004. The best quote was from Direct Line at £533 or £47 per month. Tesco was £576. A few of the other quotes.... AA £720 or £67/month, Diamond £768, Churchill £866, Elephant, £854, Both Marks & Spencers and Sheilas' Wheels £969 or £87/month, RAC £2486. Some companies such as Esure wouldn't insure as this girl did not meet their criteria.
What you need before applying for car insurance
Whenever you want a car insurance quote, from any company, make sure you have the following information to hand:
- Car make and model
- Full post code
- Number of years of no-claims discount and with whom
- Your details and details of other drivers - name, date of birth, licence type, residency in UK and occupation
- What the car will be used for – social, domestic and pleasure; or business
- Estimated annual mileage
- Type of cover - comprehensive, third party fire and theft, or third party only
- Full details of claims or convictions in the last three years. This will be on your driving licence.
- Registration number (or chassis number if the car is new and unregistered)
- Where the car is normally kept - street, garage, etc.
(By the way, don’t be tempted to say your car is garaged if it isn’t. In the event of a theft outside your home your claim could be declined.)
Liability and legal requirements
- The law requires that any vehicles three years old and over have a valid MOT certificate. You are unable to tax a vehicle without an MOT and certificate of insurance and driving a car without these is an offence.
- The Road Traffic Act states that all motorists must be insured against their liability for injuring other people (including passengers) and for damage to other people`s property.
- It is also vital to keep your car insurance company up-to-date including vehicle modifications and fixed penalties. This is known as “utmost good faith” and means you are obliged to disclose any detail which may be of importance to the insurers - whether or not it is requested. Not doing so may affect any claim you make.
- TIP: Many parents add their children to their motor insurance policies in order to cut bills. There is nothing wrong with this. But if the car is actually owned by the child and he/she is the registered keeper, an insurer may see this as “fronting”. This is where the child is a named driver when in fact he/she is the main user of the vehicle. In such cases, an insurer may reject a claim. Always make sure you tell the insurer who the main driver is.