4 replies to this topic

[carts60]

Ok, so i recieved a letter from Footman James today telling me my insurance is due for renewal within a month - perfectly fine, until i saw the renewal quote!!

Now last year, i was 20 and was insured with them for 6000 limited miles and with an agreed value of £3k for a total of £428.85. Iv now come to the end of that policy and (as has happened for the last 2 renewals) i was fully expecting the quote to go down, bearing in mind i'll be 21 at the time of renewal, having been insured with them for the last 3 years and with claims.

But...apparently they thought different this year, and have decided to charge me a premium of £669.30. Thats an increase of £240!! And for what??

To put it bluntly im absolutely livid, and whats worse they're not even open on saturdays unlike nearly all other insurance companies so i cant vent my frustration at them.

Edited by carts60, 10 July 2010 - 01:30 PM.

[maggies_minder]

dont worry mate, its all part of the game.
my renewal quote was like £705 as a standard mini, with flux direct.
i thought sod that, i phoned footman james and got a quote with everything declared at some like £650.

i then phoned my insurance company (flux direct) to cancel the automatic renewal, they said ok but asked who id chosen to go with, i told them the above.
to which they replied we'll blow them out the water (the guys exact words).

so i tell them all the mods ive had put on, everything declared, increase my annual milage, and tell them i want an agreed value (adding a grand to the value of the car), i even declared my H4 halogen headlight conversion (i was on a roll).

so to all intents and purposes my car is worth more and moving quicker as its now got a stage 1kit, so my quote should go up??

but no, i can get porper no claims as opposed to the usual way classic policies work, im insured on other vehicles even though im 22 and Footman James siad i had to be 25 with them.

i think my final quote was £625, so they beat their own quote by nearly £100 dispite all the above being added to what was a standard policy.
just because i phoned up and said i was going elsewhere.

get on the phone and haggle.

[carts60]

I'v literally phoned around everywhere this afternoon trying to find a more competetive quote. I didnt think it would be very hard seeing as last year cost me a little over £400 so there was a lot of room for improvement on £669 - but i was wrong. Literally nobody wanted to give me insurance because im not 25 yet. Adrian Flux apparently have quite a few sister companies under different names who all have the same policy rules and regs which totally ruled me out of about 4 companies. The other companies i asked for a quote couldnt even compete with the Footman James renewal and were asking for nigh on a grand and then just kept on referring me to their other sister companies. I just went in a series of big circles with each company palming me off to another because they either couldnt compete or i wasnt old enough.

I havent tried Flux Direct though so il give them a bash on monday and then il get back to Footman James and ask them what the hell they're playing at. Im also going to haggle like its going out of fashion. Apparently you can really push insurers -especially ones you're already with and a renewing because they want to keep your custom more than the £50 they lose. Hopefully il get a decent deal in the end.

I dont understand why you have to be a certain age to have classic car insurance though?? I guess they just think were all yobos who couldnt afford to lower a Corsa (even though a minis worth more) and are going to write a classic car off within a week. I suppose i can understand an age restriction of say maybe 20 which is 3 years driving, but FJ say they wont insure under 25's (though they insured me without asking any questions about why im not 25??), and another insurer who i tried called Peter James wont insure you until you're 30!!! How much money are they losing out on there. And how do they make up these ages??

Oh im in such an argumentative mood at the moment.

Edited by carts60, 10 July 2010 - 04:24 PM.

[maggies_minder]

insurance companies work off different "risk groups" some specialise in those with convictions and license losses, others with just women, and very few with young lads.
adriam flux arent the insurer they are the broker so just because they wont insure you doesnt mean the sister brokers wont due to the above they may target different groups.

i tried adrian flux and dispite being practically the same as flux direct the best quote they could give me was over a grand.

tell them your a member on here and part of a mini enthusiasts club, this really helps. the club i belong to i sponsored by an insurance company, and the chap from said insurers ocassionally comes to our meets, he said that being part of a club shows your cars a hobby as opposed to just a mode of transport and therefore you are more likely to care for it, look after it and drive more sensibly.

[carts60]

Yeah, il make sure il tell them that.