Car Insurance, the fully comp farce.

[old'un]

Just been a number of comparison websites for my car insurance, it was £230 fully comp last year, the cheapest this year is £216, its not so much the price but I remember when fully comp meant just that, now if you want fully comp there’s a whole list of add-ons, motor legal protection, personal accident, excesses £, courtesy car, breakdown cover etc.

And of course all these add-ons cost extra, not only that but even when you think you have fully comp by adding all these extras, if you then read the policy booklet there's is still a long list of things you are not covered for, one good example is being hit by an uninsured driver, if you cannot get the vehicle reg plus the name of the driver its classed as an at fault claim, another one, if its an at fault claim they they will not pay out for car hire, and the list goes on, one of the ones that made me smile...”we will not payout in the event of war or civil unrest”, and the best...”we will not payout if the vehicle is contaminated by radiation from nuclear fallout”.

Comparison sites, why is it after putting my details in there is such a big difference from the cheapest, £216, to the most expensive £1100 for the same cover?

 

Rant over.

[Cosmicblue]

Car insurance is always difficult, something you hope you never need and then when you do it needs to be painless.

I switched to NFU a couple of years ago, initially for Contents and Buildings cover and then Car Insurance - you won't find them on any comparison site, its old school and involves a telephone call.

Sadly, 1st August last year my car got hit whilst parked (fortunately, a month prior and for 1st time ever (held a driving licence for 47 years) I'd had a dashcam fitted and that recorded it all (recommended).  NFU were brilliant - called them (weekend) a few quick questions "do you have dash cam footage?" "Yes", uploaded it and within minutes I knew that a franchised authorised repairer had been instructed, a loan car arranged (equivalent to mine),  that I wasn't liable for excess and my no-claims discount was intact.  Everything was put into writing, no ambiguity anywhere. The car was off the road for a month. 

NFU also understand that some of us are shooters are carry guns and ammunition, sometimes in large quantities - they have removed the 2000 cart limit now too.   Recommended.

Edited July 18, 2022 by Cosmicblue
Typo

[Windswept]

23 minutes ago, Cosmicblue said:

NFU also understand that some of us are shooters are carry guns and ammunition, sometimes in large quantities - they have removed the 2000 cart limit now too.   Recommended.

I've had a lot of trouble finding anyone in the NFU who actually knows what their policy covers. They did remove the 2k cartridge limit but now say their explosive exclusion does not apply to the carriage of live shotgun cartridges for FIELD SPORT ACTIVITIES which they define as "Farming and organised shooting sports activities or events carried out in the open countryside e.g. hunting and target shooting" which does seem to exclude some shooting. Theirs also no mention of reloading powders or rifle ammunition..

Edited July 18, 2022 by Windswept

[bruno22rf]

IMHO Legal cover is a total waste of money. It will not pay if you want to take someone to court  and only offers very limited assistance if the situation is reversed. Had a woman reverse in to me a few years back who said that she saw me on the phone (I was, parked in a bay on the phone to my wife), her insurance offered to go 50/50 even though I came to the conclusion that if she saw me, why did she reverse into me? my legal cover kicked in and a solicitor contacted me a while later to suggest that 50/50 was to be agreed as it's the cheaper option. I totally refused and said that I would take her to court myself then also sue the solicitor for not fighting my corner, they backed down and her insurance paid the total claim.

[sam triple]

I’m with direct line not had to claim but dealing with them on the phone they e been good not left for hours in a queue waiting for someone to answer , get discount on home , mrs car and dog insurance with them too , 

[Scully]

45 minutes ago, Cosmicblue said:

Car insurance is always difficult, something you hope you never need and then when you do it needs to be painless.

I switched to NFU a couple of years ago, initially for Contents and Buildings cover and then Car Insurance - you won't find them on any comparison site, its old school and involves a telephone call.

Sadly, 1st August last year my car got hit whilst parked (fortunately, a month prior and for 1st time ever (held a driving licence for 47 years) I'd had a dashcam fitted and that recorded it all (recommended).  NFU were brilliant - called them (weekend) a few quick questions "do you have dash cam footage?" "Yes", uploaded it and within minutes I knew that a franchised authorised repairer had been instructed, a loan car arranged (equivalent to mine),  that I wasn't liable for excess and my no-claims discount was intact.  Everything was put into writing, no ambiguity anywhere. The car was off the road for a month. 

NFU also understand that some of us are shooters are carry guns and ammunition, sometimes in large quantities - they have removed the 2000 cart limit now too.   Recommended.

I tried our local NFU for my Landrover; it came back double what I’m paying now! 

[Free range Rob]

Not car insurance, but I recently done my farm insurance.

nfu had been practically useless every contact I had for a quote so never used them..

Instead I had a specialist fleet vehicle policy that covers every imaginable thing, but wasn’t cheap and was lots of hassle each year.

I was given a tip from a farmer friend about another local insurance company he uses (also had two claims and said they were superb)

I got them to quote and they came back less than half what I was paying, covered everything, including my private car, public liability, quad bike was next to now as well, very impressed, pays to shop around and look for those not on comparison sites, ive saved in the region of 3k this year for what turns out to be better cover.

[manthing]

I thought fully comp ment that they not only repaired the 3rd party's car/wall whatever but put your car back on the road again. I've always paid for the legal cover and everything else.

[London Best]

1 hour ago, Scully said:

I tried our local NFU for my Landrover; it came back double what I’m paying now! 

Just hope that you don’t find out that it would have been worth every penny!

[Lloyd90]

5 hours ago, manthing said:

I thought fully comp ment that they not only repaired the 3rd party's car/wall whatever but put your car back on the road again. I've always paid for the legal cover and everything else.

Adding in additional cost for ‘legal cover’ seems to have become a bit of a scam. 
 

Even if your not at fault, if they don’t think they are going to win your case they won’t take it to court. 
 

I think they have a clause they have to have over 50% chance of winning to consider it. 
 

Then if your clearly not at fault and you need to make a legal claim for more than your car repair, those no win no fee lawyers usually are happy to take on your case.