So much for a choice of insurers..

[dukest 0]

I've been with Adrian Flux for a few years now but always ring round the usual suspects each year but since they're all brokers they all seem to end up quoting me a policy from Highway. So this means that none of them can offer me a better quote as Highway wont compete with themselves and HIC will hardly even quote me because they're a sister company to Flux and therefore it makes no sense to create extra work.

 

So i've gone from around £480 in 2007 with Flux to £590 now because of a poxy extra 20bhp (yes 20% more for 10% more horsepower..) and there seems to be no-one else that will compete. I'm 33 with 13 years no claims, one expired SP30 and some nil-value/non-claim other incidents. I do live in central london and the fact that Leonard on here who i guess doesnt is paying £300 for the same cover with the same insurer does piss me off too, but surely there must be more people out there that are interested in our business (insurers not brokers)??

[mrbeige 0]

Did you try Brentacre, John?

[dukest 0]

yep, but they were quoting highway too - its the same policy from AF/HIC/Brentacre & Chris Knott. Marginally cheaper from Brentacre but only because of higher excess (350 vs 250). I might go with them as they seemed quite easy to deal with and nothing like a change every now and again but still..

[Jay23Sx 0]

And have you tried the mainstream insurers? I got a much better price from Admiral than I got from any broker.

[dukest 0]

yeah, out of 80-odd companies only 2 will quote on confused.com as they all run a mile at any modifications. the cheapest is £900..

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yeah they're all through Highway, or LVE now actually, who they were 'absorbed' into recently.

 

Yep, totally correct. The mainstream insurers only take on safe (for them) risks, i.e. standard cars with standard drivers. Anything remotely changed on the car and they don't want to know. I hate the insurance industry with a passion. I used to work in it and got out of it as soon as I could. It's one of the biggest cons ever, but as mentioned already, Brentacre would be my choice. Been with them for years and they've always been good.

 

Highway / LVE on the other hand, hmmmm..... they leave a lot to be desired, putting it bluntly. Any policy through Lloyds (i.e. high risk) is usually of low quality when it comes to service and claims performance.

[VR6 0]

Do you have all mods declared though Kev? Are you not on the phone to them every weekend? Policy probably costs £400 but another 3 grand for admin charges to change the policy 50 times a year :lol:

[VR6Joni 0]

I've just had a really good quote from AF with a supercharger bolted on and every other mod I could think of whilst I was on the phone (think I went to town with all the mods declared, sure the guy was getting pi$$ed off :lol: ).

Anyway it was through a company called Trinity Lane, anyone else use them? Opinions?

[mrbeige 0]

Do you have all mods declared though Kev? Are you not on the phone to them every weekend? Policy probably costs £400 but another 3 grand for admin charges to change the policy 50 times a year :lol:

Ah, but Brentacre don't charge admin fees for changing the policy ;)

[Bullfinch 0]

What mods are declarable? I've got a standard engine set-up but do have 288mm front brakes and will shortly have KW V1's.

 

I can sympathise with the postcode lottery but if you can afford to live in central London then an extra £100 on the insurance doesn't sound too bad :shrug: .

[dukest 0]

What mods are declarable? I've got a standard engine set-up but do have 288mm front brakes and will shortly have KW V1's.

 

I can sympathise with the postcode lottery but if you can afford to live in central London then an extra £100 on the insurance doesn't sound too bad :shrug: .

 

better to tell them too much than too little, brakes and suspension would definitely count.

 

and yes, in some ways i'm lucky to live here, although i'm not sure that means i should get charged more just because i may or may not be able to pay for it...? but its not just the price i'm frustrated about, its just the basic monopoly on cover that means there's no alternative within 40% of the cheapest company's price.

[swiftkid 1]

that may be wrong dukest, i got told that not only can they void the insurance if you don't declare something, they can also be a pain if you declare something you don't have as its not 'what is insured'. I would always confirm this with the insurance as to what you can declare without actually having it on yet.

[Jim 1]

Was insured with AXA on the merc but pending a very imminent change of car and found that they did not wanna know about a car with mods so am back into the realm of ringing around for quotes from the usual suspects. Brentacre seem the best so far.

 

The thing I don't get is why mainstream insurers won't touch anything other than untouched cars? Who cares what mods I've got when I'm demonstrating no points, no claims and 9 years NCD. How can I be more expensive or more liable than say someone who's got an unmodifed fast hatchback with 9 points and one previous claim? It's nonsense.

 

Thank god for folks like Brentacre!

[Toad 0]

I used Confused or someone like them and got a quote of £8000 or something equally as silly. Direct line did me a good price on the Valver. HIC do annoy me a bit the way they keep pushing the price up come renewal time. The 16v costs more than the VR to insure because of this.

[James. 7]

Hi Dukest

 

My details are virtually identical to yours (okay I do live 200 miles furthur north) but I pay £200 through Performance direct (broker). The insurance cover itself is through Redstar equity and is on a classic car policy ( It's also got an agreed value as well). I've used them for years and have had no issues of concern. Their number is 0844 573 3507.

 

James

[dukest 0]

Hi Dukest

 

My details are virtually identical to yours (okay I do live 200 miles furthur north) but I pay £200 through Performance direct (broker). The insurance cover itself is through Redstar equity and is on a classic car policy ( It's also got an agreed value as well). I've used them for years and have had no issues of concern. Their number is 0844 573 3507.

 

James

Thanks a lot James, £1900 on their website earlier! :D They did call back and say they'd put me in touch with other insurers but it didnt sound very promising!

 

that may be wrong dukest, i got told that not only can they void the insurance if you don't declare something, they can also be a pain if you declare something you don't have as its not 'what is insured'. I would always confirm this with the insurance as to what you can declare without actually having it on yet.

oh, yes, i'm sure you're right, maybe a bad turn of phrase, I just meant dont ever forget anything, didn't mean declare stuff thats not on yet (although this is tempting when they charge you a fee for any changes once its started..)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Do you have all mods declared though Kev? Are you not on the phone to them every weekend? Policy probably costs £400 but another 3 grand for admin charges to change the policy 50 times a year :lol:

 

Ah, but Brentacre don't charge admin fees for changing the policy ;)

 

Indeed, thanks mate :D

 

I was going to mention earlier that Brentacre cap the power to a certain level (400 in my case) and then you can do what you like to the car (inc roll cages) and it won't incur any admin charges. You just ring them up, tell them what you've done (which in Tom's case is moving the air freshener to the left as that's all he's capable of doing :D ) and they add it to the list.

 

£400. I wish! I renewed in October and it was £750 ish IIRC, which is a £250 saving on 2 years ago and £100 cheaper than last year. So adding power in my world seems to reduce the premiums :lol:

[VR6 0]

:lol:

 

Hope that's not a dig at my air freshener thread :scratch: That thread raises some serious technicaly issues that other forums are just too scared to tackle!

 

Or my skills! I've done everything on my car apart from engine stuff. I find that's easier to tackle when this guy I know, who I'm pretty sure works for Red Bull, comes around to help :grin:

[Yandards 0]

My G60 is with A plan who are using a Royal Sun Alliance policy.

 

The real problem I had this time was listing the boost hoses change to metal instead of plastic, most insurers will quote for a stainless exhaust and a drop of 40mm with no massive change in premium but as soon as you mention engine mods they go nuts. I am currently on a 200 bhp capped policy with any mods.

 

The other option is try classic insurance, this only really works if the car is not your daily and is over 15/20 years old..

 

Managed to get the 16vG60 quoted as £420 fully comp with £250 excess with A plan too, 250 bhp max policy so it might be worth giving them a ring, my area is cheap as chips to insure in but my job moves the premium up.

[lauraJ 0]

Do you have all mods declared though Kev? Are you not on the phone to them every weekend? Policy probably costs £400 but another 3 grand for admin charges to change the policy 50 times a year :lol:

 

Ah, but Brentacre don't charge admin fees for changing the policy ;)

 

Yes but they won't let you suspend your insurance - which is a tad annoying.

 

I just wish that they would sort out the groupings, i'm sorry but there is no way that a standard 16v should be in a group 16/17 when you can get a new car with the same amount of power that will be in a much much lower grouping. I understand that the work it out on other things - how easy to steal, how much it costs in a claim etc, but I really think the whole groups thing needs to be re-assesed. Although I believe the grouping will be going up to 50 now across all insurers??