Car insurance- why so high in the UK!

Associate
Joined
15 Feb 2013
Posts
254
Location
Bristol
insurance companies use zany algorithms to get insurance quotes --

As mentioned already any of the following WILL have a huge impact on a premium

Area >> the algorithm will have post codes already ranked for risk.. so London, or parts of it would rank high
NCB Record
Age
Previous Claims
Car in Question / Modifications
Martial Status
House owner

They are basically the main things they look for - if you are 23 and score well on the rest of the bullet points you will most likely 'score' better than someone who is much older with lesser marks on other points

Also, older experienced drivers usually get cheaper quotes for fully comp rather than third party fire and theft - the opposite is true if you are an inexperienced driver.
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Nov 2005
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4,732
Location
Redditch
So many variables affect insurance quotes.

Years ago my insurance was cut by 50% by moving postcode from DY4 to B98

I recently enquired about insurance on an Audi S6 V10 5.2 estate, albeit on a limited mileage of 6k, fully comp, zero no claims as I am currently on my wife policy, as I haven't had my own car for 10 years. £490.
 
Soldato
Joined
1 Jul 2008
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2,532
Location
Birmingham
Increase for me this year of £5 per month.

No changes in my circumstances, same car (Seat exeo), extra year NCB (9+), nobody cheaper on comparison sites :mad:

I blame my DY2 postcode as likely cause
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Oct 2002
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16,408
Location
Shakespeare’s County
I worked with a guy who used to insure it from his parent's address who were something like 40 miles away. For the 1/4 price premiums lol

Thats sounds a very silly think to do, I’m suprised you would work with someone like that : oh wait </checks users name> that makes perfect sense now.

The problem with being a smartass is that often people don’t do the smart bit first...
 
Soldato
Joined
8 Nov 2013
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8,906
Location
In the pub
Profession has a large effect as stated. See if you can alter it to fit.
Example : my missus' premium dropped by £150 after I changed her job from Marine Surveyor to Civil Servant. She is both so it's fine to do (civil servants are sensible and not reckless apparently).

Another thing is to think about is how many claims involve your type of car. New registrations are fairly cheap as there is not much data, older cars have a higher chance of being involved due to more road use (in general).
My 2017 mk3.5 Focus ST would have been £450 this year. I now have a shiny new mk4 and its £330 (Civil Servant with 10+yrs NCD).
 
Associate
Joined
15 Feb 2013
Posts
254
Location
Bristol
Thats sounds a very silly think to do, I’m suprised you would work with someone like that : oh wait </checks users name> that makes perfect sense now.

The problem with being a smartass is that often people don’t do the smart bit first...

don't listen to that chap, a sure fire way to have a policy canceled is by using an incorrect address
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Apr 2004
Posts
4,365
Location
Oxford
Bradford is bad for insurance too where my sister lives

Her: been driving 23 years,parking on a drive, 10y NCB, Engineer, VW Tiguan 2L desiel = £950 ish she said

Me: just outside oxford on a "Drive" Just been driving 1 year, so 1y NCB for my first renewal, Software tester, Seat Leon FR 1.4L petrol = £490 with full fat RAC breakdown cover (£430 without)
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Apr 2009
Posts
24,796
Bradford is bad for insurance too where my sister lives

Her: been driving 23 years,parking on a drive, 10y NCB, Engineer, VW Tiguan 2L desiel = £950 ish she said

Me: just outside oxford on a "Drive" Just been driving 1 year, so 1y NCB for my first renewal, Software tester, Seat Leon FR 1.4L petrol = £490 with full fat RAC breakdown cover (£430 without)

Probably worth her trying alternative job titles too if she can

MSE has a comparison tool - as examples, the following titles are likely to be significantly cheaper - Chartered Engineer, Electronic Engineer, Consultant Engineer - MSE suggests an 'Engineer' paying £500 could pay £312 as a 'Chartered Engineer' for example. On the flipside, a Civil Engineer or a Site Engineer are likely to be more expensive.

'Engineer' on its own, is likely not the cheapest title to use, presumably due to conflating the stats with travelling washing machine repairmen and the like.
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
8 Dec 2005
Posts
10,535
Well I have a happy ending to report :)

After looking around for ages managed to find a really decent car I want so I bought that yesterday but still have to wait 2 weeks for it to be serviced, new 12 months mot & having both the cambelt & water pump replaced (as a precaution both are ok but there is no record either have been changed so better safe than sorry! is way cheaper than a wrecked engine top end!) before I take delivery. I will post some pics when it arrives!

As for insurance so many of these companies are virtual crooks IMO :rolleyes: as the massive price differences between them all :eek: I finally managed to get a decent quote which is almost 50% lower than the initial quotes I was receiving by giving them my driving licence no & remembering I had 1 years NCB on my previous motor! So all good right now (except the 2 week delivery delay :rolleyes::)). It pays to shop around & also some give different prices on different days for the exact same insurance product!
 
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