renewal quotes

vblanche · Post by **vblanche** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 3:18 pm

Hello,

quick question: how does a insurance broker work? I mean, my current broker gave me a renewal for my D3, but online quotes are better (by Â£300-400) (admiral, elephant, etc...). Why can't a broker get access to these companies?
don't they trust these companies?

Also, Admiral, elephant are the same company, right? so, why are they existing then?

thanks for your explanations.
vincent

ade and liz flint · Post by **ade and liz flint** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 4:16 pm

Buying direct is always cheaper as the broker needs to make a buck too. Use an online comparison company to get a list of insurers available to you in price order, then go thru' them in turn to find those that give you the cover/excesses etc that suit you and contact them direct. It's often cheaper. Be aware the online comparators often don't include protected NCB in their figures, and the excesses vary considerably esp Tesco who load the voluntary excess to quote low and get top of the list!!

Admiral group and it's operating breakdown in the UK:

Admiral - the Groupâ€™s first brand, set up in 1993 - mainly targeting those who traditionally pay higher than average premiums, including drivers under-35 and those living in big cities. www.admiral.com

Bell - set up originally as Bell Direct in 1997 - its main target market being drivers with zero no claims bonus. www.bell.co.uk

Diamond - created for women in response to a need in the market place for insurance specifically for young women drivers, which is not only good value, but also as hassle free as possible. www.diamond.co.uk

elephant.co.uk - is the UKâ€™s first wholly online car insurance service. The brand passes on cost savings generated by being an online brand to customers in the form of lower premiums. www.elephant.co.uk

Gladiator Commercial - is the Groupâ€™s commercial vehicle insurance broker that was launched in April 1998. The Company acts on behalf of several of the largest commercial vehicle insurers in the UK. www.gladiator.co.uk

Confused.com - is an intelligent, automated car insurance shopper. Customers input their details once, and receive quotes from all the major car insurance websites. www.confused.com

HTH

John_C · Post by **John_C** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 4:56 pm

Go back to your broker with your best online quote and I'd bet good money their quote will tumble.

As has been said make sure to get the full details on the excess etc so you're comparing like with like.

vblanche · Post by **vblanche** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 5:02 pm

ade and liz flint wrote:Buying direct is always cheaper as the broker needs to make a buck too. Use an online comparison company to get a list of insurers available to you in price order, then go thru' them in turn to find those that give you the cover/excesses etc that suit you and contact them direct. It's often cheaper. Be aware the online comparators often don't include protected NCB in their figures, and the excesses vary considerably esp Tesco who load the voluntary excess to quote low and get top of the list!!

Admiral group and it's operating breakdown in the UK:

Admiral - the Groupâ€™s first brand, set up in 1993 - mainly targeting those who traditionally pay higher than average premiums, including drivers under-35 and those living in big cities. www.admiral.com

Bell - set up originally as Bell Direct in 1997 - its main target market being drivers with zero no claims bonus. www.bell.co.uk

Diamond - created for women in response to a need in the market place for insurance specifically for young women drivers, which is not only good value, but also as hassle free as possible. www.diamond.co.uk

elephant.co.uk - is the UKâ€™s first wholly online car insurance service. The brand passes on cost savings generated by being an online brand to customers in the form of lower premiums. www.elephant.co.uk

Gladiator Commercial - is the Groupâ€™s commercial vehicle insurance broker that was launched in April 1998. The Company acts on behalf of several of the largest commercial vehicle insurers in the UK. www.gladiator.co.uk

Confused.com - is an intelligent, automated car insurance shopper. Customers input their details once, and receive quotes from all the major car insurance websites. www.confused.com

HTH

wow, you know your stuff...

vblanche · Post by **vblanche** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 5:02 pm

John_C wrote:Go back to your broker with your best online quote and I'd bet good money their quote will tumble.

well, I told them, they replied "can't beat that, sorry."

vblanche · Post by **vblanche** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 5:09 pm

well, I was also wondering why my broker can't access to the Admiral group...

Post by **neil** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 5:16 pm

vblanche wrote:well, I was also wondering why my broker can't access to the Admiral group...

I guess that the brokers don't have relationship with every insurer. So they get you the best quote from the companies they represent.

The comparison sites have a far more generic relationship with the insurers (presumably working on a lower but higher volume commission). To be competitive they have to cover as many companies as possible and as a result should get better prices.

ade and liz flint · Post by **ade and liz flint** » Mon Feb 07, 2011 9:53 pm

vblanche wrote:wow, you know your stuff...

Knew some of it, but just copied and pasted that lot from Admiral's website

Neil's right. Most brokers have a selection of insurance companies they wish to represent (who they get the best commission from probably!) Other broker groups eg the AA, work on high volume turnover as they're a trusted name your granny would happily use

Some companies (such as Admiral, Direct Line) only operate online, Hence you won't get any broker quotes for them. Online generally will be cheaper as there's no back-office costs/commission to pay.

Hope you're getting quotes you're happier with, now

dellboy 1959 · Post by **dellboy 1959** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 8:43 pm

I just rang round this morning for quotes as i'm not too happy paying Â£800+ for insurance at my age(51) with full no claims,no points and every license going.
Elephant initially qouted me Â£600 but went up with protection etc,even so,the excess was a lot lower and so was stuff like windscreen cover.
My only concern is, they ask you what YOU think the car is worth whereas my present insurer(direct line) have a system where if the car is worth under Â£40'000 then your Ok.
Point being here is,if you overprice your car you won't get paid out for that amount or even near it as they go by their bible(Glasses guide)so all you are doing is paying over the odds.
With the direct line way they have to give you the going rate without you having to guess.
I like most of you look for a cheaper insurance but it could end up biting you in tha ass if you get it wrong.
The way i look at it is,even a small bump can write your car off,just look at the cost of replacing 1 airbag.In my car i've got eight of the buggers and at Â£2000 a pop,well work that one out for yourselves.
If i'm ever lucky enough to win the lottery one of the first things i would do would be to set up a bond and tell ALL the insurance companies to fook off

.

Ikule · Post by **Ikule** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 9:15 pm

dellboy 1959 wrote:I just rang round this morning for quotes as i'm not too happy paying Â£800+ for insurance at my age(51) with full no claims,no points and every license going.
Elephant initially qouted me Â£600 but went up with protection etc,even so,the excess was a lot lower and so was stuff like windscreen cover.
My only concern is, they ask you what YOU think the car is worth whereas my present insurer(direct line) have a system where if the car is worth under Â£40'000 then your Ok.
Point being here is,if you overprice your car you won't get paid out for that amount or even near it as they go by their bible(Glasses guide)so all you are doing is paying over the odds.
With the direct line way they have to give you the going rate without you having to guess.
I like most of you look for a cheaper insurance but it could end up biting you in tha ass if you get it wrong.
The way i look at it is,even a small bump can write your car off,just look at the cost of replacing 1 airbag.In my car i've got eight of the buggers and at Â£2000 a pop,well work that one out for yourselves.
If i'm ever lucky enough to win the lottery one of the first things i would do would be to set up a bond and tell ALL the insurance companies to fook off .

Better still get an agreed value on the policy as i have with Flux,
mine is insured for the price i bought it for back in 2006 and it didn't add anything to the policy cost other than a Â£10 admin charge