Car insurance

[mercia]

3. Avoid any organisation whose staff ask to address you by your forename. You have not been introduced, and your relationship is professional.

I've only recently noticed this habit in dealing with companies - "is it alright if I call you ........ - I'm ........ " Unfortunately because I use a short form of my forename in my email address they start calling me that too, completely uninvited. I'm suddenly one of their mates.

[kernelbogey]

I've only recently noticed this habit in dealing with companies - "is it alright if I call you ........ - I'm ........ " [...]

Just was offered this for the first time this week. Much preferable to that assumption.

[Alain Maréchal]

For breakdown service I pay separately to Guild of Experienced motorists: they've never let me down, promise they never will and give immaculate service.

Ah oui mon colonel, a good breakdown service is important, but I was considering the consequences of the accident; will the insurer arrange for my car to be repaired without my having to obtain three quotes, will they collect and deliver it, will they lend me a comparable one in the meantime, and will they fight the battles with the third party's insurer? I'm prepared to pay for the peace of mind and convenience - that's why I have insurance. Strangely, since I retired my time has become more important to me, presumably because there is now less of it left to go (or as I read recently I'm "moving to the front of the queue").

Pedantic question - in my earlier post I used "staff" both in the singular and in the plural. Which is the more correct?

[Dave2002]

Pedantic question - in my earlier post I used "staff" both in the singular and in the plural. Which is the more correct?

Staff, in the sense you used it (i.e. not a stick!), is a collective noun referring to a group of people. In many situations I feel it is probably better to treat this as plural. For individuals add a qualifier - such as "the staff member" etc.

[Risorgimento]

Dave2002, I see little benefit in continuing to use a broker for car insurance. The policy details are there to read on any of the comparison sites. You can also decide whether you want any additional benefits. M&S were offering to undercut any quote by £50 if you had an M&S card. I don't know if that offer is still running. For my own experience, I find that Direct Line are always more expensive (which perhaps why they don't agree to go on comparison sites). Direct Line also seem to cherry pick.

I'm with Hastings. Excellent service. Very reasonable premiums. They behaved impeccably when I wrote my vehicle off. LV are also very good.

Breakdown cover is a separate topic. You can get it bundled with some policies but again, as always, read the small print and also compare with other more direct breakdown cover to see if the extra price to include it on your car policy is worthwhile. I pay a nominal £30 a year (IIRC) and if I breakdown then a nice man comes out and takes my vehicle away to a garage of my choice. I pay the man directly and then claim back from the breakdown company. I've had to claim a few times over the years and it has always been hassle free.

[Richard Tarleton]

Some companies want to know about expired points (or driver awareness courses) but not all?

Car insurance seems to have produced some of the stand-out (not always in a good way) advertising campaigns of recent years. So far nobody has mentioned cuddly toys, which you won't get from your broker.

[gradus]

We have used LV for the family car for the last 8 years and they seem ok and affordable. I don't use the Co-op who tried to rip me off with a higher premium for a smaller vehicle on a changeover. Motor insurance is a shark-infested business, caveat emptor.

[Flosshilde]

We have used LV for the family car

Do you get a free suitcase?

I don't use the Co-op who tried to rip me off with a higher premium for a smaller vehicle on a changeover.

Which just goes to show that it's not really possible to go by personal recommendation - one person can have a good experience (see my previous contribution) while another can have a bad one.

[MrGongGong]

Direct Line also seem to cherry pick.

They are one of the companies who, when told that I was a musician
refused me completely
What always makes me laugh is the actors who have their voices used on the TV adverts wouldn't be able to get insured by them either