Really high insurance and NCD lost!

[Konrad C]

Just got my renewal from Admiral of £820.67! Worse still my no claims discount is only showing 1 year. I have done a few online quotes and they all have got it down to £422 (cheapest), and a lot are companies that I know. 
I have one no fault accident - a lady reversing down a one way road scrape the side of my car. I was sitting in the car, which was parked in a bay. She and her insurers RSA admitted liability and I was paid out £325. This was February 2016 and to my old Avensis - not my current car. I had max no claims bonus before the accident, plus apart from letting my insurance know of the accident, I dealt directly with RSA. RSA advised me that it should not affect my NCD as I was not using my own company! I have most correspondence/emails saved.   

I originally was with Elephant for along time until September 2015 when I bought the second Avensis '09 Tourer. Then I was switched to Admiral multi car to cover the old and new Avensis. The old '98 Avensis was the one involved in the minor scrape, and I sold it end of February 2016. When i renewed last year at £682 on one car, I spoke over the phone. WhenI was with Elephant it was £300+. Elephant seems cheaper than it's sister company Admiral. This year I will be changing if they don't correct my NCD and get the price down by at least £300 of the quote.   

I am not happy, but at least I can do something about it. I have good quotes waiting in my in box.  
   

[alan333]

I'd speak to your current insurer and find out why they've robbed you of your ncb, it's probably a computer error at their end - bear in mind nCb is no CLAIMS bonus - ie if you haven't CLAIMED against the policy they can't take it away.

We had similar a few years ago when an RSA motability car scraped along the side of one of our cars while it was parked on the street.  We informed our insurer (Privelege at the time IIRC) but then RSA dealt with the repair (and the hire car during the repair), and the ncb wasn't affected.  We have to declare the accident when obtaining a new quote but we can tick the box for 'accident not our fault, no cost to us or our insurer and no loss of ncb'.

[mickburkesnr]

Elephant and Admiral are two insurance companies, along with Tesco, who I would never ever deal with again. They could pay me to insure my cars with them and I wouldn't do it.

Some clown hit me from behind in 2014. Smashed the brackets of the rear bumper. I took photos etc and handed it off to my insurance. The clown disputed it, saying it was my fault as I changed lanes, even though I told Admiral that the traffic was crawling and there was about 4 car lengths between me and the woman who hit me. She sped up, to stop me moving in, she hits me in the bum.

I hear nothing for 6 months, until it's renewal time. I then get a letter saying whether I wanted to settle my claim. So I ring up, turns out her insurance (LV) don't answer the phone to Admiral, so the case didn't escalate. They docked me 4 years of my NCB's while it went on, meaning my renewal was going to be about £1,200 for the year. Much effin' and blinding was had, but I decided to be the better person. Settled 50/50 and sorted out my own car, to hell with her crappy Fiesta.

I reasoned at the time that over the course of my life time, on average, I'll pay about £400/£500 per year on insurance until I either die or can't drive no more. Never at any point in the future will I give that money to Admiral, Elephant, Tesco or anyone connected with Admiral, as they're happy to take my money but not happy to defend me.

Since then they're been cheapest on two cars, and both times I've gone for the more expensive option below them.

But yeah, as you can tell I have no time for Elephant or Admiral. I would try Adrian Flux if you haven't, found them to be really good.

[Konrad C]

All sorted. Admiral had not transferred my 17 years NCD over when the policy changed - I even had NCD protection! Better still they knocked off nearly £300 and I have all the add-ons like personal injury cover, the courtesy car and other things. I told them that I was willing to move to other companies, as I have the quotes waiting. Just the press of the button. 
Next year, I will do the same again and shop around with the hopefully 18 years NCD and see what I get. I had Adrian Flux in mind too.

Alan, you are right contact them about NCD. Somebody in the company did not do their job properly.

Michael, when I was dealing with my minor collision, the lady and her insurer RSA admitted liability, since my car was parked and I was sitting inside it. RSA then advised me not to go through my insurance as it will affect my premiums. They paid me for the minor damage which I repaired myself - it looked worse until I washed and buffed contact area. The white marks turned out to be dirt from her paint, and my paint was not damaged and not dents. I regularly polish the car after washing, and that may have helped. Sold it a few weeks after. The point is that Admiral were aware of the accident and I did not claim through them. 

I now use a Nextbase dash cam which works well. I say to anybody, get a dash cam, but not a cheap unknown brand. Add a big memory card 32GB or more. I have some interesting footage. It is best to have some sort of proof/witness to an incident.   

The one thing I am say about getting quotes online is that you don't always get the add-ons, so the final figure could be higher than the initial quote. 

Nothing like a threat to move business to get the right result.  
   

[Notoyboy]

Glad it all got sorted in the end Konrad

[Konrad C]

I now have the new docs checked and saved on numerous drives and on my phones. Now to pay the VED which is due in a couple of weeks. 

Thinking about extra cover breakdown service, I am sure I read somewhere, that changing a puncture or repairing a puncture has a high call rate. I have a proper full-size spare with the space saver in the shed. Both are better than nothing and I can change a wheel - wheels are heavy. You could be waiting for hours to get assistance instead of minutes.

[Willss]

Everyone's experiences are different.  Unlike Michael I had good experiences with Admiral.  Non fault accident, dealt with quickly.  Car was borderline write off, decision made within 3 days - written off - money with me inside 10 days of the accident - v.v. impressed.  That said I've since changed as others were cheaper this time.  

Every year I ring round a few of the better named companies and most years the cheapest is different to the year before.  Glad I don't live in an urban area by the sounds of your quotes......!

[Mike169]

Hi Konrad, I was reading with disbelief the prices you were quoting, I pay less than £700 for my Rav and a Merc 280 I have. I use Toyota's own insurance and find them very good. My wife did minor damage to my Rav 2 years ago but it didn't affect what I pay, max NCD, protected and all the rest, and yes it's the add on's you have to look out for as it can suddenly jump it up say £50 but overall they have been 100% to me and no complaints. With regards to breakdown cover my bank for about £8 a month supply all that as well as many other 'goodies', well worth it especially if my wife is driving on her own. Yes i have a full sized spare wheel but I don't expect her to change a wheel if need be. Glad you are all sorted, Mike.

[FROSTYBALLS]

A couple of things are expected to increase car insurance premiums in 2017 - a 2% increase in the insurance premium tax, and changes in the way lump sum compensation payments are calculated. Expected to add around £60-85 to car insurance premiums.

We don't use comparison sites as most aren't impartial (several are either owned by or associated with insurance companies), and should one take out insurance via them, their referral fee from the insurer is effectively included in your premium.

Despite living in a suburb of Britain's second city, having extras as part of the premium (guaranteed rather than protected NCD, courtesy car, increased personal injury cover, etc), and having a £50 voluntary excess, we pay less than £700 for both cars. We use Which? recommended providers.

[Parts-King]

In my view, these comparison companies should be investigated! They are data generating businesses, its all about selling on your data, they make commission out of your premium and make good money selling your data to large companies who will market you (unless you tick the correct boxes) The data they collect is very good for the motor trade, you give them all your personal data, the type/age of your car, and its all refreshed with new data every year when you go on the merry go round again. My prediction is, comparison sites will be the next PPI

Rant over....................

 

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi,

Please feel free to give us a try for insurance if you like. If you wanted to PM me some contact details I'd be happy to arrange for one of my quotes team to give you a call back.

Regards,

Dan.

[Mike169]

Hi Konrad, Dan@Adrian Flux (Above) has a good name on here especially for modified cars and this is to anybody else that is looking for an insurance quote. Just a comment about dash cams, yes they work in your favour if say a car pulls out of a side road on you so you can prove the accident wasn't your fault but they can work against you if say you were going a tad too fast so the boys in blue can prove you had a heavy right foot. Also if your are pulled over by the Police they can see your speed over say the previous 5 miles so if the unfortunate should happen it might be a good idea to whip your dash cam off the screen quickly assuming you are still physically able to play safe if you feel you might need to with some excuse like it's broken or something or you forgot to put it on the screen, opps did I say that haha! 

Edited July 1, 2018 by Mike169
typo

[Heidfirst]

26 minutes ago, Mike169 said:

 but they can work against you if say you were going a tad too fast so the boys in blue can prove you had a heavy right fault. Also if your are pulled over by the Police they can see your speed over say the previous 5 miles 

only if it a) has gps  b) it is enabled or c) there were road markers that they could then check distance/time for.

My Dashcam has gps but it is turned off (car has satnvav, why do I need it on cam too? 😉 )

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

On 6/29/2018 at 11:27 AM, Mike169 said:

Hi Konrad, Dan@Adrian Flux (Above) has a good name on here especially for modified cars and this is to anybody else that is looking for an insurance quote. Just a comment about dash cams, yes they work in your favour if say a car pulls out of a side road on you so you can prove the accident wasn't your fault but they can work against you if say you were going a tad too fast so the boys in blue can prove you had a heavy right fault. Also if your are pulled over by the Police they can see your speed over say the previous 5 miles so if the unfortunate should happen it might be a good idea to whip your dash cam off the screen quickly assuming you are still physically able to play safe if you feel you might need to with some excuse like it's broken or something or you forgot to put it on the screen, opps did I say that haha! 

Hi,

Thanks for the list plug! Much appreciated.

Regards,

Dan.