Hello,

Foolishly I did not protect my NCB. I hadn't had an accident in years,
so was hoping this would continue but it didn't, so I now have three
years' NCB.

I have used web sites like go compare and compare the market but I am
finding companies I've never heard of. "Go Skippy" and "1st central"
seem to be two near the top of my quotes this year. Has anyone heard
of these?

I also stumbled across quotezone which seems to give me the cheapest
quotes but again, from insurers I have not heard of: Octagon, Zenith,
and the Insurance factory, to name a few.

Octagon has the lowest price but I hadn't heard of them so I googled
them. The reviews I found were not complimentary but they were from
2012 so have they improved since then? Is it that the way the world is
people are quick to post negative reviews of bad experiences but not
so quick to post positive reviews of good experiences? I don't want to
go with the cheapest quote and then regret it. Has anyone heard of
octagon?

Thanks,
Stephen.

Stephen wrote:

seems to give me the cheapest
quotes but again, from insurers I have not heard of

In terms of cover, see who they're underwritten by compared to names you
have heard of, probably what varies is the customer service you'll get
and the price ...

On Friday, September 11, 2015 at 10:42:28 AM UTC+1, Stephen wrote:
Hello,

Foolishly I did not protect my NCB. I hadn't had an accident in years,
so was hoping this would continue but it didn't, so I now have three
years' NCB.

I have used web sites like go compare and compare the market but I am
finding companies I've never heard of. "Go Skippy" and "1st central"
seem to be two near the top of my quotes this year. Has anyone heard
of these?

I also stumbled across quotezone which seems to give me the cheapest
quotes but again, from insurers I have not heard of: Octagon, Zenith,
and the Insurance factory, to name a few.

Octagon has the lowest price but I hadn't heard of them so I googled
them. The reviews I found were not complimentary but they were from
2012 so have they improved since then? Is it that the way the world is
people are quick to post negative reviews of bad experiences but not
so quick to post positive reviews of good experiences? I don't want to
go with the cheapest quote and then regret it. Has anyone heard of
octagon?

Thanks,
Stephen.

There are only something like 5 actual companies offering motor insurance in the UK. All the rest of the names you see are just brands of the same company.

I wouldn't worry about having lost your no claims bonus, they take into account whether your bonus was protected or not last year when calculating your premium and your accident record anyway.

On Fri, 11 Sep 2015 10:42:24 +0100
Stephen wrote:

Hello,

Foolishly I did not protect my NCB. I hadn't had an accident in years,
so was hoping this would continue but it didn't, so I now have three
years' NCB.

I have used web sites like go compare and compare the market but I am
finding companies I've never heard of. "Go Skippy" and "1st central"
seem to be two near the top of my quotes this year. Has anyone heard
of these?

I also stumbled across quotezone which seems to give me the cheapest
quotes but again, from insurers I have not heard of: Octagon, Zenith,
and the Insurance factory, to name a few.

Octagon has the lowest price but I hadn't heard of them so I googled
them. The reviews I found were not complimentary but they were from
2012 so have they improved since then? Is it that the way the world is
people are quick to post negative reviews of bad experiences but not
so quick to post positive reviews of good experiences? I don't want to
go with the cheapest quote and then regret it. Has anyone heard of
octagon?

Thanks,
Stephen.

Following on from this, I recently joined the RAC, and they quote
considerably less for my car than I currently pay with Aviva. Are there
any comments on this? I know that it is usually worth changing
insurance company every now and then, as the only effect of company
loyalty to customers seems to be to keep premiums high.

--
Davey.

In article ,
Davey wrote:
Following on from this, I recently joined the RAC, and they quote
considerably less for my car than I currently pay with Aviva. Are there
any comments on this? I know that it is usually worth changing
insurance company every now and then, as the only effect of company
loyalty to customers seems to be to keep premiums high.

At renewal time, contact Aviva and tell them about the better quotes
you've got. You'll then magically get a revised renewal from them. Happens
every time without fail here.

Obviously, insurance companies rely on many simply renewing without
querying the figure.

However, if I could find a company which didn't use this trick to inflate
their premiums, I'd put all my business with them.

--
*Sorry, I don't date outside my species.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 11/09/2015 11:32, Davey wrote:
....
Following on from this, I recently joined the RAC, and they quote
considerably less for my car than I currently pay with Aviva. Are there
any comments on this? I know that it is usually worth changing
insurance company every now and then, as the only effect of company
loyalty to customers seems to be to keep premiums high.

My experience this year was that staying with Aviva they offered me an
alternative policy that gave me everything I wanted, but without cover
that I didn't which had been in the previous policy, at half the price
of the previous year.


--
Colin Bignell

On 11/09/2015 12:48, Nightjar cpb wrote:
On 11/09/2015 11:32, Davey wrote:
...
Following on from this, I recently joined the RAC, and they quote
considerably less for my car than I currently pay with Aviva. Are there
any comments on this? I know that it is usually worth changing
insurance company every now and then, as the only effect of company
loyalty to customers seems to be to keep premiums high.

My experience this year was that staying with Aviva they offered me an
alternative policy that gave me everything I wanted, but without cover
that I didn't which had been in the previous policy, at half the price
of the previous year.



If they offered me one at half price I could put another £200 to the
saving and buy a 1TB SSD, but as they haven't I will have to wait
another ~3 months for them to drop by that amount.

Dave Plowman (News) put finger to keyboard:

In article ,
Davey wrote:
Following on from this, I recently joined the RAC, and they quote
considerably less for my car than I currently pay with Aviva. Are there
any comments on this? I know that it is usually worth changing
insurance company every now and then, as the only effect of company
loyalty to customers seems to be to keep premiums high.

At renewal time, contact Aviva and tell them about the better quotes
you've got. You'll then magically get a revised renewal from them.
Happens every time without fail here.

Obviously, insurance companies rely on many simply renewing without
querying the figure.

However, if I could find a company which didn't use this trick to
inflate their premiums, I'd put all my business with them.

No you wouldn't - the initial premium would be double what you would
expect.

On Fri, 11 Sep 2015 10:42:24 +0100, Stephen
wrote:

Hello,

Foolishly I did not protect my NCB. I hadn't had an accident in years,
so was hoping this would continue but it didn't, so I now have three
years' NCB.

I have used web sites like go compare and compare the market but I am
finding companies I've never heard of. "Go Skippy" and "1st central"
seem to be two near the top of my quotes this year. Has anyone heard
of these?

I also stumbled across quotezone which seems to give me the cheapest
quotes but again, from insurers I have not heard of: Octagon, Zenith,
and the Insurance factory, to name a few.

Octagon has the lowest price but I hadn't heard of them so I googled
them. The reviews I found were not complimentary but they were from
2012 so have they improved since then? Is it that the way the world is
people are quick to post negative reviews of bad experiences but not
so quick to post positive reviews of good experiences? I don't want to
go with the cheapest quote and then regret it. Has anyone heard of
octagon?

Thanks,
Stephen.

Yes I have heard of go skippy they are a legit company, I used them
for a few yesrs , do commercial insurance to

On Fri, 11 Sep 2015 12:45:18 +0100
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:

At renewal time, contact Aviva and tell them about the better quotes
you've got. You'll then magically get a revised renewal from them.
Happens every time without fail here.

That's what I expect to happen. So far, I have stayed to build up a
NCB, but now it's a free-for-all.

--
Davey.

On Fri, 11 Sep 2015 03:11:01 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

There are only something like 5 actual companies offering motor
insurance in the UK.

That many ...

I wouldn't worry about having lost your no claims bonus, they take into
account whether your bonus was protected or not last year when
calculating your premium and your accident record anyway.

Aye, you don't need to stay with a Co. to "build up" a NCB, you have
n years no matter who the insurer was. They might knock it back a
year but how what does that mean in terms of your wallet? I haven't
seen a NCB described as a percentage of "the premium" for years and
certainly not as a pounds figure "saving".

I have a suspicision that the Insurance Co.s will start using modern
vehicles semi-covert "black box"(*) data more and more along with the
overt GPS/Smartphone/driving manner apps/boxes to determine
individual premium levels.

Whichs lead on to the Aviva Drive app, that may get you up to a 20%
discount at next renewal. Anyone used it?

Had a quick look on the Playstore to see if there were any similar
"driving analysis" apps that were stand alone, ie not linked to an
insurance company. I only found one and that doesn't use GPS just the
inertial sensor and its reporting is not wonderful. I'd like some
indication of my driving style before using the Avia Drive app. As
your first score is, quite wisely, the only one they use for
calculating the discount percentage.

(*) Hidden away in my cars User Manual are couple of statements that
indicate there are at least two boxen logging vehicle
performance/status and driver input. Law enforcement agencies can ask
to access that data to use in evidence. Other data is "open" in that
garage mechanics can see it for fault/servicing etc.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 11/09/2015 15:55, Davey wrote:
On Fri, 11 Sep 2015 12:45:18 +0100
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:

At renewal time, contact Aviva and tell them about the better quotes
you've got. You'll then magically get a revised renewal from them.
Happens every time without fail here.

That's what I expect to happen. So far, I have stayed to build up a
NCB, but now it's a free-for-all.


You don't have to build up a NCB with one company - they are
transferable. When getting a quote from a new company one of the first
questions they ask is how many years have you had insurance (with any
company) without having an accident.


--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On Sat, 12 Sep 2015 08:08:01 +0100
alan_m wrote:

On 11/09/2015 15:55, Davey wrote:
On Fri, 11 Sep 2015 12:45:18 +0100
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:

At renewal time, contact Aviva and tell them about the better
quotes you've got. You'll then magically get a revised renewal
from them. Happens every time without fail here.

That's what I expect to happen. So far, I have stayed to build up a
NCB, but now it's a free-for-all.


You don't have to build up a NCB with one company - they are
transferable. When getting a quote from a new company one of the
first questions they ask is how many years have you had insurance
(with any company) without having an accident.



Yes, I know. But I wanted to stay with Aviva for simplicity, as I
was starting from scratch (with a 3-litre car) having returned after
many years in the US, where they don't have NCB premium reductions, only
add-ons. Aviva was the only company that would accept a statement from
my US insurer that I was accident-free, so charged me a premium based on
that, but required that I build up an NCB with them. That period is now
almost satisfied, so in November, the comparisons start in earnest.

Do I need to get an NCB statement from my old company if I change? The
RAC site gave that impression. I would have thought that any
company could check electronically.

--
Davey.

On 11/09/2015 12:45, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Davey wrote:
Following on from this, I recently joined the RAC, and they quote
considerably less for my car than I currently pay with Aviva. Are there
any comments on this? I know that it is usually worth changing
insurance company every now and then, as the only effect of company
loyalty to customers seems to be to keep premiums high.

At renewal time, contact Aviva and tell them about the better quotes
you've got. You'll then magically get a revised renewal from them. Happens
every time without fail here.

Me too. Last time it went from £42 to £28 a month.

Obviously, insurance companies rely on many simply renewing without
querying the figure.

Thieving b*stards.

However, if I could find a company which didn't use this trick to inflate
their premiums, I'd put all my business with them.

Me too.

On 11/09/2015 11:32, Davey wrote:


Following on from this, I recently joined the RAC, and they quote
considerably less for my car than I currently pay with Aviva. Are there
any comments on this? I know that it is usually worth changing
insurance company every now and then, as the only effect of company
loyalty to customers seems to be to keep premiums high.


These days you have to change insurance company every single year to get
any value for money. They all offer big discounts for year one and then
try to steal it back.

Insurance has become a scumbag industry like everything else.

tim w

On 12/09/2015 09:27, Davey wrote:

Do I need to get an NCB statement from my old company if I change? The
RAC site gave that impression. I would have thought that any
company could check electronically.


I have changed many times and the new insurance company have never asked
me for proof of NCB so I assume that they all share some information and
check electronically.

--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 12/09/15 10:05, Tim w wrote:
On 11/09/2015 11:32, Davey wrote:


Following on from this, I recently joined the RAC, and they quote
considerably less for my car than I currently pay with Aviva. Are there
any comments on this? I know that it is usually worth changing
insurance company every now and then, as the only effect of company
loyalty to customers seems to be to keep premiums high.


These days you have to change insurance company every single year to get
any value for money. They all offer big discounts for year one and then
try to steal it back.

Insurance has become a scumbag industry like everything else.

Not always...

LV have just sent me a renewal and it was similar to last year (I am
maxed out on the NCB). So I rang them up and took it. Every other
company to date has jacked 50-100 quid on the premium and forced me to
go to comparison sites.

I congratulated them on not trying to bone me and they sounded quite
pleased, though the woman did warn me they couldn't promise to not do
something random as a lot of it was down to the underwriters.

On 12/09/2015 02:21, Dave Liquorice wrote:


(*) Hidden away in my cars User Manual are couple of statements that
indicate there are at least two boxen logging vehicle
performance/status and driver input. Law enforcement agencies can ask
to access that data to use in evidence. Other data is "open" in that
garage mechanics can see it for fault/servicing etc.


Its common knowledge that the ECU logs the state of the controls, etc.
its used for diagnostics but it does usually record the state at the
moment of an accident which could be used by the police.

It was used in the case of a law suit in USA a few years ago where
owners of a car were claiming they weren't responsible for a series of
crashes and it proved the drivers were accelerating and not braking as
they were claiming. It wasn't common knowledge then.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
At renewal time, contact Aviva and tell them about the better quotes
you've got. You'll then magically get a revised renewal from them. Happens
every time without fail here.

Obviously, insurance companies rely on many simply renewing without
querying the figure.

However, if I could find a company which didn't use this trick to inflate
their premiums, I'd put all my business with them.

When I moved up to Scotland from Bucks in 2012 I went with Saga for car
insurance and my fully comp premium on the Focus dropped from £300 to £93.
It's stayed exactly the same every year since bar the odd penny. Obviously
living in a cheap rural postcode area in the middle of nowhere helps but
they've never tried to stiff me on the premiums.
--
Dave Baker

On 12/09/2015 10:05, Tim w wrote:
On 11/09/2015 11:32, Davey wrote:


Following on from this, I recently joined the RAC, and they quote
considerably less for my car than I currently pay with Aviva. Are there
any comments on this? I know that it is usually worth changing
insurance company every now and then, as the only effect of company
loyalty to customers seems to be to keep premiums high.


These days you have to change insurance company every single year to get
any value for money. They all offer big discounts for year one and then
try to steal it back.

Insurance has become a scumbag industry like everything else.

tim w

Hmm, my directline went up by £2.50 this year, maybe I need to switch?
Maybe not as they are still cheaper than most of the ones on the
comparison types.

On Sat, 12 Sep 2015 09:27:00 +0100, Davey wrote:

Do I need to get an NCB statement from my old company if I change? The
RAC site gave that impression. I would have thought that any
company could check electronically.

The latter, the insurers share information via a central database,
probably the same one that the ANPR system uses to flag up uninsured
vehicles and the one the "Tax Disc" system uses to check when you pay
up etc.

Don't know how much information that central database holds about
individuals but I'd expect at least a basic accident records (date,
at fault or not) and convictions. Wouldn't be surprised if the
information started with your inside leg measurement though...

--
Cheers
Dave.

Dave Liquorice wrote:

On Sat, 12 Sep 2015 09:27:00 +0100, Davey wrote:

Do I need to get an NCB statement from my old company if I change? The
RAC site gave that impression. I would have thought that any
company could check electronically.

The latter, the insurers share information via a central database,

They seem to dislike using it though ... last two times I've swapped,
I've been asked to provide paper evidence of NCB (even though previous
insurer is a different brand of the same company) when I've phoned
they've suddenly become able to do it through the database, last time
they allowed emailing a pdf of a photo of the paper, which is less
hassle than having to phone, but I still wish they'd do it proactively
using the database.

On Sat, 12 Sep 2015 12:01:39 +0100, dennis@home wrote:

(*) Hidden away in my cars User Manual are couple of statements
that
indicate there are at least two boxen logging vehicle
performance/status and driver input. Law enforcement agencies can
ask
to access that data to use in evidence. Other data is "open" in
that
garage mechanics can see it for fault/servicing etc.

Its common knowledge that the ECU logs the state of the controls, etc.
its used for diagnostics but it does usually record the state at the
moment of an accident which could be used by the police.

The ECU logging fault codes etc yes and possibly a snapshot when the
airbags deploy(*) but the implication of the statement(s) was that
something also kept a few minute rolling record of the state of the
vehicle.

later Hum, the .pdf of the User Manual is vague but doesn't mention
law enforcement agencies. I'm pretty sure what I read did but that
would have been the dead tree version.

(*) Reasonable to assume that that is the moment of an accident but
it would be beter to work on simple G force from any direction above
a certain level. Airbags only go off if they might help, they didn't
deploy when I hit a drystone wall and rolled the car ending up upside
down. Or when SWMBO'd did a similar thing. Both write offs.

--
Cheers
Dave.

"Stephen" wrote in message
news
Hello,

Foolishly I did not protect my NCB. I hadn't had an accident in years,
so was hoping this would continue but it didn't, so I now have three
years' NCB.

I have used web sites like go compare and compare the market but I am
finding companies I've never heard of. "Go Skippy" and "1st central"
seem to be two near the top of my quotes this year. Has anyone heard
of these?

1st central have very high fees for making changes to your policy mid
yera(should you need to do so), including a fee for renewing (FFS)

They also won't send you (for fee) a paper copy of you current NCD when your
policy expires so sending it to the next company can be a bit fraught

tim

In uk.d-i-y Tim Watts wrote:
Not always...

LV have just sent me a renewal and it was similar to last year (I am
maxed out on the NCB). So I rang them up and took it. Every other
company to date has jacked 50-100 quid on the premium and forced me to
go to comparison sites.

The average cost of insurance has been drifting down, so I think we're
roughly at the bottom (people are starting to warn of price rises in the
pipeline).

Therefore it's a fallacy to assume that they (for whatever value of 'they')
aren't ripping you off by keeping prices stable. It's like commending
British Gas for keeping prices level when the wholesale cost of gas has gone
down by 20%.

Last year my quote was the roughly same as the previous year, but I was
still able to save 25% by shopping around.

Theo

On Sat, 12 Sep 2015 13:27:59 +0100
Andy Burns wrote:

Dave Liquorice wrote:

On Sat, 12 Sep 2015 09:27:00 +0100, Davey wrote:

Do I need to get an NCB statement from my old company if I change?
The RAC site gave that impression. I would have thought that any
company could check electronically.

The latter, the insurers share information via a central database,

They seem to dislike using it though ... last two times I've swapped,
I've been asked to provide paper evidence of NCB (even though
previous insurer is a different brand of the same company) when I've
phoned they've suddenly become able to do it through the database,
last time they allowed emailing a pdf of a photo of the paper, which
is less hassle than having to phone, but I still wish they'd do it
proactively using the database.


That is echoed by another poster's experience.

The Insurers are probably worried about "Data Protection Laws".

--
Davey.

On Sat, 12 Sep 2015 11:24:14 +0100, Tim Watts wrote:

On 12/09/15 10:05, Tim w wrote:
On 11/09/2015 11:32, Davey wrote:


Following on from this, I recently joined the RAC, and they quote
considerably less for my car than I currently pay with Aviva. Are
there any comments on this? I know that it is usually worth changing
insurance company every now and then, as the only effect of company
loyalty to customers seems to be to keep premiums high.


These days you have to change insurance company every single year to
get any value for money. They all offer big discounts for year one and
then try to steal it back.

Insurance has become a scumbag industry like everything else.

Not always...

LV have just sent me a renewal and it was similar to last year (I am
maxed out on the NCB). So I rang them up and took it. Every other
company to date has jacked 50-100 quid on the premium and forced me to
go to comparison sites.

I congratulated them on not trying to bone me and they sounded quite
pleased, though the woman did warn me they couldn't promise to not do
something random as a lot of it was down to the underwriters.

I've had a pretty consistent (and value for money) experience with LV for
the last three or four years.

On 12/09/2015 14:24, tim..... wrote:

"Stephen" wrote in message
news
Hello,

Foolishly I did not protect my NCB. I hadn't had an accident in years,
so was hoping this would continue but it didn't, so I now have three
years' NCB.

I have used web sites like go compare and compare the market but I am
finding companies I've never heard of. "Go Skippy" and "1st central"
seem to be two near the top of my quotes this year. Has anyone heard
of these?

1st central have very high fees for making changes to your policy mid
yera(should you need to do so), including a fee for renewing (FFS)

They also won't send you (for fee) a paper copy of you current NCD when
your policy expires so sending it to the next company can be a bit fraught

The company I was with after 1st central accepted the email NCD without
any worries.

In uk.d-i-y tim..... wrote:
1st central have very high fees for making changes to your policy mid
yera(should you need to do so),

A lot of them do that, and that's something to throw into the mix. It
depends how likely you are to make changes. If you have to make a change
mid-year every N years, and it costs X% of the policy to do so, for some
values of the numbers it can still work out cheaper to go with the
high-charges company compared with another with a flexible change policy but
a higher premium.

including a fee for renewing (FFS)

Well, don't do that then ;-) I'm surprised they haven't noticed that it
drives repeat customers away.

They also won't send you (for fee) a paper copy of you current NCD when your
policy expires so sending it to the next company can be a bit fraught

That is a bit of a pain. Do they give you an online renewal letter thingy
you can print out?

Of course the big unknown is actually claiming - other than random comments
on reviews sites, I haven't seen any data on how they compare at paying out.

Theo

"Clive George" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 12/09/2015 14:24, tim..... wrote:

"Stephen" wrote in message
news
Hello,

Foolishly I did not protect my NCB. I hadn't had an accident in years,
so was hoping this would continue but it didn't, so I now have three
years' NCB.

I have used web sites like go compare and compare the market but I am
finding companies I've never heard of. "Go Skippy" and "1st central"
seem to be two near the top of my quotes this year. Has anyone heard
of these?

1st central have very high fees for making changes to your policy mid
yera(should you need to do so), including a fee for renewing (FFS)

They also won't send you (for fee) a paper copy of you current NCD when
your policy expires so sending it to the next company can be a bit
fraught

The company I was with after 1st central accepted the email NCD without
any worries.

you were lucky then :-(

tim

"Theo Markettos" wrote in message
...
In uk.d-i-y tim..... wrote:
1st central have very high fees for making changes to your policy mid
yera(should you need to do so),

A lot of them do that, and that's something to throw into the mix. It
depends how likely you are to make changes. If you have to make a change
mid-year every N years, and it costs X% of the policy to do so, for some
values of the numbers it can still work out cheaper to go with the
high-charges company compared with another with a flexible change policy
but
a higher premium.

including a fee for renewing (FFS)

Well, don't do that then ;-) I'm surprised they haven't noticed that it
drives repeat customers away.

They also won't send you (for fee) a paper copy of you current NCD when
your
policy expires so sending it to the next company can be a bit fraught

That is a bit of a pain. Do they give you an online renewal letter thingy
you can print out?#
#
you get an email

my chosen alternative wouldn't accept it because once printed it wasn't on
"headed paper"

tim

On 13/09/2015 18:51, tim..... wrote:

"Clive George" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 12/09/2015 14:24, tim..... wrote:

"Stephen" wrote in message
news Hello,

Foolishly I did not protect my NCB. I hadn't had an accident in years,
so was hoping this would continue but it didn't, so I now have three
years' NCB.

I have used web sites like go compare and compare the market but I am
finding companies I've never heard of. "Go Skippy" and "1st central"
seem to be two near the top of my quotes this year. Has anyone heard
of these?

1st central have very high fees for making changes to your policy mid
yera(should you need to do so), including a fee for renewing (FFS)

They also won't send you (for fee) a paper copy of you current NCD when
your policy expires so sending it to the next company can be a bit
fraught

The company I was with after 1st central accepted the email NCD
without any worries.

you were lucky then :-(

I don't think I've dealt with a paper one for a while now - the email
one has worked on others too.

On 13/09/2015 18:53, tim..... wrote:

"Theo Markettos" wrote in message
...
In uk.d-i-y tim..... wrote:
1st central have very high fees for making changes to your policy mid
yera(should you need to do so),

A lot of them do that, and that's something to throw into the mix. It
depends how likely you are to make changes. If you have to make a change
mid-year every N years, and it costs X% of the policy to do so, for some
values of the numbers it can still work out cheaper to go with the
high-charges company compared with another with a flexible change
policy but
a higher premium.

including a fee for renewing (FFS)

Well, don't do that then ;-) I'm surprised they haven't noticed that it
drives repeat customers away.

They also won't send you (for fee) a paper copy of you current NCD
when your
policy expires so sending it to the next company can be a bit fraught

That is a bit of a pain. Do they give you an online renewal letter
thingy
you can print out?#
#
you get an email

my chosen alternative wouldn't accept it because once printed it wasn't
on "headed paper"

Who were they? They sound like the problem.

On 11/09/2015 12:45, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

However, if I could find a company which didn't use this trick to inflate
their premiums, I'd put all my business with them.

LV and Directline renewals for me have been very close to their
comparison site quotes for the last few years. Cashback sites make it worth
swapping between them.

On Saturday, 12 September 2015 12:01:44 UTC+1, dennis@home wrote:
On 12/09/2015 02:21, Dave Liquorice wrote:


(*) Hidden away in my cars User Manual are couple of statements that
indicate there are at least two boxen logging vehicle
performance/status and driver input. Law enforcement agencies can ask
to access that data to use in evidence. Other data is "open" in that
garage mechanics can see it for fault/servicing etc.


Its common knowledge that the ECU logs the state of the controls, etc.
its used for diagnostics but it does usually record the state at the
moment of an accident which could be used by the police.

Well *I* know it - because I used to work with a firm that wrote the
software for them - but I'm not sure I'd describe it as "common knowledge".

"Clive George" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 13/09/2015 18:53, tim..... wrote:

"Theo Markettos" wrote in message
...
In uk.d-i-y tim..... wrote:
1st central have very high fees for making changes to your policy mid
yera(should you need to do so),

A lot of them do that, and that's something to throw into the mix. It
depends how likely you are to make changes. If you have to make a
change
mid-year every N years, and it costs X% of the policy to do so, for some
values of the numbers it can still work out cheaper to go with the
high-charges company compared with another with a flexible change
policy but
a higher premium.

including a fee for renewing (FFS)

Well, don't do that then ;-) I'm surprised they haven't noticed that it
drives repeat customers away.

They also won't send you (for fee) a paper copy of you current NCD
when your
policy expires so sending it to the next company can be a bit fraught

That is a bit of a pain. Do they give you an online renewal letter
thingy
you can print out?#
#
you get an email

my chosen alternative wouldn't accept it because once printed it wasn't
on "headed paper"

Who were they? They sound like the problem.

The silly nodding dog

I "persuaded" them eventually

tim

On 11/09/2015 10:42, Stephen wrote:

Foolishly I did not protect my NCB. I hadn't had an accident in years,
so was hoping this would continue but it didn't, so I now have three
years' NCB.

I have used web sites like go compare and compare the market but I am
finding companies I've never heard of. "Go Skippy" and "1st central"
seem to be two near the top of my quotes this year. Has anyone heard
of these?

I also stumbled across quotezone which seems to give me the cheapest
quotes but again, from insurers I have not heard of: Octagon, Zenith,
and the Insurance factory, to name a few.

A few insurers have invented lots of different names to make their
comparison sites appear better. Octagon is owned by Markerstudy and based
in Gibraltor, Zenith is also based in Gibraltar, Insurance Factory is based
at Markerstudy house. Go Skippy is a trading style of Eldon, 1st Central is
owned by a Guernsey company with no details.

(Go to their websites direct, and scroll to the bottom of the page)

On 15/09/15 23:21, Nick Finnigan wrote:

A few insurers have invented lots of different names to make their
comparison sites appear better. Octagon is owned by Markerstudy and
based in Gibraltor, Zenith is also based in Gibraltar, Insurance Factory
is based at Markerstudy house. Go Skippy is a trading style of Eldon,
1st Central is owned by a Guernsey company with no details.


Yes. You need to separate the marketing names and companies from the
underwriters, and possibly both from the administration and claims handling.



--
DJC
(–€Ì¿Ä¹Ì¯–€Ì¿ Ì¿)