Logic does not enter into this. Insurance companies have their own algorithms for calculating premiums allegedly based on their overall claims history. But it throws up oddities.

My son has a 1.2 Corsa. The car is in his name and he is the policyholder. However if he adds me as a named driver (not the main driver) the premium drops 50% because.... "your father is over 60 and has a good record". The fact that I'm never in the car with him, and never drive it more than say twice a year appears not to matter. The irony is that the customer service rep at his insurance company actually pointed this out to him when he came to renew!!!

I'm sure if he added go faster stripes he would instantly become uninsurable due to his age even though his accident record (and mine) is good.

Go figure.

Edited 13 September, 201114 yr by Minimoke

Yep, these are the insurance companies who refer your details to injury lawyers and claim assist companies for a fee so that you can ratchet up the cost of accidents. So then they have to come up with stupid "logic" to justify higher premiums to cover the higher cost of accidents that they encourage.

Yep, these are the insurance companies who refer your details to injury lawyers and claim assist companies for a fee

FYI, that's now a banned practice.

FYI, that's now a banned practice.

No it's not and whilst the government says it will take action, there is currently no timescale to do so.

see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14846666

+1

You think these "insurance algorithm's" are what makes the insurance for the vRS so low? They just see the Skoda and the 1.4 litre part and think I must drive like an old dear

All insurers have camped out at meets and events like Santa pod and combe track days for a number of years now looking for undeclared mods.

Sneaky

Yeah. On the face of it I've got a 1.4 automatic estate Skoda with ESP and its cheaper than the mk1

the car insurance group isn't just about bhp and performance.

take for example a Citreon Saxo 1.6 VTS 120bhp, it does 0-60 in 7.3secs just like a new fabia vRS which has 180bhp.

but insurance will always be more on the Saxo vts despite the value of it being say £800 compared to £14000 for a vRS

that it because in an accident the car is less safe therefore personal injury claims will be more common, also the vehicle is less recycleable(not sure if real word)

bhp per tonne is also taken into consideration..

Saxo vts is 130bhp per tonne

Fabia vRS is 137bhp per tonne

so the figures are actually very similar

there a few other things that are taken into consideration.

but why say the mini cooper s 1.6 with 183bhp is (using the old 0-20 groupings) group 16 and the Fabia vRS 180bhp is 12 is a bit odd, but hey-ho

Also take into consideration that the saxo is more likely to be a total loss in a reasonable smash...

And that the saxo is easier and more likely to be stolen.

Most insurance compaines dont recognise the old 1-20 insurance groups.

A mk2 fabia vRS insurance group is listed at my work as 14c3,.

yeah the new 0-50 insurance group system is what i think most insurers use..

but googling it doesn't bring up an awful lot of info on them, so for that example i used the old system.

but i was properly horrifed to find that my Felly 1.6 cost's £622 a year to insure comp with a £1300 xs(car book price is like £380 but comp was cheaper than tpft)

but a brand new vRS fabia estate is £516 per year...

Yeah I had a £60 refund from Admiral with the new vRS although they did tell me they'll only ever give me book price for it if it's ever written off. I'm gonna start looking at GAP insurances today

No it's not and whilst the government says it will take action, there is currently no timescale to do so.

see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14846666

At least the Ministry of Justice says they WILL be banned.

Fair play to AXA, they took a lead on this earlier this year, and announced they would no longer accept referral fees. No other insurer was prepared to follow.

For those that are slating Direct Line, they are following the same process that every other insurance company would follow and indeed you are lucky they have not cancelled your policy, it can be construed as fraud buying a policy knowingly that your vehicle is modified and not declaring such, just so to get a lower premium. That is why when you buy a policy with any insurer they will ask if your vehicle is modified. Even after market alloy wheels are a modification, even if they are replacing manufacturers alloy wheels. Seats, outside trim, uprated exhaust system, after market tinted window film are all examples.

I used to work for Direct Line and to be honest you have got off lightly with them just charging you £100. Normally the policy would get cancelled, and if the modification came to light AFTER an accident in one of their approved repairers then they would possibly null your insurance,by cancelling the whole policy and YOU WOULD NOT BE COVERED FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR VEHICLE OR THE 3RD PARTIES VEHICLE. You then get investigated by the police for not having third party insurance , as any third party whom you have hit,would probably shop you to the police when they found out your insurers have declined the claim for their damage to their vehicle, so it is hello 6 points on your license.

Direct Line, Privillege, N.I.G. ,Churchill, Prudential, Sainsburys, Virgin, Uk Insurance, Natwest, Rbs, Mint, Lombard, some old Tesco, some Vauxhall, and some old Devitt insurance, policies are all under the Royal Bank of Scotland umbrella with regards to the administration of claims and the repair of vehicles

Direct Line, Privillege, N.I.G. ,Churchill, Prudential, Sainsburys, Virgin, Uk Insurance, Natwest, Rbs, Mint, Lombard, some old Tesco, some Vauxhall, and some old Devitt insurance, policies are all under the Royal Bank of Scotland umbrella with regards to the administration of claims and the repair of vehicles

Thanks - I now know all the brands to avoid .

RBS shouldn't even be trading - it continues to trade only thanks to massive backing from the taxpayer, whilst other financial institutions (the responsible / competent ones) pay their own way - it's quite simply unfair competition.

I ******* hate RBS.

Edited 15 September, 201114 yr by Wee Bri

FYI - To my knowledge (correct me if i'm wrong) the MK2 VRS is group 28 now (0-50)

Yeah I had a £60 refund from Admiral with the new vRS although they did tell me they'll only ever give me book price for it if it's ever written off. I'm gonna start looking at GAP insurances today

Look at your insurance small print..Mine will give me a completely new car if it's wrote off within the first 6months. I wish I'd have known that BEFORE I'd paid for the GAP insurance :S

Look at your insurance small print..Mine will give me a completely new car if it's wrote off within the first 6months. I wish I'd have known that BEFORE I'd paid for the GAP insurance :S

Yes but the gap will be a 3+ year policy, not just 6 months

So your policy says that you have to declare any mods to the car and you don't, and then have the nerve to complain when they find out and take offence and charge you more or cancel the policy... Some of you need to get real... If you were the Insurance company do you think you'd allow it?

I think not... Or you'd soon be out of business...

No it's not and whilst the government says it will take action, there is currently no timescale to do so.

see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14846666

My mistake, this report coincided with the practice being 'banned' by my employer, I mistakenly assumed that it had been made illegal.

Nockmeister, that us why gap insurance is aminimum of 2 years. You have an extra 2.5 years of new for old - it's good you took it out

I'll be taking GAP insurance. I know there were threads a few months ago but who did most go with in the end?

i managed to get skoda gap 3yrs for £200 when i got my deal

interesting about the stripes.In a moment of madness I considered putting some black manafacture decals down the door of my new red Monte Carlo.They were 5 decals all together going down the door (both sides) and were due to be £20.After declaring them on the "Meerkat" it added over £120 to the premium for some £20 stickers.Tbh I can see why as it makes the car more desirable to "undesirables"

Funny though I could also added an unspecified engine mod at the same time and the premium extra (including the decals) only went up by about £130,so the engine mod worked out another tenner!

I have also removed the Tdi badge from the boot.I have not disclosed this.Should I tell insurer or not as it could be more diserable for a thief....

i.e mistaking the Monty for a VRS if its dark or he don`t know the difference?

P.S i scrapped the decal idea :p

I'll be taking GAP insurance. I know there were threads a few months ago but who did most go with in the end?

As a comparison, I went with Autotrade., 8k over 2yrs for £133. This is for a replacement vehicle policy. Significant saving over the Skoda equivalent