H all, just wondering if anyone can help me get to the bottom of why a 2.0l Focus Estate would be £500 cheaper to insure than a 1.6 Octavia Estate.

I've just upgraded from a Fabia and having received reasonable quotes for 1.6-2.0 Focuses, went out and bought an Octavia Estate,and now they're asking a ridiculous transfer! This is across the board, not just the company I'm dealing with. Any help/hints/tips would be much appreciated.

£500 less?! Wtf is that about. What's your age, no claims etc. Is this a change on your existing policy or the start of a new one? I simply don't understand why this would be, often a change of car on an existing policy can be an unreliable true representation of insurance cost but not usually that much! Getting another, more experienced and preferably female driver named on your policy can help a fair bit. Something is not right there. Octy must be a lower insurance group and risk category.

It's a bit of a strange one, I could of been insured cheaper on a Subaru Impreza 2.0t, than I am insured on my VRS.

 

I'd use a comparison website, then go to the best quoter's website and put the details in again manually. I've just reinsured my VRS, and for the sake of 5-10 minutes, I saved myself £70.

It's a bit of a strange one, I could of been insured cheaper on a Subaru Impreza 2.0t, than I am insured on my VRS.

 

I'd use a comparison website, then go to the best quoter's website and put the details in again manually. I've just reinsured my VRS, and for the sake of 5-10 minutes, I saved myself £70.

You can do that or do it old school and ring around a few, see if they can beat your best quote.

Must be something with the risk category on octys (having been a lot of taxis and such) although my vrs when standard was cheaper to insure than my previous Toledo V5 which only had 170bhp.

Insurance is a very complicated business and can often seem very strange. But if you know a few tricks like those already mentioned you can save a fair bit.

You can do that or do it old school and ring around a few, see if they can beat your best quote.

Must be something with the risk category on octys (having been a lot of taxis and such) although my vrs when standard was cheaper to insure than my previous Toledo V5 which only had 170bhp.

Insurance is a very complicated business and can often seem very strange. But if you know a few tricks like those already mentioned you can save a fair bit.

 

Yeah, even better would be to call them, something I never bother with for some reason..

Yeah, even better would be to call them, something I never bother with for some reason..

Just the way the world has gone, things seem to make life quicker and easier but they're not always the best way, often there's no substitute for talking to people. A website can't turn round to its boss and ask for more discount or a better price, and if the company isn't a broker they've got more capacity to negotiate.

Welcome to world of insurance.

 

Assuming you're comparing a Mk1 Octy against a similar age Focus, fact is at that age engine size, insurance group etc have less to do with it. There's a wealth of other underwriting factors that go into it.

 

Some of the possibles...

 

More Octy estates than Focus estates on the road (Focus mk1 estate was never a big seller), therefore likelihood is more total accidents occur in Octy than Focus.

As mentioned above, more Octy's being used as taxis, therefore more total miles covered, therefore higher chance of accidents.

Parts - probably more expensive on a Skoda than a Ford, meaning higher cost of average claims on them.

Octy probably retains it's value more at this age than a Focus, therefore higher cost of total loss.

 

Etc, etc....

 

Annoying but true.

Hi,

Calculating insurance premiums can be a complicated business and vehicle groups are just one small part. As already mentioned there are a number of factors that effect the actual insurance grouping however as insurance is based on claims stats individually insurers may have different terms for difference vehicles depending on how well they perform for them.

If you do need any help with insurance at all for any vehicle then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

I've been looking into getting myself a Jag S-type, either the 3 litre V6 or even the 4.2 V8. The 3l V6 is cheaper insurance than my sluggish Skoda 2.0l auto and the V8 about the same!! That's even with my wife on it with zero no claims.

2-3 times more BHP would make you think insurance would be more but not in my case.

Curioser and curioser. To further highlight the points already made and as suggested by Dan, I moved from Aberystwyth town to very rural Ceredigion, about 15 miles away. Different rural postcode, cheaper insurance than Aberystwyth town? No, it went up. I assume because what accidents do happen round here tend to be more costly and more likely to write your car off (mountain roads, country lanes, ditches, tractors, head ons etc). So yes there's all kinds of stats and algorithms that work away behind the scenes to configure risk assessment, it's as clear as mud sometimes from the outside looking in, but it kind of makes sense.

The expense of the octy surprises me though, it's not something I experienced during my ownership.

Again tho, most likely just means statistically fewer big jags making claims than Skoda Autos.

It's the same reason that often small oldish hatches like say a Pug 106 1.0 tend to be surprisingly expensive to insure - much higher statistical probability of a prang.

Again tho, most likely just means statistically fewer big jags making claims than Skoda Autos.

It's the same reason that often small oldish hatches like say a Pug 106 1.0 tend to be surprisingly expensive to insure - much higher statistical probability of a prang.

Plus twockers find it much easier to nick a Pug than a jag