Collection Thread incoming- but need insurance help first

[Rave]

I'm hoping to collect a lovely bit of chod from a fellow shiter tomorrow. I don't want to remove the last vestiges of anticipation from what is already shaping up to be an anticlimatic collection thread by saying which car it is, but I need a bit of insurance advice.

 

Basically I'm struggling to find a broker who will treat this 20 1/2 year old <£500 car as a classic and do me a second car policy for it for reasonable money. I rang Footman James and Peter James, who both politely invited me to FRO. I'm waiting on calls back from RH Specialist Insurance and Keith Michaels. Any other suggestions?

 

The plan is to share use of the car with my father in law; I got a quote in his name, with me as a named driver, for £370, which rather defeats the point of buying this car as a cheap runabout...

[trigger]

Have you tried Peter Best?. They covered my 1999 620ti?. I can't say that i know about any others though.

[billyboy406v6]

Tried the Meercat site ?

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[BorniteIdentity]

Peter Best insured the Trigger's Rover because they have a long standing relationship with a couple of the Rover owner's clubs/forums.  Otherwise, as you've noticed, they're tightening right up on it.  I guess if they all get together and get 'organised', it's quite easy to operate a cartel and push people out of the classic market into (more expensive) full insurance.

 

I was given a very favourable quote on that Carina, purely because I'm an existing customer who was looking to cancel a policy.  New customers are a no no.  I can't for the life of me remember which company it was (I have 5 insured atm) but I'll get the details later.

 

I think you're gonna have to suck it up and put it on a proper policy.  I have to have my 1996 Granvia on one because it's an import and a 7 seater - nobody in the classic market wants to touch it.  First year was £400 which I bent over and took like a bitch, it's about £300pcm now.

 

£370 feels like good value to me.  £1 a day to insure a car fully comp?  

 

Just because the entry fee is cheap, doesn't mean the prices at the bar necessarily will be.

 

Good luck with it though.

[Rave]

Thanks for the helpful (if dispiriting ) advice. It just seems silly that I could probably* insure my Eunos Roadster, a 115hp RWD car that's still on the dreadful chinese ditchfinders it came with, for less than a small bimblewagon, just because the Roadster's a 'classic'.

 

*It's been SORNed for a while* while I get round to fitting a new hood, so I don't actually know how much it would be now, just how much it was.

[BorniteIdentity]

Thanks for the helpful (if dispiriting ) advice. It just seems silly that I could probably* insure my Eunos Roadster, a 115hp RWD car that's still on the dreadful chinese ditchfinders it came with, for less than a small bimblewagon, just because the Roadster's a 'classic'.

 

*It's been SORNed for a while* while I get round to fitting a new hood, so I don't actually know how much it would be now, just how much it was.

 

Sorry, dude.  I didn't mean to put you on a downer.  But, in absolute fairness, a Toyota Carina in dog cock pink is never going to be a classic in the same way that a Celica or MR2 or whatever is.  So why should it be treated in the same way for insurance purposes?  Being honest, you're trying to insure it on the cheap as it's a cheap car.  Not a cherished car.

 

DO do some full quotes. I had this exact dilemma with my 1999 Peugeot 306 Cabriolet.  Is is, I think, dead cert future classic fodder.  Nobody would insure it as a classic.  In the end it cost me £270 with zero no claims bonus but declaring the other cars and that I had 10 years on my main driver.  

 

Genuinely, good luck.  Between Too Savvy, SpottedLaurel and myself - there are plenty of fans of these old tubs.  You'll get a lot of love.

[Eddie Honda]

DO do some full quotes. I had this exact dilemma with my 1999 Peugeot 306 Cabriolet. Is is, I think, dead cert future classic fodder. Nobody would insure it as a classic.

I had no bother getting Flux(Zenith) to do my '98 Pug floppy on 3k miles classic (£182), so it's already a classic with some underwriting gods. Your postcode may vary.

 

I also reckon anything other than a floppy top would be a reject until a lot older.

 

(Also I think it was mentioned somewhere to stick the value down at 1k at least. Anything less may flag-up as banger/cheapskate and computer says no)

[Rave]

I've already done a standard Confused.com search in my own name...£670. I'm 38 next week and with my 11 years of no claims or whatever it is now, I pay £292 for fully comp on my 05 reg Mondeo 3.0 Ghia X, which is a near-150mph car. It's the complete arbitrariness of it that pisses me off- you'd think that I should be able to just pay the same again (at the very most) to add a cheaper, slower car as an alternative to driving my main one, but nope.

[Eddie Honda]

It's the complete arbitrariness Johhny Ball-ness of it that pisses me off

FTFY.

 

[BorniteIdentity]

I had no bother getting Flux(Zenith) to do my '98 Pug floppy on 3k miles classic (£182), so it's already a classic with some underwriting gods. Your postcode may vary.

 

I also reckon anything other than a floppy top would be a reject until a lot older.

 

(Also I think it was mentioned somewhere to stick the value down at 1k at least. Anything less may flag-up as banger/cheapskate and computer says no)

 

Good intel here, Edward.  Thanks muchly!

[Eddie Honda]

I think I've mentioned it before Born, I wouldn't have bought the thing if I couldn't have got cheap insurance (FJ told me FRO because not 20). I must do a thead update.

 

Pushy sales though. I only managed to shave a tenner off the original quote of 192.

[Rave]

I just rang Adrian Flux who were unable to help. Asked the girl where I was going wrong, she reckoned:

 

1) London Postcode

2) Low value of car. Most insurers don't want to touch old bangers...because, (my theory not hers) they get crashed a lot by people who can only afford old bangers through a history of poor life choices .

 

So it looks as if the way forward is to modify the poor little car to increase it's value. Maybe a nice set of new white Rallye 14" steelies, a couple of bucket seats, and I'll be able to insure it as an enthusiasts car.

 

I'm half serious actually, it'll look lovely on the white steelies at least. Any other bolt on, reversible mods to consider?

[bramz7]

See, I'm worried about my upcoming attempts to insure two of my non daily cars as classics, I'd imagine even the most picky of brokers would accept a BX is approaching classic status, although the fact it's an estate might not help.

 

The other one is over 25 years old and down to single numbers on the road (apparently), dunno if this sort of trivial information will help me at all but I'll see.

 

Also if you're really stuck just pay Aviva £50 for temp cover and see if you can arrange a better long term option between then.

[The Moog]

 

I'm half serious actually, it'll look lovely on the white steelies at least. Any other bolt on, reversible mods to consider?

 

then they wont quote because modified! 

[DVee8]

I use Gott and Wynne for my Daimler,I have used them for years.

 

http://www.gottandwynne.co.uk/

[Eddie Honda]

, I'd imagine even the most picky of brokers would accept a BX is approaching classic status, although the fact it's an estate might not help.

Piece of cake. Had my BX dizzler auto with FJ, but it has been on for a few years now. It made the cut at 20. Being a K plate must of stuck it on around 2013.

 

Another thing is to be a member of a club. That there London postcodes are hard work.

[Cleon-Fonte]

I just rang Adrian Flux who were unable to help. Asked the girl where I was going wrong, she reckoned:

 

1) London Postcode

2) Low value of car. Most insurers don't want to touch old bangers...because, (my theory not hers) they get crashed a lot by people who can only afford old bangers through a history of poor life choices .

 

So it looks as if the way forward is to move out of London and into the civilised world

 

FTFY

[Dave_Q]

Put £1500 minimum for all insurance valuations even if car is worth £15.

 

Anything under a grand is dangerously old and unsafe to an underwriter, and the general public for that matter.

[Rave]

Put £1500 minimum for all insurance valuations even if car is worth £15.

 

Anything under a grand is dangerously old and unsafe to an underwriter, and the general public for that matter.

 

That's all very well, but if I then crash and the car is clearly worth no more than a monkey could they not claim that I've deliberately misled them when filling in the insurance details?

[Rave]

FTFY

 

I would move out in a heartbeat, but unfortunately my wife is an only child, and doesn't drive. Moving her away would make her and my mother-in-law unhappy. We have discussed moving away with them, but they don't want the hassle of moving in their late 60s, and I can't blame them. At some point I might just buy a bolt hole in the country and shuttle back and forth, which will be cheap in this new car I'm collecting tomorrow

[RobT]

^^That will be my strategy from now on. My Mk3 Astra dizzler must be worth 2k atleast....

 

This is really pissing me off lately. I can only hope all these brokers will lose out on a lot of business, and then somehow force the underwriters to do a U-turn.

 

Makes you wonder whether to just get a traders policy and be done with it.

[Dave_Q]

That's all very well, but if I then crash and the car is clearly worth no more than a monkey could they not claim that I've deliberately misled them when filling in the insurance details?

I don't see how, you could claim you paid 1500, not sure how anyone could prove or disprove that, and people buy £300 shitters for £1500 all the time.

 

I had a car stolen last year, they asked me how much I paid for it but no proof of this was asked for or given, your insurer may vary I suppose.

[egg]

Insurance premium tax went up again recently didn't it as well?

[5speedracer]

Bit left field but I insure my bike with Devitt, cheaply. Bike specialists but also do cars.

[Captain Furious]

Difficult to advise without knowing what the car is....but a cautionary tale about getting quotes for same car in different people's names. My mum got a new car just after my dad died, which meant she had her old one to get rid of, it lay around on her drive for a while SORN and then we agreed I'd get it through an MOT and sell it for whatever we could get

 

So I got some insurance quotes off the comparison sites with me as the policy holder, meanwhile she got some with her as the policy holder, eventually she insured it with me as a named driver to get the work done. The conflicting quotes obviously triggered some algorithm at insurance HQ that it looked like she was 'fronting' for me (despite being 32 at the time and already insuring a much higher risk car) and they sent her a letter to this effect stating they were cancelling the policy

 

Some weeks later, after finally convincing them this was not the case, and sending them copies of all mine and her documents showing we already had our own cars and insurance, they agreed to drop it. They were like a dog with a bone though.

[Rave]

Difficult to advise without knowing what the car is....but a cautionary tale about getting quotes for same car in different people's names. My mum got a new car just after my dad died, which meant she had her old one to get rid of, it lay around on her drive for a while SORN and then we agreed I'd get it through an MOT and sell it for whatever we could get

 

So I got some insurance quotes off the comparison sites with me as the policy holder, meanwhile she got some with her as the policy holder, eventually she insured it with me as a named driver to get the work done. The conflicting quotes obviously triggered some algorithm at insurance HQ that it looked like she was 'fronting' for me (despite being 32 at the time and already insuring a much higher risk car) and they sent her a letter to this effect stating they were cancelling the policy

 

Some weeks later, after finally convincing them this was not the case, and sending them copies of all mine and her documents showing we already had our own cars and insurance, they agreed to drop it. They were like a dog with a bone though.

 

Well, actually, the quote is cheaper if you knock me off as a named driver, it's £323 then. I have third party driving other cars cover on my own insurance, which is how I've been driving the FIL's old car for many years. There's absolutely no way I'd ever bother claiming on the comprehensive insurance if I was at fault for an accident, so I can't see any point paying to insure myself effectively twice. So I think I'll just do that- the car is going to live at his house most of the time anyway, and they're contributing half the tax and some of the insurance. I'll just have to make sure that my mum (who will be a named driver on both policies) isn't driving my car when I'm driving FIL's (as I daresay that's against the T&Cs, not unreasonably).

[tommytwo]

RobT said "Makes you wonder whether to just get a traders policy and be done with it".

 

Don't go down this road unless you are a genuine trader. In the event of a claim. many companies will ask to see proof that you are indeed a trader. That means invoices and trading accounts. If you cant provide these, your claim will be refused.

[Rave]

With the number of cars Rob gets through he surely need only register as a sole trader and keep records of what he buys and sells? Making a profit must be optional, I would have thought?

[Heidel_Kakao]

I have just had a similar issue myself trying to get a 1997 Impreza on a classic policy, managed it just about in the end but still paying more than I would like.

 

Does anyone think it's worth getting a car to insure on a normal policy just for the purpose of building up no claims for future use? I have been on classic insurance for so long now but if it is going to get harder and harder to get cars on to a classic policy it might be a necessary evil.

[Dave_Q]

If doing ^this^ why not just insure a 50cc moped or something.

 

Should be <£100 for most grown adults and I think the question they ask for classic insurance is "do you have another VEHICLE insured for daily use" or words to that effect.

 

You could easily be a masochist who tootles to work at 25mph on a scooter 5 days a week.

 

Drawbacks include the fact you'll be accumulating motorbike no claims, which most car insurers won't accept, so if you ever flake out and get a modern you probably won't be able to use the no claims.