Van insurance this year !!!!

I know vehicle insurance has gone up this year  but was just wondering  how others have faired  with small van insurance  .

So my Combo Van was  below £300   last year .....just renewed  @£325.00 

Cheapest on Compare the market .com was £374       then jumping up to £534.00   

Deke, it might be worth having a look at the cheapest insurer on these compare websites. I once did a hypothetical on one, a W reg Ford Escort, these sites all said around £1200, (fully comp was cheaper than 3rd party at the time). It came back that the Post Office was the provider, so I then went onto the PO's website for insurance, they came back with a price of £800, so a hefty saving if you look deeper I think.

Andy Guinness  

£800  for an Escort   Zeebrugge  ???    Jeez!!!  

I always phone them  Zee  and they nearly always come up with a reduction ....in they don't I go elsewhere. 

Yes Deke, due to alot of medical issues I still havent sorted My full drivers licence yet, so thats why it might be as high as that. It was just an enquiry at the time. Before anyone has a pop at Me, Type 2 Diabetic, Angina, Hypertension, all in the last 2 years to deal with plus recovery time.

Andy Guinness

I'm only commenting on the cost  Zee ,    my sometime apprentice age 19,  has passed his   driving test  , he can afford a small car  but cannot afford  to insure it at  £ 1200.00  .  

I dont doubt you at all Deke, does your sometimes apprentice live in a dodgy postcode? until He turns 24/25, He is likely to get hammered for car insurance.

Andy Guinness

Zeespark said:

live in a dodgy postcode?

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WHAT!!! He lives opposite me       How can it be a dodgey postcode   :C ...I live there ???        I suppose the cost goes up for living in a large traffic clogged city  though . 

It used to be that insurance went down every year but now it goes up as it needs to feed the government and all those hedge fund managers.

Been driving in London for 10 years, never had an accident or made any claims still my car insurance is £750+ 

My neighbour  though, self employed decorator with a Astra 1.7 van pays around £400

Comparison  sites  as I understand are a scam. good for giving you a rough idea but it's best to call your insurer or broker.

My insurance has gone up year on year, I'm 52 now, and believe it or not it's dearer now than it was 30 years ago after I had just got my licence back after a driving ban!

I heard those compare sites are flawed, apparently all the companies can see each others quote's so quite often they can give you a "cheaper" quote than their competitors even though it's still higher than they'd have given you if you'd gone to them direct, it's all a money making scam. Last year my insurer sent me a quote, it was £250 higher than the year before! I went on a compare site and there quote was the same as I had paid last year, £500, and it was the cheapest out of all the quotes. I rang them up and this guy said the dearer quote was using the company I was with already, to get the cheaper price would mean taking out a new policy, as it was with a different firm. However I'd have to pay £40 up front, and the rest over 11 months, whereas if I just renewed with the existing policy (higher quote) then it would just be paid over 12 months, Hmm, difficult decision, pay  £40 now and save £250 or let it run as it was, can you guess which option I went for? lol

I just checked back .........my van was £295  last year ,  this year its £325    so up by £30 .  

Insurers emailed  policy etc  today , I noticed an anomaly  with the total cost and phoned them .  They showed the total cost as £280 .00  ...I had paid £325.00 .  The difference is the firm's mark up .    So  , fool that I am ,  I 've left it for now but will  be speaking  direct to insurers next year .   

Renewal on my car just came in nearly £100 cheaper!

I got £100 off my van insurance as i reduced the milage to 8K a year.

Did the same with my car and reduced the milage to 4K

pewter said:

I got £100 off my van insurance as i reduced the milage to 8K a year.

Did the same with my car and reduced the milage to 4K

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Some companies will actually charge you MORE for a lower mileage! They reckon your more of a risk due to driving less! How do they arrive at that one? surely the less you do of something the less risk there is of something going wrong, it's the law of averages.

I think insurance companies just try and rip you off, because they can, they say premiums are high under my postcode because there's lots of car crime, maybe years ago, but not these days there isn't.I have a good driving record, only one accident in 30 years of driving, and that wasn't my fault, yet, because of a few idiots, I pay higher premiums. They always find reasons to rip you off, uninsured drivers add around £50 a year to your premium apparently, keeping costs down for young drivers adds a cost to your insurance, whiplash claims add a cost, the fact that we had heavy rain for 4 days last January, adds a cost, sort it out and stop ripping us off!

The government could do it easily, but they won't because they make money all round, they get tax off insurance premiums, they get money off fines from people who drive uninsured, winners all round. all it would need is the same as they do in certain other countries, you only get a number plate if all the required stuff is correct,if not they take it off you, simple.

You see loads of cars driving round, yet you have no idea if they are legal or not, they did away with tax discs to save money, then admitted they are losing far more than it cost to run the system, because more people are not bothering to tax their cars.

The idea that ANPR in police cars would detect uninsured vehicles has failed because there are less police cars on the road. I could virtually guarantee that if I only needed to drive around my local area then I could easily get away with no insurance. there are very few police cars, and out of say 5 that I may pass over a week, you'd be unlucky if even 1 had ANPR camera's fitted.

phil d said:

I have a good driving record, only one accident in 30 years of driving, and that wasn't my fault, yet, because of a few idiots, I pay higher premiums.

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 I'm 52 now, and believe it or not it's dearer now than it was 30 years ago after I had just got my licence back after a driving ban!

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I would of thought someone with a 'good' driving record wouldn't have had a driving ban? Or perhaps standards and measures of a good driver are different nowadays.

Doc H.

Doc Hudson said:

I would of thought someone with a 'good' driving record wouldn't have had a driving ban? Or perhaps standards and measures of a good driver are different nowadays.

Doc H.

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That was a long time ago, I was literally 2mg over, and trying to handle a nervous breakdown at the time.