Scrobs has just saved nearly £110.00 on insuring our VW Golf. (See Scrobs passim re EU nasties/wasters and all that crap about pollution).
It's well known that anyone hanging in with their old insurer pays well over the odds for them to make it cheaper for newcomers, but this is really taking the proverbial!
A 30% reduction for exactly the same 'service' is much better in our pocket than Churchill's! And the new insurer is a big four bank!
Senora O'Blene and I can now dine out on several occasions, where we may not have been able to do in future months...
16 comments:
Insurers really do take this piss with their stupidly excessive renewal premiums. Strangely I got some sense out of Tesco when I told them that another insurer had quoted fifty pounds less than their renewal offer. They came back with an offer forty pounds below the competition. Why don't they cut out the bullshit and save all our time? Or is it a case of "the price is whatever you can get away with"?
We used to insure our car with the Cewp but every year they got something wrong on the schedule details - cue ringing them up to put it right, checking papers when they finally arrived, more ringing up, and I ended up with a good inch of waste paper. The other year I got a quote as a new customer which saved some wonga but finally ditched them last year and went to NFU Mutual which is a Which? Best Buy and all went very smoothly. Our home contents and possessions are still with them, but with the same amount of faffing about re- insuring my birthday jewellery I'm going to change to NFU. Not only is it more professional, but by doing this I can get travel insurance which was second to none when my dear friend fell ill on a boat trip and had to be air-lifted to Oban. It might cost more but you get what you pay for.
We find that if we query a significant increase then we usually get a significant reduction and don't have to change insurer. Every now and then we change anyway then later we go back to the original insurer. It's tedious - if only they would reward loyalty and no claims but that does not seem to be how the game is played.
To me, rewarding loyalty to whatever firm or store you use makes a lot of sense, and you shouldn't be over-penalised if you make a claim as that's what insurers are there for in the first place. Nope, I've had enough!
Shopping around online,cashback sites (quidco etc) if you really try it does pay off.
We're in an awkward situation as OH collects and shoots various antique shooting guns and other paraphernalia which have a rather high value to say the least! Our old cottage has been flooded in the past because the surface water went into a dyke that wasn't maintained so it backed-up. We had new drains put into another one across the road which has stopped that happening again. We're also on a flood plain which is protected by the sea wall - um. I'll see how it goes and what they want to know. Say a little prayer for me!
Interesting points all...
One question was new to me though - something like do you have a criminal record! I can understand getting info on bad driving, but what's non-payment of the TV tax got to do with driving a car to Tesco?
On other item to add to the post, is that while waiting to cancel all Churchill's insurance, I noticed a £30 reduction on breakdown insurance, so when the bloke came on I quickly accepted his quote, and left out the new insurer's!
That was more luck than judgement though...
What strange questions to ask, but having said that I assume they want to somehow assess your credit rating and worthiness as a good upstanding citizen. This isn't what it says on the tin because as an example, if you're someone who pays off their credit card balance every month you are not as credit-worthy as someone who doesn't. If that happens to you again I will be more than happy to vouch for your worthiness on this planet, but as I'm an honest person it's the upstanding part that I might just have to think as to how I answer!
The 'upstanding part' is more of a medical question then Goosey?
Physiological even, but I see no reason why they need to know THAT!
I don't have a credit card, so there's never anything outstanding either..;0)
We didn't have those questions thrown at us (or rather at me as I did all the work) when we changed to NFU - um! I have an M&S credit card and they send me vouchers every three months which is useful if you see something you really like and they have about a year's time span in which to spend them. The mention of you being upstanding was more of a reference to your intake of alcohol, but I suppose both of your comments would apply at certain times!
Most times actually Goosey...
;0)
I know the feeling! The other night I did a silly thing and went out to water some pots but having had a few libations I tripped up over the hosepipe, banged my arm smartly on the rim of a metal trough, and ended up with a very big bruise on said arm. Did it teach me a lesson? No. Been there before when I lost my footing on some wet grass and fell onto my pea netting. Did that teach me a lesson? No. Best to go upstairs for a bath and think which is it that I clean my teeth with, what do I put in my bath, and what do I put on my face before retiring. So far I've got it right but I dread the day when I make a judgemental error!
You only have to give me a call Goosey, and I'll help!
There's a lovely lady near here who has just urned 84. She is a wizard at walking everywhere, and being a damned good egg, she is a a lovely chum.
One day she told me she was cold 'last night and needed a cuddle'. And without thinking I said that she could have given me a call on the phone, and I'd have been there...
She's gorgeous!
I think she just sounded a bit lonely and wanted someone to sit with her and have a chat accompanied with either some Horlicks, a hot cocoa, or a large brandy and port. Methinks I know which she would have preferred and I can see it all now. There's you stretched out on her sofa with a soft cushion to support your head, she's brought out two expensive crystal glasses strategically placed on a well-polished little side-table that's covered with one of her best linen cloths along with two drink mats from her well-worn collection. Classical music playing quietly in the background. She's sat on her footstool then slumps across your supine body, the tears start rolling down her face, then she says "Things happen when you get old. Last night I thought I'd wet myself but my hot water bottle sprung a leak. Unfortunately I was lying on this sofa at the time. Do you want me to put your trousers in the tumble-drier?" (Cue: visions of a man stripping off his Levi's in the launderette). Then she says "I do like a good laugh"!
Wonderful idea!
My lady chum does U3A (Do you have those near you - University for the third age)? And she's learning Latin and Italian as her son lives in Florence! Ex school-mistress; a few husbands, some other children and a wicked sense of humour!
Usually a cheeky laugh and sometimes a big hug, which is fine for a shortish Scrobs and a tiny lady chum! Everything seems to fit then!
Yes, we have a U3A in Morecambe though I've never been as I hate that town. When you get older it's so important to keep your brain active which is why I do the Graudian cryptics, use my PC for research, watch TV quizzes like Pointless and Eggheads, and just generally learn interesting facts. Most of my men friends are taller that me so I have to stand on tip-toe to give them a hug!
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