Non Elan insurance

[Dico]

I'm about to receive my Fathers 13 year old VW Passat, which he's had from new. 55 easily achievable on a run, so very economical to run. Or so I thought until it came to insurance quotes.

History-
Full UK licence
No points or convictions
No accidents or claims
Zero no claims bonus as I have either been an aditional driver on policies or have had classic insurance, which we all know doesn't allow you to build up a no claims bonus.

Quotes so far-
Online I have used one of the Go compare types providers. Cheapest quote was £800 plus, right up to £3000 plus!
Phoned my current provider just now- Classic Line. Told them the situation re me having no no claims and because I have the Elan insured with them they allowed me 5 years no claims. £721.00.
Still way too much for a 41 year old who has covered over 60,000 miles per year for the last 12 years with no accidents/incidents I feel. Anyone any ideas/suggestions please? I receive the car in 3 weeks.

Cheers.


The useless nonsense replies more than welcome (ffs).

[JonT]

Premiums have risen record amounts in the last year or so. Best bet is probably a broker who may be able to take the classic policy into account, but other than that I think you'll be stuck. I've had policies with A-plan and Chris Knott in the past and had decent customer service from both.

The other option might be to look at something like a multi-car policy. IIRC Admiral do them, and I think REIS do too (and REIS will probably be more understanding about the Elan than Admiral).

[ailwyn]

That does seem steep... but you are talking about a family sized car, no NCD (the insurers don't care why)... plus being an older car they do like to slap on the premiums.

If it were me I'd ignore the price comparison sites and find a local broker (I assume they still exist?)... see if they can do any better. Or try and find someone that specialises in older cars/older drivers/unusual circumstances etc.

[DaveB]

The other option might be to look at something like a multi-car policy. IIRC Admiral do them

I had to add an 'old snotter' to my Admiral multicar policy after my firm took away the company car...

Originally they refused to give any no claims bonus, but relented after a short argument... Might be worth you trying. I thought it was expensive at £220... (last June)

If yours is the going rate now... I am dreading the renewal when it comes !!

David

[Dico]

Thanks all.
I don't think the multi car policy will be much use to me. The Elan policy is very specific to my needs- Agreed valuation, modifications declared, green card etc. So i think its going to have to be a stand alone policy as 'normal' brokers won't be competitive or perhaps won't even touch the Elan.
I figured Classic Line would give me a reasonable quote, especialy when I was told they would give me 5 years ncb.
Looks like i may have to bite the bullet for a while and pay big bucks. Kind of defeats the object of me having a cheap every day runaround.
I'm going to do some more searching. Like you said Ailwyn, maybe try and find a local broker that will listen.

I was thinking of mothballing the Elan when the insurance ran out. Maybe I'll mothball the VW instead!
Still open to suggestions.

Cheers.

[dapinky]

When i bought Angie a car (daily driver, not the elan), i went to Admiral, 'cos that's who i had the Vectra with. They allowed her the 6 years NCD for the time she had been a named driver on my policy.

They also allow the right number of years if you have had a company car (I assume it may include your old company Scania, as it seems to allow Matts Challenger2 as a company motor )

[Dico]

Just phoned Admiral. Mentioned my numerous years of classic car ownership and the fact that I drive 60,000 miles a year in the truck. The girl on the other end had a word with her supervisor but they can't do any deal it seems .
So there quote was over a £1000!!!
This was for the Passat only as I want to keep the Elan on its own policy.

[Dico]

Just phoned Adrian Flux as I've had classic insurance with them in the past and hoped they would have some understanding.

£900 third party

[rip]

I was thinking of mothballing the Elan when the insurance ran out.

Juat like old times then

[Dico]

"Paul, we've found 74 quotes from £986.39 "

Money Supermarket = Billy bargain

[tomac1975]

I used 1st quote for the elan today they were £300 cheaper than everyone else 02085907755

Cheers,

Tom

[Dave Eds]

Have you tried Sheila's Wheels yet Jesse?

[Dico]

Next on the list Spudpants.

Just phoned em. Despite being a named driver for over 12 months on one of their policies they won't insure me because I've no ncb!
They do insure male drivers btw.

Gday!

[inkitin]

Hi Paul. Have you tried Aviva? They well beat the all the usual car insurance search engines for me.

[Monty]

Just sell the Passat and spend it on the Blue Beast

[inkitin]

Just another thought.

It can sometimes make the price cheaper if you also put a good risk older person on the policy as a named driver. My son put me on his policy and the price reduced quite a bit!

How about naming your Dad?

[Dico]

Cheers Roly. Will have a look.

Murph, a VW is for life.

[GeoffSmith]

Tough luck young 'un. As Roland says, get someone old on your policy and the price comes down.

Even so, Chris (22) was quoted £750 for his Polo at Redditch with 1 year NCD, Caryn (18) was quoted a similar amount for a Rover 25 at Pontypridd with no NCD (coming down a hundred or so using here as the home address) and Peter would have been over £1000 on our Polo when he turns 17 in October. I tried Admiral multicar on 4 cars and it came in at £130 for the 406, £125 for the Polo (without Peter) £190 for the Golf and £360 for the Rover and they allow you to declare a driver 'at college and living away during term time' which brought the Rover premium down from living in SheepShaggerLand.

Adding the Elan brought the prices of the other four cars down so much that the Elan was effectively going to cost 5p to insure!

They also allow you to declare 'working away/on contract during the week' so we put Chris's Polo on it and got his premium down to £450 - total of £1250 for 5 cars. The premiums are taken pro rata from when the old ones run out and each major driver earns their own NCD - they also add a year to the NCD at the end of the first year even if the policy was only active for a month. Although they can't guarantee the extra premium when Peter is added, it would only have been £450 when I took it out

Some of the points I picked up were:

Living in Gloucestershire and being old has its advantages
Garaging sometimes increases the cost
Two experienced drivers can sometime go from £250 excess to £0 excess at no cost - not true for young 'uns!
The longer you've owned the car the better
NCD is very significant when adding a learner driver
Removing a driver from policy can increase premium
Adding protected NCD doesn't necessarily increase the premium
Commuting and occasional business use only add a few Pounds
Adding one driver to a car doesn't necessarily increase that car's premium but may decrease another car's premium that they are named on
Don't live near Manchester and don't drive a truck for a living!

Sorry it doesn't help you much Silver, but it may be useful for those with kids at University.

[Dico]

Blimey Geoffers.

We tried Admiral multicar wotsit with 10 years full ncb with me as a named driver. BMW convertible and an old passat. £900 plus

Think I'll pinch my Papas details as an aditional driver and see what happens.

[inkitin]

being old has its advantages

Yeah right Geoff! What advantages are those then?