LOL UK insurance brokers

"4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30" (4muddyfeet) 04/14/2016 at 17:50 • Filed to: in-sewer-ants

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So I asked for a quote from Adrian Flux, a major van insurance broker, for one of these:

1.3 litre petrol, Third Party Fire & Theft, car value £1000 (£300 now, but at least £1k by the time I’ve finished tarting it up), 2000 miles p/a, I live and work in a nice area, and the car is securely parked in a locked compound overnight with no tools left inside. Absolutely nothing remarkable whatsoever.

‘Oh yes sir, we search over 30 commercial vehicle insurers to get you the absolute best price. We’ll send the details to you via email.’

This is 4 times the current value of the vehicle. What a joke. I manage to insure 3 cars for this price, including my main work vehicle, the also-on van-insurance Defender, which does 5x the mileage.

This almost stopped me from going to even view the Skoda, what’s the damn point if it’s going to cost me £1.2k a year just to insure? I figured it was a quirk of the vehicle, but I checked a comparison website just in case.

EVERYBODY IS BLOODY CHEAPER. ‘Over 30 insurance companies and the cheapest price’ my arse. The most expensive quote on the comparison site is £616.20, still half the price of the ‘specialist’ van insurance broker.

What a bunch of knobs. I wonder how many people take such a quote at face value and buy because it’s ‘the absolute best price’.

I laughed when their follow-up phone call guy repeated the quotation to me.

So anyway, because I can add it onto my current van insurance for £200, I’m still going to check out the Skoda pickup for on Saturday with Schaefft and Car Guy-Twingo Tamer. £300, sight unseen. I’m taking the car trailer. Probably going to buy it no matter what the condition. If he’ll take £200 I’m definitely going to buy it. Skoda number 2, with a real working Czech engine!

Schaefft > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 04/14/2016 at 17:58

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Still better than the 16 grand quote I got for my Lincoln.

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > Schaefft 04/14/2016 at 18:02

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That’s your fault for having a German registered American V8 living in the UK. Of course they’re going to wring you out for it, because insurance is the law.

Steve in Manhattan > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 04/14/2016 at 18:02

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Insurance companies exist to collect premiums and deny claims. Scum ....

. . > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 04/14/2016 at 18:04

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Oooooh, my dad used to have one of those! Lots of memories.

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > . . 04/14/2016 at 18:05

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I think they’re great. It comes with the Truckman top too :)

d15b > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 04/14/2016 at 18:07

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Twelve hundred quid is too much.

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > d15b 04/14/2016 at 18:10

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You’re darn tootin’

. . > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 04/14/2016 at 18:16

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My dad’s was closed off from the factory (although the top and doors were still plastic). It was proper basic, but it served well enough until it ended up being too small. The biggest issue with it was the LPG conversion that caused pressure to build up underneath the oil filler cap. From time to time that cap would just shoot out and hit the bonnet from the bottom. :P It was a good device for scaring random pedestrians, I’ll say that. :D

duurtlang > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 04/14/2016 at 18:30

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Insurance is such a weird world. Anyway, I looked for insurance quotes for a 1998 Felicia pickup in the Netherlands for my situation (33 yo, been insuring cars for only 6 years now). Lowest quote I got was €11.28 a month, the most expensive an insane €56.16 a month. Both for liability only.

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > duurtlang 04/14/2016 at 18:36

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I’m not far away from you either in terms of age (29yr and 12 years claim free) so I was unpleasantly surprised that the Felicia is a little on pricey side for insurance. I expected an old 1.3 petrol pickup to be pretty cheap. €11.28 sounds like a fair price though, I’d snap that right up.

Jack Does Cars > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 04/14/2016 at 18:37

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I agree, that’s too much money, but my main takeaway from this post is that it has to be the most aggressively British series of paragraphs I have seen as of late. I love it. Thank you.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 04/14/2016 at 18:48

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God I hate dealing with thieves insurance companies. Almost every youngster is being forced into a black box now just to keep it somewhat attainable.

Schaefft > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 04/14/2016 at 18:53

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The German registration actually was the result of quotes like this. I bought it in Sheffield after all.

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > Schaefft 04/14/2016 at 18:56

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And you love TÜV

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 04/14/2016 at 18:58

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What the hell is it with the UK? It’s as if they don’t want you to drive anything.

For me that’s full coverage on a 3 series BMW, Jag-Xtype and my Disco.

Edit: I also happen to live in a state with one of the highest insurance premiums in the US.

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. 04/14/2016 at 21:14

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It’s the idiots who don’t insure their vehicles who drive the prices up for us who stay legal. That, and the insurance companies are generally robbing bastards.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 04/15/2016 at 05:15

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Definitely the robbing bastards thing. It’s taken bloody ages for me to get a halfway decent insurance quote. Turning 25 makes a hell of a difference.

Also, I’ve been impressed by Admiral actually for multiple cars. Not rock-bottom cheapest, but whenever I’ve got a new car they’ve mirrored the 5 years no claims I have on the Alfa which has made a hell of a difference :)

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 04/15/2016 at 05:21

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Nice! £300 cars are my favourite kind of cars :)

Do you know what's wrong with it yet?

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 04/15/2016 at 08:27

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Won’t start when warm, but starts and runs fine from cold, I’m thinming crank sensor? Seems to be a common fault with the 1.3. Good suspension, good bed, good tyres, good engine, surface rust but no holes, no holes in interior, but also no photos so it could all be bollocks!

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 04/15/2016 at 08:34

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Sounds bang on the money for crank position sensor. Same thing happened to my dad’s 156. He had to wait for it to cool down to start it for about a week til the part arrived...

Yeah I’ve found people’s definition of ‘good’ can be incredibly variable...

Good luck though! Sounds like a good find if everything's in order :)

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 04/15/2016 at 14:16

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Well, sort of a find, it was basically listed as ‘Skoda. £300 because of engine fault.' :D

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 04/16/2016 at 04:53

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I should try searching for ‘engine fault’ in cars on eBay and see what comes up. I bet there’s quite a few that are just a sensor away from being working cars.

Oh, another update on the Baja B. I’ve managed to find a Discovery 200TDi gearbox and transfer case for cheap near where I’m picking up the MG from. I can swap the tailhousing over to the V8 LT77 I have then I’ve got the whole drivetrain minus propshafts, front driveshafts and front hubs :)