Car insurance help

[carlala]

My young drivers policy is no longer being offered so I need to switch to standard insurance. I've always had the same policy so I'm not sure about a few things even after researching it for hours.
Can anyone help?

I am looking at LV and AA as others are either too expensive or not the greatest reviews, has anyone had any experience with them? Also just in case, is there anywhere else worth trying? I've tried the main ones, comparison websites and some smaller ones. Budget is a huge factor as we are on a low income and any standard policy is at least double what I was paying per month.

I have 9 years NCD, should I be paying the extra to protect these? I wasn't sure how it worked if you have more than the amount needed for a maximum discount, are you able to 'afford' some points off if you make a claim before it affects the maximum discount if that makes sense?

Also are the add ons worth it? I was thinking of extra medical cover, legal protection and car hire. I would definitely benefit from the car hire I think as I don't have access to another car so I could still get to work which is outside of where I live with no public transport. For legal protection I was thinking it would be wise as I couldn't cover legal costs but the added is for uninsured losses so not sure how essential it is and if enough legal protection is covered in the main policy. Medical could be useful as I don't have any other cover so it could help in the event of injury but I also do not have a mortgage to cover so wouldn't need to cover big expenses like that.

I already have breakdown cover, it's slightly more expensive than the ones included in the insurance but it seems to be the only one that has an important aspect compared to others.

Go through a local broker - they’ll be able to get you the best, most fully comprehensive policy at the cheapest price. Everyone on MN bangs on about using comparison sites being the best way but from our experience that has not been the case whatsoever.

A broker got both my DD and I far better policies at a far better price than anything the comparison sites were coming up with

LV were fantastic when my mum was hit by another driver a few months ago. They had her car collected within 48 hours, arranged a courtesy car and had the car delivered back good as new inside a week.

Plus the price didn't go up at all on renewal

@MaloneMeadow I hadn't thought of brokers, thank you.

@Littlebitpsycho that is good. Lots of reviews said the same, it is a bit more pricey but it sounds like it would be worth it. AA was cheaper but I would need to ring each renewal to get the cheapest price so may not actually be worth the price difference.

As a family we’ve been with LV for years. Years ago DS wrote DH’s car off when hit by another young driver in their dad’s car! Fortunately neither was hurt, not even a scratch. LV dealt with everything, we had protected bonus, they paid full market price with no haggling.
We bought a higher cc car and there was no loading to the cost.
LV have just sent me my renewal, it has gone up (CoL?) but they apologised. I couldn’t get the same cover for any less, despite decades of unblemished driving.
I always go for protected NCB and legal expenses.

I would definitely recommend to everyone that legal protections is worth every penny. I was involved in a non fault accident 2 years ago and had severe injuries. I had legal protection which meant the solicitors did all the claim for me for injury compensation. The total fees came to around £10k which I would have had to pay myself. Or used a no win no fee but then they usually take a large fee

@Beebumble2 thank you, that is really helpful and reassuring.

@Lanawashington I'm sorry you had to go through that. Was any legal fees or legal work covered under the standard policy or was it all part of the extra legal cover?

I've decided to go for LV for piece of mind, unsure about all the add ons, does everyone else usually get them all or are there any that aren't that necessary.

Legal cover 100%, and with 9 years NCB I would 100% protect. What is the difference between quotes with car hire on or off ? if it's not much and you think it's worth it then add that too.

Have you tried brokers, such as Carole Nash and Adrian Flux? We have Flux for the car and I use Carole Nash for the motorbike, both have saved us loads. The car insurance has gone up, so we'll give Carole Nash a try, when it's due.

Carole Nash for cars - 0333 003 5681

Adrian Flux - 0344 381 6502

@ToWonderWhyIBother thank you, it wasn't too much but as it's going to all be double what I used to pay and we are on a low income already I wanted to check I wasn't spending extra we can't afford if we didn't need it.

@SinnerBoy I hadn't but I will definitely give them a try. Thank you.

Allianz own LV and they are a world wide insurer

Thats the important bit - the backing insurer

Protect you bonus, you get tow claims a year before your bonus is lost.

Nobody can predict the rest.