Car insurance...I mean WTAF?

[ColouringIn]

I am in the process of trying to insure my car which is a real old one. It's from 1998 and cost me a grand total of £250 on eBay! It belonged to an elderly man and had done less than 50k from new.

I am a Carer for my son who is autistic with ADHD, as such a car is vital for me but this £250 car is the best I can afford.

The costs of insuring it are driving me mad though.

Given that the bloody car is only worth £200 according to their valuation stuff the quotes I am getting are sky high. Anything from £350 with like £100 deposit (as I obviously just have a spare £100 lying about ) to £1500 .

The third party quotes are even higher!

Cheapest I can find is esure/Sheila's Wheels which for various reasons declines me as soon as I try to buy from them..their site goes all the way through the process and then tells me that they can no longer offer me cover just as I get to the screen before paying.

I mean WTAF is going on here.....I am sick of trawling the price comparison sites to find the deposits are sky high or that my car is too lowly for them to even sniff at.

AIBU to think they are just taking the piss.?

Bastards!

Imvho 87quid is a tiny amount of money when it comes to running a car.

Are you sure you can afford to run a car at all?

LRD, my car is a 'normal runaround' and I am usually driving around 12,000 miles per year. I find your assumption that there's no way someone would go 10,000 miles very odd.

I did say it was my opinion, and in my opinion, a runaround is the name for a car you do short trips in, which is why I said that.

Of course, if you do more, you need to put it down on the insurance. But it is worth considering how much you are likely to do, because it is one of the things that has a big effect on the amount you end up paying.

No, you said 10,000 is a shed load in your opinion.

You then said there would be no way that you would do 10,000 for a normal runaround.

I don't do long trips in my car. I live on an island, I can't go more than about 50 miles from my house before I have to turn around!

OP I dont know if you have a credit union nearby that you can join, but our credit union offers an insurance buying service, whereby you take the quote into them and they pay for it all in one and then you pay them monthly instalments instead at a much lower interest rate than you would have paid the insurance company. No deposit required, its worth looking into in your area.

Ok, ok, sorry I have somehow offended you.

It is a shedload in my opinion, because IMO the term 'runaround' means a car you do short trips in. Obviously you use the term for something else.

I don't get why you're so bothered about this.

I used regularly to drive around 500 or more miles in a week when I was looking after my very sick gran and doing several 150 mile trips between her house and mine. I know what it is like doing a fair bit of driving and I am not knocking it. I am simply saying that if you're not doing a lot of driving, it is worth checking you've entered the amount of miles accurately on the insurance form.

OP, make sure you check out cash back sites for insurance. I've just got £47.55 cash back from buying my car insurance via Quidco. I know that won't help you find the money you need right now but maybe you could borrow it and pay it back when the cashback comes through? It takes a good few months though. Is there anything you can eBay in the short term? If you put stuff on a 3 or 5 day auction you could have the money within a week.

I've never heard of paying a deposit though. Is that a new thing?

I feel your pain as I struggle with the costs involved with car ownership. I need it to get to/from work though, but if it fails it's MOT next week that could be it for me and my car .

Im really not sure why you think I'm 'so bothered'.

I just find it an odd assumption.

12,000 to 15,000 is average mileage for a car in the uk. Not sure how that makes it a shedload!

But yes, it is definitely better to use an accurate mileage for the purpose of buying insurance.

Ok, it just seemed you reacted very strongly.

As I have said many times now, to me, a runaround is by definition a car you use for running around short trips in. So you would never expect it to get to average milage.

I am guessing you don't use the term in the same way I do.

I guess I don't use the term 'strongly' the same way you do either. Or offended. Each to their own!

I use my car for regular short trips and a few longer ones each year. My mileage is approximately 4000 per year, so I'm kind of with LRD on this one. :)

I know it is not much use to you at the moment but i use a broker. At renewal time they come to me with the best quote, I go on line to check other quotes and if i find a better one I ring them up and they normally always match it.

But because I have been a customer of the broker for years, whichever company they put my insurance with means that I never have to pay a deposit. It is just added into my monthly premiums.

I only do about 6000 miles a year in my car.

THe thing is the cost of your car is almost irrelevant. Much of the cost of insurance comes from the potential liability the insurance co is exposing itself too. You could easily cause 100k+ of damage if your drove your £300 car into some flashy new BMW and the other party also got 'whiplash' claims in.

I'm also find Direct line are cheapest, Aviva were £50 more.

Can't remember what I pay £250-£280ish, I've been with them forever ring round occasionally and don't get any better deal.

Value of your own car seems to make very little difference, changing from £750 worth of old ford to £10000 new ford cost be about £30 extra and bugger all on my next whole year.

I guess you can still right of a Ferrari in an old banger and personal injury claims don't alter.

Have used my protected no claims twice

I am a Carer for my son who is autistic with ADHD, as such a car is vital for me

Why does having a son with autism mean you need a car? Does he struggle with public transport? Genuine question, I'm not being awkward.

TBH, it sounds as though you just can't afford to run a car. Excluding the cost of petrol, I've calculated that a small car costs approximately £50 per month to run (that's an annual service, insurance, MOT and road tax) plus ongoing repairs, which are likely to be high on an old car. Have you worked all of that into your budget? Or perhaps £87 is only a struggle this month because you've just spent £250 buying it? If so, is it possible to park it off road somewhere for a month while you save the £87?

Insurance would be cheap if people didn't make fraudulent claims and didn't claim compensation for every little niggle.
OP I agree your insurance sounds very reasonable and given your car is fairly old I would be very wary if you can't afford £87 because what happens at MOT time or when the car breaksdown? Cars are just a way of pouring money away.

Our first car was a 1.0 106. £200 deposit, then £98 per month. Strangely when we got a 1.6 fiat multipla (still have no no claims bonus) it was £100 deposit £80 pcm. According to insurers its because its not a 'popular car' therefore unlikely to be stolen! the mind boggles.

I have noticed that once you've been with a car insurance company for a year, if you stay with them, you no longer have to pay a deposit.

Also, recently I've been told that it is cheaper to insure a car if you have a named driver on your policy ~ even if they never drive it or intend to drive it! I'm putting my uncle on mine soon.

My ex once worked out that it'd be cheaper to get a cab everywhere you wanted to go than own and run a car. This was about 15+ years ago though.

Classic car insurance all the way though 1998 wouldn't be classed as a classic would it? I have a mini and insurance is 180 a year through lancaster. other half has a 1989 volvo 740 estate and his is only 120 a year through sureterm.

Flow4 it's with Admiral. They gave me a brilliant deal last year when I bought my car. I paid around 800 for 1 year. It was actually 10 months though, as they brought forward my 1st year of no claims by 2 months. I then renewed and it was again a bit cheaper than last year, but can't afford to pay in one go with installments it's costing me around 900 altogether. I have a 2004 polo and have dh as a named driver, but he's a learner and so that increased the quote and so did the fact I have children.

I have noticed that once you've been with a car insurance company for a year, if you stay with them, you no longer have to pay a deposit.

That may well be true, but they also rip you off if you stay with the same company year on year. Always cheaper to change, if you can afford the deposit.

Have to agree with others who say the £87 up front isn't outrageous - and if finding this is a struggle than running a car full stop might be a financially bad idea compared to using public transport and even taxi's in an emergency. A dead battery over winter may cost near that, and other unforseen costs can easily exceed this - especially on a car that cheap which in all probability may develop other problems. Sorry to sound negative, but it's better to be realistic.

I pay £270 a year with direct line. Try them

To the person who asked......yes public transport is an issue with some children with ASD. DS is freaked out by noises, sirens and too many other people in the vicinity......he runs and having no sense of danger means he is vulnerable.

No am going to have to find this.....and I will too but it's such a struggle. I am trying to save a small amount each month to deal with any sudden expenses such as battery etc. A mechanic friend does any repairs for me.

Yes will have to just suck it up

Was more shocked at the £1500 end of the quotes rather than the £350 but £350 still made me whine .

Direct Line quoted me £660..... and that's with. "15% discount"

Oh I could cry honestly...ah well might sell the car. Have had it a year and my previous insurer has quoted me a much higher premium....I've had no claims and nothing has changed.