[Falmouthboy]

As per the title - Just got the renewal through from More Than for the 330d. £438 which they knocked down to £355 after a phone call. I know some of you will be saying 'lucky b*****d', being an old git in Cornwall has its advantages. However, Swiftcover want £255 for the same level of cover. Insurance is really only as good as the day you want it to pay out - but £100 is £100!

[Mani59]

I was with Swiftcover last year, and didnt have any problems with them. Pretty much everything has to be done online I think, (like amending reg number for private plate, etc.), and its all straight forward enough.

[Kerr]

As covered quite a few times before, as per T&Cs of the policy, they reserve the right to repair your car with second hand parts.

[phil200tdi]

Try direct line

2 months free at the moment.

Was over £100 cheaper for me than anyone else!

[DanTheManc]

£28 cashback for swiftcover car insurance too if you decide to go with them

http://www.topcashback.co.uk/swiftcover/

[m1bjr]

Have you searched out Swiftcover reviews on the internet yet?
An eye opener.

Certainly had negative press on other forums I use.
Here, this will get you started on a road to sanity:-

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews92494.html

An extract:
"When you really need them, they're nowhere to be seen and will hang you out to dry.
Their misleading, contradictory and dishonest advice has cost me hundreds of pounds,
and trying to get copies of phone conversations out of them to back up my case has been like getting blood out of a stone.
They've done everything in their power to cover their tracks.
They might be cheap, but this is primarily because they'll do everything in their power not to pay out.
Having experienced the shambles that is Swiftcover"

[baz57]

Originally Posted by phil200tdi

Try direct line

2 months free at the moment.

Was over £100 cheaper for me than anyone else!

Have you had to claim with Direct Line? I had an old git run into me in a local car park in Dec last year. My car was collected and returned within a day- excellent. Repair was done by a company I had not heard of, cant remember the name. Repair was ok. Just- Ok. seen better.
5 months to the day, claim is on-going. It seems if the "other party" wont admit liability, with no witnesses, it takes forever, then may be settled 50/50.
What part of "you ran into my rear bumper" the old man did not understand I dont know. His became "well you shouldnt have been overtaking me". ( He was staitionary at a side junction at the time). My no claim is protected, but dont know how this affects my premium next year.
Sorry.
Rant over!

[mobilejo]

Originally Posted by Falmouthboy

being an old git in Cornwall

Originally Posted by baz57

I had an old git run into me in a local car park in Dec last year.

Was he in a 330d in Cornwall by any chance?

Originally Posted by Kerr

As covered quite a few times before, as per T&Cs of the policy, they reserve the right to repair your car with second hand parts.

This makes for scary googling. Parts sourced from breakers or non-OEM! Are they having a laugh?!

Some companies now offer discounted policies in exchange for only using the 'recommended' (insurance company owned) garages! If you care about your car, read all T&C's and avoid these kind of tricks. They basically result in crap repairs.

[creepy coupe]

I wouldn't expect to see many people praising insurance companies; after all we tend to prefer ranting. They’re all "ok" until you need to claim.

My missus just left Directine as they wanted a Tracker fitting to her SLK. So she went elsewhere. Directline took 5 phone calls and a threat from us to cancel our house and contents cover, before they would send out proof of NCD for the new company.

Always worth phoning a company and listening to who’s on the other end. I recently had to phone Aviva for a seven day free cover note and the bloke on the other end just could not understand me. I must have given him my address sxs times and he still got it wrong on the cover note.

[kaishang]

Swiftcover: maximum length of continental European cover is 5 days and you must have your return journey booked at the time of departure.

[magic77]

mate lost his e90 to the key hack, swift wouldnt pay out as claimed it was not possible to steal the car without the keys, even when we emailed them proof / photo of him wiht two keys and sent the keys via special delivery they dragged out payout for 3 months and gave a very low payout and would not budge

[rogerxp]

I used them for a while as they were dirt cheap (and used Quidco cashback too). I didn't need to make a claim so can't comment on that but do remember they charged you for everything (which seems to be the norm now) so change of address/change of reg plate/change of vehicle etc all start to add up especially if you do them separately.

So, I got charged to remove my private plate, charged to change vehicle, then charged again to put private plate back - got right on my tits at the time but just make sure it's a) that cheap a few unforseen charges still makes it cheap or b) don't piss around changing cars .

Proof is always in how they handle claims though which I've no experience in.

I'd be cautious with review sites for insurance companies, I mean, are many people going to go out of their way to praise them. They all have their moments.

[m1bjr]

Originally Posted by creepy coupe

I wouldn't expect to see many people praising insurance companies; after all we tend to prefer ranting. They’re all "ok" until you need to claim.

My missus just left Directine as they wanted a Tracker fitting to her SLK. So she went elsewhere. Directline took 5 phone calls and a threat from us to cancel our house and contents cover, before they would send out proof of NCD for the new company.

Always worth phoning a company and listening to who’s on the other end. I recently had to phone Aviva for a seven day free cover note and the bloke on the other end just could not understand me. I must have given him my address sxs times and he still got it wrong on the cover note.

I had this with some Indian callcentre staff on my Suburu policy.
They got two letters in the registration swapped and I didnt notice on the insurance docs.
A week later, in rush hour, blue light and full on stop by the local ANPR boys.
"No insurance Sir?"
And after gobbing off at the local nick about how shit and inaccurate the ANPR system was,
I then had to eat some humble cock as the CO asked me to confirm the reg of the car and showed me the cert.
Of course that was what reg also went on the motor insurers database...

[m1bjr]

Anyhow....

Admiral Group have had our cash for last six years in one iteration or another.
(Keep moving to get intro discounts)

I have had three claims through them, always picked my own garage without issue.
And never a problem with authorising work or changing details.
Only trouble is last year they switch calls out of Wales and over to India.

[Falmouthboy]

On the basis of 'devil you know' I think I will stick with 'More Than' - I dare say they too have bad press out there but £355 still isn't bad for a 245 BHP 330d worth £20k!

[335i E92]

LV have always been extreemly competetive and came through with the goods imeediatley when i needed to claim last year.

Couldn't fault them really!!

[Sir_Pigley]

I asked this question about Swiftvover a while back and came to the conclusion that they were much the same as anyone else. You have to do EVERYTHING online or else they charge you for changes. In the end Aviva were only a bit more expensive so I chose to go with them, as I had more confidence that they would be better in the event of a claim or other hassles. (£70 cashback on quidco too)

LV came out very well in Auto Express' insurer satisfaction survey. They were marginally more expensive than Swiftcover on my wife's car, but I chose to go with them because of their very positive reputation.

Zurich have been really good for us in the past, but became uncompetitive price wise. Plus they started using Indian call centres more and more and I really hate that.

LV have UK call centres, so that was another point in their favour.

[Jules59]

To the OP, no modifications allowed.

[ALF_E90]

I have used them for many years for mine and my wife's car. The main reason being, choices are very limited if you primarily do business miles in the car, and Swiftcover and Direct Line are unusual in that they don't seem to care what sort of miles you are doing (at least 20k business miles in my case, though not "transporting samples" or anything).

The system works fine and they are cheap. That's the good stuff. The charges to change anything rankle, since you do it all yourself. They are totally unable to deal with any mods whatsoever, in my experience, so only use them for totally standard cars.

I have not claimed with them, indeed I thank my lucky stars I have never claimed with anyone, but I suspect they are much the same as most in this regard. having been through the insurance repair mill with my wife's Puma (albeit as a bystander - it was her policy) a decade ago, I hate the thought of ever actually needing to claim for anything other than cosmetic damage. That car came back completely fecked, basically, it didn't drive anything like it had before, and had all sorts of weird new problems like wind noise around the windows that the repairer never accepted was anything to do with the crash or repair. It looked a complete mess under the bonnet.

If I had a biggie in a car, unless it drove perfectly when it came back (and, as the owner, you ought to know) I think I would be likely to sell it rather than try and get the insurer to get it right. We traded the Puma in for a new Civic Type R just after they came out... Which my wife loved. We were lucky we were near change-time anyway.

For a car that is high value and one you really like and don't feel is something you coulod change at the drop of a hat, I suppose reading the small print and being sure you will get like for like repairs from someone you nominate or trust is a good idea. But I don't hear many good things about any insurers when it comes to actually claiming!

Perhaps we should have a "good insurance claim experience" sticky (then again, perhaps we already do, I would be too busy to notice these days...).