U.K. Insurance who offers the best deal

[Orsom Weels]

For a couple of recommendations of good service when the proverbial hits the fan. 1, I had a claim with Footman James on one of my classic bikes when a foreign lorry turned across in front of me & forced me off the road & into a ditch. Had two witnesses, but the lorry buggered off & no one got a registration, so it was left to my insurance to pick up the tab. Couldn't fault their service in any way, we agreed an amount (more than I was hoping for) & I had the cheque within less than three weeks from the date of the accident. 2, we insured our daughter through Adrian Flux as they do very competitive young driver policies & they are literally just down the road for us. She was hit up the rear by a lorry when slowing down to turn into her boyfriends mums driveway. Not her fault at all, & to be fair, the lorry driver admitted full responsibility, but both her & her boyfriend were knocked about a bit. Adrian Flux, as her broker, have really gone the extra mile to ensure her claim is dealt with quickly & efficiently, both for her car & her & her boyfriends personal injuries. Again, can't fault them.
I currently have my loti with Heritage, & find them helpful & competitive, but have no experience of how good or bad they are when things go wrong. I will certainly be looking for a quote from Fluxy when renewal time comes though. Footman James are always very competitive for my bikes, but a bit high for my Loti .
As an aside, when I put my +2 back on the road in 2011, I went with Routen Chaplin, as they gave me the best quote. However, it took me months of constant hassling to get any paperwork from them. They kept assuring me I was insured, but just wouldn't send me any schedule or certificate, either hard copies by post, or electronically by email. It was only when I threatened them with a solicitor & demanded my money back that they sent me anything. I then found out that I didn't have agreed value as I hadn't returned the form that they hadn't sent me ! Hopefully that was just a one off case, but it put me off insuring with them again.

Regards, Tim

[jeff jackson]

OK Lesie from Cambridgeshire.
Why are you shouting at me?
I thought this thread was interesting because one of the insurers mentioned on here have been described as excellent. With me, they were really, really poor. And another very expensive.
So what do you want me do do?
Get into a slanging match with all other members of this forum about their experiences with XYZ compared to mine?
Sorry life is too short.

Jeff

[Craven]

Remember most of the names mentioned are BROKERS not insurance companies.
You may well find Brokers switch you from insurance company too insurance company, they take advantage of thing like introducing new customer discounts.
Ask who are the underwriters.

[512BB]

'Why are you shouting at me?
I thought this thread was interesting because one of the insurers mentioned on here have been described as excellent. With me, they were really, really poor. And another very expensive.
So what do you want me do do?
Get into a slanging match with all other members of this forum about their experiences with XYZ compared to mine?
Sorry life is too short.'

Jeff, I was not shouting at you. Have you mistaken my bold type for shouting? I wrote that way to highlight the fact that I had added to your text.

I also find insurance threads interesting, but I could not see any point in your post if you were not going to name the company that gave you poor service. Nobody is going to get into a slanging match with you for sharing your experience.

We have seen over the years, many people express their disatisfaction with engine builders, service agents, insurers etc., but very few are prepared to name names, and in my opinion those posts are worthless.

Leslie

[jeff jackson]

Leslie,
If you put emails in upper case it is seen as shouting and regarded as poor form.
So, if it makes you happy, my poor experience was with Adrian Flux.
I had been with them for years. when it came to my Non fault claim, they were hopeless.
Then they had the cheek to try and put up the premium because I had made a claim.
So my experience with them was not as other members of the forum.
My advice also to choosing any insurance is check who the "approved" windscreen supplier is.
Generally it's Autoglass. As my plus 2 has a later bonded windscreen, Autoglass made a complete balls up of the installation, not once but four times until they had got the screen half right. Since had it replaced by a local company who made an excellent job of it. (photos of it are somewhere on this forum).
I made sure that Peter Best allowed me to choose the windscreen service of my choice, when I had my insurance cover with him.
I am now with Admiral (underwritten by Prudential) on their multicar insurance, Agreed valuation, windscreen cover limited mileage etc.. etc.. ?95 all in. I have my daily driver, my wifes car and my daughters car all under the same cover and for the price very good.
Jeff 72+2

[MarkDa]

Peter James do quite a good deal with a discount for Club Lotus members.
Will include named drivers over 25 at no extra charge which was handy when so used the car for his wedding and honeymoon.
Agreed value on basis of photos via Paul Matty

A while back there was a thread about ensuring you got cash and car when written off as insurance companies like their unrepairable categories.
Will try to find it and relink

[Robbie693]

Only ever used two insurers on my Lotus' - Footman James and Peter D James, both on the Club Lotus schemes.

I had to make a claim with Footman James after my first Plus 2 was in an accident and was written off. They dealt with it very well, paid up the agreed amount and sorted it quickly. I only stopped using them because they continued to bump the premium up every year by quite a substantial amount.

Been with Peter D James since, never had to claim and the premium stays reasonably competitive (although you do have to factor in the Club Lotus membership fee).

One thing though, neither company does salvage retention which, considering the policies are supposedly tailored to Club Lotus' requirements, I find completely mystifying

Robbie

[MarkDa]

I've found the thread I mentioned.
free-parking-f45/retention-salvage-classic-car-insurance-t32201-30.html

I've just bee looking to mine and have had a
Significant increase ?20 anyway and another ?20 to I crease agreed value by ?5k from Peter James - so ?260 For ?45k with no free salvage retention.

They use Equity Red Star and i spoke with tbem and they said their deal over ?20k is at least 40% retention cost!a

However they do do free salvage retention policies and suggested RH Specialists as brokers - I suspect that the are linked companies.
So I rang RH and they will do free salvage for ?200 but limited mileage of 5,000.
They have written value of my Sprint at ?50k. But I think this is market value.
Having said that market values are strong and with photos and Club/Matty Valuation I'm not convinced about limiting value to a set figure.

They both include breakdown cover.
I'm pretty confident I'll be moving broker.
Got a series of very uncompetitive prices from Lancaster.
Will try Heritage and others mentioned.

[Concrete-crusher]

Hi Mark I ended up going with Kim at Routen Chaplin , I took a duel car policy which saved about ?100 off Lancaster where both cars were previously

That said Lancaster came back with a much lower price but too late , decision made

Steve

[MarkDa]

Thanks Steve - I'll give RoutenChaplin a whirl as well.
Although I'm not sure if they do salvage retention deal.

[Rob P]

Currently have my Elan S4 with Classicline, agreed valuation, breakdown cover UK and Europe and Salvage retention.
Thankfully not had to deal with them regarding issues but all interaction over the renewal process and adding my 25 year old son to the policy even after he has had a claim on the daily driver of over ?9k for an accident in the snow this winter was painless.

[MarkDa]

Salvage retention may not be all it seems
Apparently (according to Roturn Chaplin) you may end end up with all the bits but the insurance company may take the V5 etc so you cant rebuild your car.
I expect this is if they declare it unfit to put back on road.
Obviously this could be debated with their loss adjuster but worth bearing in mind.
It sounds as if having a sympathetic underwriter is the best place to start.

[Matt Elan]

Both my Plus 2s are with Peter Best at a cost of ?114.63, as are my pair of classi bikes. So far I havn't had to claim so don't know how good they are.....