I have heard that some people's [i]car insurance [/i] gets [b]cheaper [/b] if they [i]add a very low risk driver [/i] (such as your middle-aged mum or alike).

They even get a refund on their policy if they've ammended it part-way through...


Anyone out there experienced the same?




D.

i have found for me it was only cheaper when i got the quote from the begining of the contract, if you add a low risk driver now it will cost you an admin charge and wont reduce the policy, with my missues on there from the begining of the contract i was saving bout 120 quid

My policy was £115 cheaper when I added my mum as a named driver .............

yeah, mine dropped something like 10-15% just for adding my girlfriend...

Who, incidently, is younger and been driving less time...

Was that as an additional driver or named as main driver?

I always thought the base premium was calculated on the "highest risk driver"

[quote name='ScarFace' post='320739' date='Jan 11 2006, 04:12 PM']My policy was £115 cheaper when I added my mum as a named driver ............. [/quote]
Maybe it was, but would you really let her drive your Lex......?

Didn't work for me mine went up £40......and my mum is as clean as a whistle!

[quote name='derekyau' post='320735' date='Jan 11 2006, 04:01 PM']I have heard that some people's [i]car insurance [/i] gets [b]cheaper [/b] if they [i]add a very low risk driver [/i] (such as your middle-aged mum or alike).

They even get a refund on their policy if they've ammended it part-way through...


Anyone out there experienced the same?




D. [/quote]

Yes....thats correct.

With Prisca as the sole driver of a Yaris the premium was over £800. With me added as named driver (Old Git, 10 years NCN, clean licence) the premium dropped to £420

[quote name='Lex-aholic' post='320749' date='Jan 11 2006, 04:32 PM']Maybe it was, but would you really let her drive your Lex......?[/quote]
Well, considering she has been living in Cyprus for the past 3 years ........ she wont be able to anyway !

[quote name='ScarFace' post='320758' date='Jan 11 2006, 04:45 PM'][quote name='Lex-aholic' post='320749' date='Jan 11 2006, 04:32 PM']
Maybe it was, but would you really let her drive your Lex......?[/quote]
Well, considering she has been living in Cyprus for the past 3 years ........ she wont be able to anyway !
[/quote]
Haha - smart thinking my friend !

[quote name='Mr Morse' post='320752' date='Jan 11 2006, 04:35 PM']With Prisca as the sole driver of a Yaris the premium was over £800. With me added as named driver (Old Git, 10 years NCN, clean licence) the premium dropped to £420 [/quote]
Who is down as the main driver though Mike?

Mrs Mac's eldest passed his test Sept last year. Went on confused.com and got quotes for TPFT for him on a 1.1 Fiesta, N plate, value £500 with up to 5K miles a year. Cheapest quote was nearly £ 1,500 FFS

This thread is interesting as it may be worth getting Mrs Mac added.

[quote name='MacRS200' post='320763' date='Jan 11 2006, 04:55 PM'][quote name='Mr Morse' post='320752' date='Jan 11 2006, 04:35 PM']
With Prisca as the sole driver of a Yaris the premium was over £800. With me added as named driver (Old Git, 10 years NCN, clean licence) the premium dropped to £420 [/quote]
Who is down as the main driver though Mike?

Mrs Mac's eldest passed his test Sept last year. Went on confused.com and got quotes for TPFT for him on a 1.1 Fiesta, N plate, value £500 with up to 5K miles a year. Cheapest quote was nearly £ 1,500 FFS

This thread is interesting as it may be worth getting Mrs Mac added.
[/quote]

Prisca is the main driver

[quote name='Mr Morse' post='320767' date='Jan 11 2006, 04:57 PM'][quote name='MacRS200' post='320763' date='Jan 11 2006, 04:55 PM']
[quote name='Mr Morse' post='320752' date='Jan 11 2006, 04:35 PM']
With Prisca as the sole driver of a Yaris the premium was over £800. With me added as named driver (Old Git, 10 years NCN, clean licence) the premium dropped to £420 [/quote]
Who is down as the main driver though Mike?

Mrs Mac's eldest passed his test Sept last year. Went on confused.com and got quotes for TPFT for him on a 1.1 Fiesta, N plate, value £500 with up to 5K miles a year. Cheapest quote was nearly £ 1,500 FFS

This thread is interesting as it may be worth getting Mrs Mac added.
[/quote]

Prisca is the main driver
[/quote]
Thanks Mike.

Who is the insurance with?

[quote name='MacRS200' post='320769' date='Jan 11 2006, 05:02 PM'][quote name='Mr Morse' post='320767' date='Jan 11 2006, 04:57 PM']
[quote name='MacRS200' post='320763' date='Jan 11 2006, 04:55 PM']
[quote name='Mr Morse' post='320752' date='Jan 11 2006, 04:35 PM']
With Prisca as the sole driver of a Yaris the premium was over £800. With me added as named driver (Old Git, 10 years NCN, clean licence) the premium dropped to £420 [/quote]
Who is down as the main driver though Mike?

Mrs Mac's eldest passed his test Sept last year. Went on confused.com and got quotes for TPFT for him on a 1.1 Fiesta, N plate, value £500 with up to 5K miles a year. Cheapest quote was nearly £ 1,500 FFS

This thread is interesting as it may be worth getting Mrs Mac added.
[/quote]

Prisca is the main driver
[/quote]
Thanks Mike.

Who is the insurance with?
[/quote]

Norwich Union Direct. There were several companies all came in around the same price. Found it on Confused.com

When i was looking for renewal quotes this time last year, added the missus and got a nice reduction, around £100-£150ish cant remember now, still dont mean she can drive it ...although its good to have in case of an emergency

I added someone (ifraz actually) to my insurance a couple of years ago and it has saved me around £80/year ever since. This was quite bizarre as he had recently been in an accident where he lost his NCB. When I tried to add my mother who has been driving for something in the region of 300 years and has never had an accident, my premium went up.

Mine went down when I added my wife by nearly £100 I seem to remember

Being single, can I nominate my Dad or a friend ? And are there any catches with it, cause if there aren't why don't everybody name a friend ?

Most insurance companies will reduce the premium if you add an additional driver to your policy. Usually, it becomes cheaper if a <40 year old male is the main driver, and you add a female as the named driver. Since most insurance companies have found that a woman has a lower chance of a crash than a man, the risk for that policy is lowered, if a woman might be doing some of the driving. Not always, but most of the time this will work.

Also, having additional drivers may lower risk, since for long journeys, there will be multiple drivers available to share the load, i.e. less tiring for main driver.

When taking out a policy, ALWAYS get a quote with main driver only, and named drivers too, to ascertain any price difference.

cheapest we`ve found is for the wife to be main driver (she has full ncp) as women get cheaper insurance anyway, then add me the hubby on as named driver.
as we`re with direct line, who have always been the cheapest btw, i still get ncp added.

however, what really winds me up is having to go through all companies as though you are a new customer to get the lowest quote eg :online, new customer etc.

there is no reduction for loyalty, and even if you get a cheaper rival quote you still have to argue your loyalty.
have these companies not heard of the costs involved between customer retention and attracting new customers; its far cheaper to keep old customers!!!!!!!!!!!

no wonder we need websites like confues or uswitch because there is no effort to keep customers.
Plonkers.

[quote name='terdancam' post='321054' date='Jan 12 2006, 11:53 AM']cheapest we`ve found is for the wife to be main driver (she has full ncp) as women get cheaper insurance anyway, then add me the hubby on as named driver.
as we`re with direct line, who have always been the cheapest btw, i still get ncp added.

however, what really winds me up is having to go through all companies as though you are a new customer to get the lowest quote eg :online, new customer etc.

there is no reduction for loyalty, and even if you get a cheaper rival quote you still have to argue your loyalty.
have these companies not heard of the costs involved between customer retention and attracting new customers; its far cheaper to keep old customers!!!!!!!!!!!

no wonder we need websites like confues or uswitch because there is no effort to keep customers.
Plonkers.[/quote]
terdancam Meldrew !

I found last year that by getting insured ONLINE with MoreThan (who I've been with for about the last 4 years) I saved approx £150.

I rang them and queried why they have sent me a quote for the Lex for near on £500, and when I used their website I got it for about £350. The bloke on the end of the phone told me that it's because the online service is really only there for NEW customers, and they therefore get a discount on their insurance. He did say hand over mouth that if I was to cancel my old policy and then take out a new one online that this would make me a NEW customer with a NEW policy number and a £150 saving.

But like you put - why didn't I get offered the discount as surely I am what you would consider a loyal customer ?

The mind boggles !

I too have had a good reduction in the past by adding a gold plated named driver. But! there's always a but! The Insurance company could conceiveably claim that if there was no intention for the second driver to actually drive the car then you have obtained cheaper insurance by devious means. Not quite sure how they would prove it but there is no depth to which they will not sink to avoid paying out. Probably they would just refuse and leave you with the expensive and possibly futile task of persuading them that both named drivers shared the risk by driving the car at least some of the time. I havn't heard of a case yet but as far as Insurance companies go I bracket them with politicians when it comes to honesty and integrity.

[quote name='Kent' post='321056' date='Jan 12 2006, 12:16 PM']I too have had a good reduction in the past by adding a gold plated named driver. But! there's always a but! The Insurance company could conceiveably claim that if there was no intention for the second driver to actually drive the car then you have obtained cheaper insurance by devious means. Not quite sure how they would prove it but there is no depth to which they will not sink to avoid paying out. Probably they would just refuse and leave you with the expensive and possibly futile task of persuading them that both named drivers shared the risk by driving the car at least some of the time. I havn't heard of a case yet but as far as Insurance companies go I bracket them with politicians when it comes to honesty and integrity.[/quote]
That is kinda what I was thinking earlier on. Surely you can't just go out and name a driver who isn't going to be driving your car.

But on the other hand, how can they prove it ?

[quote name='Lex-aholic' post='321055' date='Jan 12 2006, 12:05 PM'][quote name='terdancam' post='321054' date='Jan 12 2006, 11:53 AM']
cheapest we`ve found is for the wife to be main driver (she has full ncp) as women get cheaper insurance anyway, then add me the hubby on as named driver.
as we`re with direct line, who have always been the cheapest btw, i still get ncp added.

however, what really winds me up is having to go through all companies as though you are a new customer to get the lowest quote eg :online, new customer etc.

there is no reduction for loyalty, and even if you get a cheaper rival quote you still have to argue your loyalty.
have these companies not heard of the costs involved between customer retention and attracting new customers; its far cheaper to keep old customers!!!!!!!!!!!

no wonder we need websites like confues or uswitch because there is no effort to keep customers.
Plonkers.[/quote]
terdancam Meldrew !

I found last year that by getting insured ONLINE with MoreThan (who I've been with for about the last 4 years) I saved approx £150.

I rang them and queried why they have sent me a quote for the Lex for near on £500, and when I used their website I got it for about £350. The bloke on the end of the phone told me that it's because the online service is really only there for NEW customers, and they therefore get a discount on their insurance. He did say hand over mouth that if I was to cancel my old policy and then take out a new one online that this would make me a NEW customer with a NEW policy number and a £150 saving.

But like you put - why didn't I get offered the discount as surely I am what you would consider a loyal customer ?

The mind boggles !
[/quote]


i haven`t had sex in a few days, so i`m a wee bit tense.........................

but you`re right about the meldrew accusation, i`m 34 years old and wound up tighter than a really wound up tight thing...........the world is full of feckers like insurance companies unfortunately

i haven`t had sex in a few days, so i`m a wee bit tense.........................

but you`re right about the meldrew accusation, i`m 34 years old and wound up tighter than a really wound up tight thing...........the world is full of feckers like insurance companies unfortunately
[/quote]
You need a massage parlour to loosen you up !

[quote name='Lex-aholic' date='Jan 12 2006, 12:29 PM' post='321064']
i haven`t had sex in a few days, so i`m a wee bit tense.........................

but you`re right about the meldrew accusation, i`m 34 years old and wound up tighter than a really wound up tight thing...........the world is full of feckers like insurance companies unfortunately
[/quote]
You need a massage parlour to loosen you up !
[/quote]

househusband+kids+lexus+wife=no spare cash...........
and i don`t really want to increase the lean period should i come home with a smile on my face and a wistful look in my eyes 'cos the wife would probably guess............!!!!!

now, back to the paul mckenna diet because i`m hungry

I just had a go on the MoreThan website with this additional driver thing. I tried it with both my parents, and it went up in price by about £30.

Did seem quite odd though as it was the same amount with either parent, and yet my Mum can't drive !

[quote name='Lex-aholic' post='321061' date='Jan 12 2006, 12:21 PM']Surely you can't just go out and name a driver who isn't going to be driving your car.

But on the other hand, how can they prove it ?[/quote]

Ive put the misus on the policy, if there aint a emergency she aint going to drive it, but the fact is she is on the policy insured to use it if the need be, my policy being cheaper with her added has nothing to do with it .....maybe thats why they ask who will be the main driver, so that you cant put yourself as a name driver and someone else as the policy holder like your long lost aunt who will probably never sit in the car let alone drive it

It's quite simple really. Market research has shown that the majority of customers are held back by inertia, and will not switch insurers, even if the renewal bill goes up each year. So, they realise that customer loyalty is actually down to most consumers not wanting to call up 15 different insurers each year for every insurance policy they have, so they make their life easy and stick with the same company.

Right, now the sales team usually have aggressive targets to meet, hence the new customer deal is always the best deal, and the existing customers usually subsidise the deals that new customers are offered. Plus, going on the web (even for renewal) may save you some cash, as it's viewed as a cheaper way of recruiting customers, and so prices are lower than via the phone.

I worked in marketing for five years, and the most switched on customers were those that literally switched each year to the provider offering the cheapest acquisition offer. You work hard to keep up to date with the offers, but the payback is immense. Try it for all your deals (breakdown, car, home, mobile phone, etc.)!

[quote name='maneesh' post='321103' date='Jan 12 2006, 04:50 PM']It's quite simple really. Market research has shown that the majority of customers are held back by inertia, and will not switch insurers, even if the renewal bill goes up each year. So, they realise that customer loyalty is actually down to most consumers not wanting to call up 15 different insurers each year for every insurance policy they have, so they make their life easy and stick with the same company.

Right, now the sales team usually have aggressive targets to meet, hence the new customer deal is always the best deal, and the existing customers usually subsidise the deals that new customers are offered. Plus, going on the web (even for renewal) may save you some cash, as it's viewed as a cheaper way of recruiting customers, and so prices are lower than via the phone.

I worked in marketing for five years, and the most switched on customers were those that literally switched each year to the provider offering the cheapest acquisition offer. You work hard to keep up to date with the offers, but the payback is immense. Try it for all your deals (breakdown, car, home, mobile phone, etc.)![/quote]

Hence the reason why customer loyalty/cost to change+retention etc is such a big area of marketing then?
It is a funny paradox, but it is a legacy of preinternet days where a fone call was all the ammo consumers had, and when tesco or your local chip shop were not offering insurance!
It does make you wonder how much the inertia has changed, given the advent of comparison sites and more information/more providers and whether the insurance market is just typically slow to react positively.
Having said that, there are times when i can waste an entire day shopping for the best price, only to miss out on cost savings better met by just spending a little more in the first instance and using my time in other avenues.
A downside to having this modern cornucopia of choice in everything is that you have to suddenly research everything !!!
It makes me wonder what i would be doing now had the t'internetty not been invented

[quote name='terdancam' post='321222' date='Jan 13 2006, 12:41 AM']It makes me wonder what i would be doing now had the t'internetty not been invented [/quote]
You'd be in bed.

[quote name='maneesh' post='321042' date='Jan 12 2006, 11:23 AM']Most insurance companies will reduce the premium if you add an additional driver to your policy. Usually, it becomes cheaper if a <40 year old male is the main driver, and you add a female as the named driver. Since most insurance companies have found that a woman has a lower chance of a crash than a man, the risk for that policy is lowered, if a woman might be doing some of the driving. Not always, but most of the time this will work.

Also, having additional drivers may lower risk, since for long journeys, there will be multiple drivers available to share the load, i.e. less tiring for main driver.

When taking out a policy, ALWAYS get a quote with main driver only, and named drivers too, to ascertain any price difference.[/quote]


I was waiting for some people's explanations as to why (they think) the premiums go [b]down [/b] when adding certain driver(s).

Interesting point wrt multiple drivers on long journey's.

On the other hand, surely with[i] 2 people on the policy[/i], there is potentially (lets say) [i]twice the amount of time the car might be on the road[/i]... Even if the actually car-on-road time goes up by 50%, its still [i]more risk[/i] to the insurance company...


Costs me more to add my girlfriend of better driving history (had her license longer than me).
Gonna find out about adding my Mum when I get a chance...



D.

The insurance companies consider a second driver (especially a relative or spouse with the same surname) as a sign of stability or responsibility, ie not some turbo nutter chav boy racer, and therefore more likely to present a lower risk to insure.

[quote name='Mr Morse' post='321341' date='Jan 13 2006, 03:44 PM']The insurance companies consider a second driver (especially a relative or spouse with the same surname) as a sign of stability or responsibility, ie not some turbo nutter chav boy racer, and therefore more likely to present a lower risk to insure.[/quote]


Mr M is spot on !!.... That's the reason !!

The Ed

[quote name='The Editor' post='321350' date='Jan 13 2006, 04:10 PM'][quote name='Mr Morse' post='321341' date='Jan 13 2006, 03:44 PM']
The insurance companies consider a second driver (especially a relative or spouse with the same surname) as a sign of stability or responsibility, ie not some turbo nutter chav boy racer, and therefore more likely to present a lower risk to insure.[/quote]


Mr M is spot on !!.... That's the reason !!

The Ed
[/quote]

Another good reason Mike. Fair point, but as some others have "suggested", they add another "responsible/stable" second driver simply to save on insurance cost.

Wonder if Insurance companies are aware of this/will try to refuse a claim if your 2nd driver doesn't actually drive the car... people have said "how can they prove it" kinda thing anyway...



D.

[quote name='derekyau' post='321339' date='Jan 13 2006, 03:40 PM'][quote name='maneesh' post='321042' date='Jan 12 2006, 11:23 AM']
Most insurance companies will reduce the premium if you add an additional driver to your policy. Usually, it becomes cheaper if a <40 year old male is the main driver, and you add a female as the named driver. Since most insurance companies have found that a woman has a lower chance of a crash than a man, the risk for that policy is lowered, if a woman might be doing some of the driving. Not always, but most of the time this will work.

Also, having additional drivers may lower risk, since for long journeys, there will be multiple drivers available to share the load, i.e. less tiring for main driver.

When taking out a policy, ALWAYS get a quote with main driver only, and named drivers too, to ascertain any price difference.[/quote]


I was waiting for some people's explanations as to why (they think) the premiums go [b]down [/b] when adding certain driver(s).

Interesting point wrt multiple drivers on long journey's.

On the other hand, surely with[i] 2 people on the policy[/i], there is potentially (lets say) [i]twice the amount of time the car might be on the road[/i]... Even if the actually car-on-road time goes up by 50%, its still [i]more risk[/i] to the insurance company...


Costs me more to add my girlfriend of better driving history (had her license longer than me).
Gonna find out about adding my Mum when I get a chance...



D.
[/quote]



Right, it would appear there is [b]no change in premium [/b] should I [b]add my Mum [/b] to my policy...

Thing is, I rang the [i]broker [/i] that I got my insurance through (A-plan). The actual insurance company is Equity Redstar (part of Lloyds for those that haven't heard of them).
Wonder if there was a premium drop, but my broker decided to pocket it themselves...


D.

We had a weird experience with the NCB recently.

I had full (and protected) NCB on the IS200.. when I bought the RX400h they said that the NCB applies to the CAR not the driver... so changed that particular policy to the RX and had to take out a new policy for the IS200. At first they were saying there'd be no no claims on the IS200. I inquired about putting Caroline (my other half) as the policy-holder for the IS .. she has no no-claims though, and since she has been driving about 10 years less than me, the premium would have been slightly more.

Afterwards, they suggested putting the policy in MY name, but naming her as the PRIMARY driver, for which they'd offer an introductory offer of 10%, plus a bonus of 30% NCB (and if there are no claims in the first year of that policy, they would up it to FULL NCB which can be protected).

I was like ... HUH?!?

In the end, that's the route we took, so have full protected NCB for the RX and 30% NCB for the IS200 (due to be full protected next year if Caroline doesn't prang my IS in the meantime...)

Whatever happened to the days when it was simple to add additional vehicles and drivers onto a SINGLE policy without bureaucratic headaches?!?



L.