Insurance question

[minstrel]

At what point in a car's life is fully comprehensive insurance a waste of money? My car is a 1995 960, but the market value can't be more than £750 to £1000 tops, so any minor bump could easily cost more than that to repair, so this is the maximum I would get from the insurance company.

Would TPFT (third party fire and theft) be a better option? What are the advantages of fully comp on a car of this value?

Any comments will be of interest.

Cheers

Minstrel

[emmdee]

I have the very same age and model as you. I paid £1200 for it 3 years ago, but didn't consider fully comp at first on the basis that it was over 10 years old and of little value, insurance-wise. If you go to a good insurer, you can often get fully comp for £30 - £40 per year more, which is worth it as you can sometimes get extra things like free window replacement, no-claims protection, any driver policies, and stuff like that.

Of course, what makes insurance a real pain is that every year, without fail, you insurer wants a little bit more money from you, in spite of your car being a year older, worth a little less, you being a year more experienced, and having another year of no claims. I insure through Chris Knott as I want to support the VOC, and I even had that problem with them. After protracted negotiation, they agreed to waive the "admin fee" and I got it cheaper. Of course, if they could afford to waive this fee for me, they had no need to be applying it in the first place, but that's another story...

Given the number of uninsured drivers on the road today, I suppose the best thing to do is either go for fully comp insurance or no insurance whatsoever. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!
m.d.

[kenny]

i looked at third party insurance for an older car a few months ago thinking fully comp was a waste of money, however i found when shopping about fully comp was cheaper, only by a few quid but it's my few quid.

[James_N]

The difference between fully comp and TPFT for me was about £30! so even on a car i paid £100 for, I went fully comp, and im glad i did, because i needed a new windscreen a few weeks back!

[minstrel]

Thanks for your comments up to now. I've not looked at the cost so far, but always thought that TPFT would be much cheaper. I've always had fully comp so I guess I don't need to change.

Cheers

Minstrel

[pyestudiocolour]

My Volvo's insurance renewal shot up this year for no reason at all, so I did the old internet price comparison thing and managed to get a few cheaper quotes than my existing broker (Post Office). When I phoned the Post Office, they offered me Third Party Fire & Theft for about £50 cheaper which was better than any of the quotes I got from the comparison websites. Not only that, but the policy included, unbelievably, full glass cover and the ability to drive a car belonging to someone else, which my comp policy hadn't had for years! It certainly pays to look into it. My 740 is now 22 years old so there is absolutely no point in me going for going fully comp insurance!

[timofthomas]

personnally rarely use the same company more than once on the trot but, because I work 25 miles from home and have no homeworking facility, I take fully comp over 3rd P/F&F simply for the courtesy car element - at least that way I can be back at work later the same day or the next day.....depends what matters to you I guess...

Protected no claims is a must these days (if the other driver has no insurance you lose your no claims )but a complete ripoff, because if you have an accident, even if it is 100% the fault of the other party and their insurance pays up including your excesses, your protection element of the premium goes up exponentially!

PS, my car is 21 years old and valued at £500....

[surrey_man]

Well am 27 and have TPFT i can add glass cover for an extra £60 a year and also get a temp car if mines smashed ect for again a small fee

I have looked into fully comp but for me its always been cheepr TPFT and with having a 17year old car ive never seen the point

When i do get me a nice V70 then i will go fully comp but thats cos i want a 5-8 year old one so will be more worth while

[DuncVolvoTurbo]

I have had fully comprehensive ever since I started to drive, and I have had cars ranging from £50 unto £6500. I wouldn't even think of going TPFT, mainly because, everytime I get quotes, FC has always (yes always) been cheaper than TPFT.

I don't understand it at all, and I have had over 10 years experience of working in the insurance industry.

BTW, at the moment I am paying around £450 fully comp with Admiral multicar for my 854 and 944. The cheapest price for the 854 on it's own was nearly £100 more expensive, the world's gone mad!

[Mike B]

Originally Posted by DuncVolvoTurbo

the world's gone mad!

I only have FC cost on my 740gle agree value
And my 164e on agree value
740GLE £3,000
164E £2,000
On the same FC
Cost £235 includine
poss becuse age + only £100 access.
Regards
Mike B