CHEAP.. why does it have to be cheap?

[G]

I dont buy cheap insurance really. Never had to claim but I like to speak to someone pretty quickly and preferably somebody that I can understand.

I went with Carol Nash this year, not the cheapest (by about £100 infact) but the service is the best I have had in 10 years of insurance.

the biggest problem i have with insurance is the fact that when you ring up for a quote the range in prices offered is so big that to me some of them just take the mick, for instance to insure myself on my sv650 which is my first bike after passing my test last year, the cheapest quote was £545.68 fully comp (which i took) and the dearest was well over £4000, how the bloody el do they get these figures, its a joke if you ask me, so personally i generally take the cheapest or at least the second cheapest if theres not much in it and they offer more

The thing is that there is no insurance company that charges extra and promises not to **** you about. They all do it eventually. Also, the event that you have to claim is (hopefully) pretty slim in the grand scheme of things so I'd rather go cheap on the probability I won't have to deal with them.

My £4.99 Argos alarm clock that I bought as a student in 1992 is still going strong! Never got me out of bed on time for my lectures, but hey...

I think whoever said about insurance being a gamble you hope you never win got it right.

[Red Herring]

I've never bothered to shop around much for my insurance and as a result seem to have been stuck with Norwich Union for years. Had one claim when I wrote my Blade off at the Ring and they were top notch. I rang them and told them I had crashed it there and it was at the local recovery yard, a week later their assessor rang me and made an offer I couldn't refuse (£1,000 over what I had paid for it) and a week after that a cheque arrived.
A few weeks ago a mate ran into the back of me and bent the exhaust on my SV. I bought another one and gave her the bill, at which point she decided to involve her insurance company...bless! Their assessor came round today to look at the bike, he spotted a crack in the tail panel and a bit missing from the trim by the tank, neither of which i had noticed, did a few sums and said would I accept £600 odd as a cash settlement and I can fix my bike myself. Needless to say I said yes! Whilst he was here we had a bit of a chat about insurance generally. He says small incidents like this one just aren't worth their while quibbling over. He says their biggest problem is all the made up, over inflated, full of **** personal injury claims that everybody and their dog seems to want to pursue these days. He'd just come from an address where a driver was claiming whiplash after being hit from behind. Total damage to the guys car...a cracked rear number plate!

Originally Posted by Woz

That's my point. If I want to pay for something, I'll try to get value for money and that may mean paying a little more. If I HAVE to pay for something, I'll try and spend as little as possible.

Also, I hope I'll never have to find out what the customer service is like. Insurance is, after all, a gamble you hope you will never win.

Insurance isn't compulsory in NZ! You be an idiot not to get some though. Still, if you lived here - you would still shop about for the cheapest.

I personally hate insurance. I must have had around 30 different policies in my lifetime (house,car,bike,travel etc.) and I have never claimed a single penny. Recently on holiday, my underwater camera got stolen from the dive shop (who were supposed to be looking after it). I jumped through a million hoops, getting police reports, original receipts, replacement quotes etc. for the insurance claim only to receive a letter the other day saying they aren't paying out. The reason "I was not in possession of the camera when it was stolen" as stated in the terms and conditions. I said "yeah, but it was in the care of the resort Dive Shop". They said "Doesn't matter, YOU weren't in possesion of it". Closed case.

I personally would have paid a bit more money in that circumstance to cover the situation above as I wasn't neglegent in my actions, yet still get screwed on a technicality.

[Ruffy]

Originally Posted by lylej

so when it comes to your insurance why do people complain about **** service when everyone goes for the cheapest possible price?

Symptomatic of this country's culture - we know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

Originally Posted by lylej

IF there was a company that offered you more expensive insurance.. say £100 on top of your premium but Promised by contract to do everything that's outlined with no ****ing around and side tracking in the most efficient and less inconvenient and customer focused way possible would you take it?

Probably - but I also dream about lots of things that don't exist.

While they treat us all like fraudsters, we will regard them as con merchants and resist their desires to take our money off us.

Originally Posted by lylej

If you buy a cheap car or bike.. you pretty much expect it to break well before any higher priced bike or car would right?

if you buy a cheap toaster or similar product, you expect it not to last as long as a more expensive one, but that's okay.. because its cheap right?

My experience is quite the opposite. Throughout my life (and I am an
old man) I always bought really cheap motor vehicles (including the
SV), and all these vehicles lasted forever, to the point of becoming
an embarrassment (like my Toyota Carina that served as a family car for 15
years).

With regards to claiming insurance my experience is practically
nonexistent (Mrs Professor mostly does this) but I have seen cheap
insurance companies provide excellent service.

Don't think price is directly related to quality. Checking out
consumer reports gives an indication of quality.

[keith_d]

I'm probably paying above the market rate for my household insurance, but when my house was burgled AXA were really good. They sent an assessor around promptly (probably because of the amount of camera equipment stolen) and replaced most of my stuff directly.

Hopefully I won't need them again, but I'd rather pay a few quid extra for the knowledge that if I do there's a chance they'll be efficient rather than annoying.

Try living in Ireland! Only three companies that will touch bikes.
They are all expensive and their assesors aren't the best.
Mostly car assesors that haven't a clue about bikes.
You pay over the odds for every policy.
I have paid as much as €3500.00 euro on a tzr 125 at 18 and as little as €450 on the Sv this year.
The one thing that annoys me about insurance is that their profit margins are calculated in billions yet in this recession all my premiums are going up!!!
House, car, life and bike insurance all up! ****es me off rightly!