www.jec.org.uk

Hi Folks
Have had an interesting situation with the cost of insurance for my XK8 convertable that I thought I would pass on to you in the hope that it may help when you are renewing your own policies

I have used Norwich Union Direct for the past 3 years to insure my !997 XK8 and noticed that every year the cost increased even though I have had no claims - this years renewal quote was ££655 with a £250 excess and 1 named driver - my wife. I phoned to complain about the cost but was told that they could not make any reduction

By chance I was sent a leaflet from Marks & Spencer about car insurance and decided to ask for a quote online on exactly the same conditions as my present insurance. To my surprise they quoted £373 and to my even greater surprise the insurance company was Norwich Union !!!

I phoned Norwich Union again and asked why they were charging me almost £300 more than the new quote and was told that if I used the Norwich Union website I would most probably be quoted £373 but they could not make any reduction on the phone

You will not be surprised to know that I have decided to put my business with Marks & Spencers

Regards Peter

Excellent information, Peter. This sort of information should be very useful to many members.
I have also insured now for the third year with Footman James (mine is a MY2000 XK8) and I find the cost is not really as competitive, even with the club discount, as with some other companies.
The trick is to always check again through the insurance maze before every renewal date instead of just sticking with the same company. It's a shame that loyalty does not seem to matter very much nowadays

I've been with Admiral since I bought my XK last year and have found them really competitive especially as I live near London. This year I added my girlfriend as second named driver and the price came down nearly £100 to £432

Like Peter I had insured my X type with Norwich Union for three years. When I bought an XK8 I asked them for a quote, which wasn't very competitive. I spent two days of very painful trawling through the internet and eventually finished up with Barclays who charged me less, for the same cover, than I was paying for the X type. When the paperwork arived it turned out that NU were still my insurers.
Lessons learned were:-
1. Internet and telephone bits of the same company don't talk to each other and you can't get web discounts over the phone
2. So called one stop shops like the AA, RAC and the like come no where near getting you the best quote
3. Expect to have to enter your details time and again - the sites crash with monotonous regularity
4. More Than have a site in which the pre-defined answers are listed against all the wrong questions (or at least they were!!!)
5. It takes longer than with an agent, but probably saves money in the end
6. You don't get to see all the small print until the end, so comparing cover is difficult
7. Barclays promise to deliver cover notes by special delivery the next day doesn't include the time it takes them to get it to the Post Office in the first place

Hello everybody.
Just had my renewal through from Footman James, and to my delight it has gone down by £85.
For me , my wife, TN26 postcode (Ashford), convertible car in garage, full no claims, now running at £414. Considering all the standard Footman James "extras", I think this is good value.
Happy motoring,
Doug Barrass

ps. Went to the Auvergne last year in the car, wonderful!

Hi All,

I've been with Esure subsidery First Alternative for the past three years, was directed to them by Esure as at the time they would not cover high power cars, they gave the best price £276 full comp driver and spouse and protected no claims.
Just got a letter from them saying all insurance business is being transferred to Esure for the rest of the term with no gaurantee that they will renew.

Looks like I will be doing the rounds at renewal!

Hi
I have a Discovery 3 for my first main car (cant have my xk8 doing all the miles) went to insure my xk with the same insurance company as I use for my XJS classic insurance. 'o' dear no no claims discount for xk. phoned everywhere tried trolling the net ,too dear £900,750 600 496. went back to my XJS insurers Specialist Car Division they were brill got different lady this time, managed to get full comp for £345 gb pounds. through equity star. thought this info may help someone else.
cheers wullie. .

That seems an excellent deal, Wullie, congratulations.

I sounded off my company (More Than) online for a quote, £323 with £500 x s. I paid £68 for the few remaining months on my old Mondeo insurance, so didn't sound bad.

My son has just taken insurance on a Fiesta 1300 with his son @17 provisional driver on. £570 from Quinn Direct. They were £300 below anyone else. I'll be seeking a quote off them soon.

Ray

Hi Everyone
Following Peter's advice I tried M&S. My 1998 XK8 was insured with Norwich Union direct @ £571 for two drivers, 10,000 miles p.a, no european cover and £370 excess. Six weeks before renewal I tried M&S on the internet, quote was about £460, 10,000 miles p.a., £250 excess, 90 days comperhensive EU, RAC roadside, at home and recovery in UK and EU. I tried again nearer the renewal date and although the enquiry picked up the previos quote the price had gone down to £420. The following day I rang M&S to accept and the price had gone down to £407.18 The guy said that it was always worth trying as the quote was fixed for 28 days but the price varies "by market forces on the day"
Saved over £160 with a lower excess and RAC and EU cover included. Quess what, the policy states that it is issued by BISL Ltd on behalf of Norwich Union!!

Peter

Hi Everyone
Following Peter's advice I tried M&S. My 1998 XK8 was insured with Norwich Union direct @ £571 for two drivers, 10,000 miles p.a, no european cover and £370 excess. Six weeks before renewal I tried M&S on the internet, quote was about £460, 10,000 miles p.a., £250 excess, 90 days comperhensive EU, RAC roadside, at home and recovery in UK and EU. I tried again nearer the renewal date and although the enquiry picked up the previos quote the price had gone down to £420. The following day I rang M&S to accept and the price had gone down to £407.18 The guy said that it was always worth trying as the quote was fixed for 28 days but the price varies "by market forces on the day"
Saved over £160 with a lower excess and RAC and EU cover included. Quess what, the policy states that it is issued by BISL Ltd on behalf of Norwich Union!!

Peter

Funnily enough, I insured my car via the Post Office and guess what? The insurer is...Norwich Union. The company seems keener to give large discounts to other agencies than it is to deal direct. Mike.

Everyone needs to appreciate that insurance companies use 'a hook' in the first year and then premiums inevitably rise. They use a calculation that over 50% won't bother looking elsewhere and just fill out the renewal.

XK8 96 £12k value
Somerset, 2 drivers (now 42 & 39) no accidents, convictions or points
Private driveway, other cars in the household
8yrs protected NCB

Year 1 Aon, unlimited miles (inc. business) two names drivers
£326
Renewal year 2 £446

Year 2 Endesleigh
£312 (still inc business miles)
Year 3 renewal £450

Year 3 Tesco
£286 (ex business miles)
up again in Nov so will be searching

And mine's LPG converted this year (declared) and I've managed 315 miles out of a £24 fill up (equates to 58 MPG) so a bit of an economy car!

Regards

Mark

Oh forgot to mention excess is £500 but then even the smallest of prangs will cost you that!

I recently bought my first XK and joined battle with the insurance maze. In the end the best quote I got was from Norwich Union ( believe it or believe it not), and this was almost £200 below the Footman James quote for the same standard of cover. I already had cover with NU under the alias of Ford Insure but didn't have too much bother with the NCD, which was carried over from the other policy albeit the XK was an extra vehicle. I also found that it was far cheaper to include my wife as a named driver on the policy - can't remember the exact figure, but it reduced the premium by about £100 or so.