Customer Service....

[matt_vaughan]

Been ringing around a few insurance companies for quote for C20XE engined Nova.

Just rang Chris Knott insurance, supposedly one of the better modified insurance companies in the UK, and as I got to "its had a 2.0 16V engine convertion" to which the reply was straight away "no way, bye...."

Fair enough, I'm 19 and live in a preston post code, but I had not told her these details at this point. I could of been a middle-age man, with max no claims.

Seems stupid when most customers are forking out hundreds of pounds to these companies.

Rant over.

[mowgli]

i had the same trouble and i've only got a 1.6... some companies have a list of certain cars that they simply won't cover

[Stuart]

Chris Knott have slowly but surely been alienating their entire customer base over the past year...

on the VX forum they started out excellent, insuring almost anyone, then it was over 21's only, then only upto 50% power increases, then over 25's and now its over 30's and minimal (read that as no) mods etc.
They claim its because the underwriters wont cover it all etc, but plenty of other companies manage it with the same underwriters lol.

[Jack]

You could argue at least he didn't waste your time - the first thing I always say is words to the effect of "I'm after a quote for my Nova, but its had an engine conversion - will you still cover that?" then give them a bit more info, then on with the rest of the quote.

Some companies have said "yeah thats fine, a 3.0 V6 is no problem", went through all the rest of the gubbins, only at the end to say "oh no, we can't cover it because of the engine conversion". Bellends :roll:

[craig green]

Standard cars FTW.

I often wonder, with the number of modified cars on the roads (most under 21's it seems) how many actually are covered/decleared? If the majority of companies dont like modifications.............

[Paul]

trouble is, if someone wants a certain car Craig, and theyre willing to pay whatever it costs, and they cant get a quote.
What are they going to do?

Insurance companies are part to blame for uninsured drivers IMO

[Jack]

trouble is, if someone wants a certain car Craig, and theyre willing to pay whatever it costs, and they cant get a quote.
^ that, IMO, is part of the reason why insurance prices are so high these days. When I were a lad (lol), anything over £500-750 was expensive for your first car, and nobody in their right mind would dream of paying over a grand! But because people have started paying through the nose to insure anything, its driven prices up.

[Andy]

so the answer is this kids-IN10 yourselves into oblivion! LOL lol

[Connor]

tbh though, for young drivers it has came to the fact that it is more to insure a 1.0 than a 1.2 or bigger.
I was getting quotes on a standard 1.2 merit when i was 18 and it was the same as a 1.8 8v mk3 golf :wtf:

[matt_vaughan]

Anyone else realised an SR 1300 is cheaper than a 1.2 standard to insure? Im sure that's down to claim figures though.

I was royally ticked off today though, I expect better customer service from a smaller insurance broker.

[Stuart]

thats the thing, its all about the stats... So a young driver gets a small engined car (to cost V little to run, to appease parents etc) and they invaraibly crash it. Meaning the claim stats are high for small engined cars and yoofs.

Move to some of the more fun things which have V little in the way of claims stats and you can get some bargains etc.

[mowgli]

a couple of hours with a parkers guide would probably show some incredible insurance groups

[Stuart]

the grouping would be irrelevant in most cases if say All the group 3 Lupos in the UK got written off by 18yr olds, and a group 20 version(for stupid arguments sake) might be a damn sight cheaper to insure at 18 as hardly any are used etc.

[bmw156]

IMO its simple.
if you cant afford the insurance you cant afford the car.
get a loan, a big over draft or what ever, to pay the insurance fine.

and just to be on topic, i walked into euro car parts the other day. and waited at the counter for maybe 3-4 minutes looking at all the office guys. no one served me. no bell to ring and they were looking at me as if i were an alien.
top customer service right there.

[Jack]

the grouping would be irrelevant in most cases if say All the group 3 Lupos in the UK got written off by 18yr olds, and a group 20 version(for stupid arguments sake) might be a damn sight cheaper to insure at 18 as hardly any are used etc.
Exactly that; claim rate is a bit of an unknown factor, as its not taken into account when figuring the group rating. And of course it will vary for each insurance company (Flux quoted me £1500 for an S14a a while back, as they had a "bad claim history" with them, whilst Elephant offered me £650).

[Sloth]

on topic, i walked into euro car parts the other day. and waited at the counter for maybe 3-4 minutes looking at all the office guys. no one served me. no bell to ring and they were looking at me as if i were an alien.
top customer service right there.

id have **** on the desk, and when asked why id have said, "i needed to use a toilet aswell as buy parts. i couldnt wait any longer...."

i hate it, buying electrical crap is where the real shonky staff are:mad:

[matt_vaughan]

IMO its simple.
if you cant afford the insurance you cant afford the car.
get a loan, a big over draft or what ever, to pay the insurance fine.


Hang on, I'm looking for quotes to do this properly. Just because I'm talking about bad customer service doesnt mean im not going to insure an XE nova as a 1.2.