Car Insurance advice

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Benoire

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#195297 14-Apr-2016 16:32

I'm looking for a decent replacement insurers for my 2009 BMW 550i and 2010 Audi S4. We're currently with AA, but I'm concerned that there prices are getting too much. I'm after the following from an insurer:

Protected No Claims after x years;
Use of genuine OEM parts and the ability to chose where to take the car;
Use of genuine windscreens for glass replacement policies;

I've got a direct deal with Vero due to PSA and their prices are certainly a lot cheaper BUT they do not offer a protected no claims and again the windscreens will be aftermarket.

Anyone got any good recommendations?

Thanks,

Chris

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Mad Scientist
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#1533135 14-Apr-2016 17:39

AMI

Benoire

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#1533136 14-Apr-2016 17:41

joker97: AMI

Any particular reason? Not that I am against them, can't as I've never used them... how are they for handling claims when something does happen?

Batman

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#1533139 14-Apr-2016 17:49

They always pay. You can take to umpteen repairers and no forcing you to use funny cheap parts. Although I never enquire whether the parts are genuine or third party.

mdf

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#1533156 14-Apr-2016 18:49

What do you do professionally? We're with Medical Assurance, but you have to be a member. Membership is now wider than it used to be (just doctors and medical staff), but its still usually limited to professionals.

Fantastic to deal with though - last insurer (I think) to still offer full home replacement cover. I _think_ they have the no claims for life thing, but you'd need to double check that.

Benoire

2798 posts

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#1533165 14-Apr-2016 18:58

I'm a Civil Engineer, so a decent profession.

Tried AMI; the quote for my car (550i) came out at 2000 for the year, compared to the AA of 1500... The S4 (partners) came out at 1000 for AMI but 1300 for AA... Its all a bit weird!

mdf

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#1533169 14-Apr-2016 19:05

Benoire:

I'm a Civil Engineer, so a decent profession.

Tried AMI; the quote for my car (550i) came out at 2000 for the year, compared to the AA of 1500... The S4 (partners) came out at 1000 for AMI but 1300 for AA... Its all a bit weird!

You should definitely have a word with MAS. The last time we shopped around was a while ago. At the time they weren't the absolute cheapest (but within 5-10%), but were just superb to deal with and have been awesome the couple of times we made a claim. Haven't bothered looking around since. Happy to pay a little more for that level of service.

kingjj

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#1533172 14-Apr-2016 19:15

mdf:

Benoire:

I'm a Civil Engineer, so a decent profession.

Tried AMI; the quote for my car (550i) came out at 2000 for the year, compared to the AA of 1500... The S4 (partners) came out at 1000 for AMI but 1300 for AA... Its all a bit weird!

You should definitely have a word with MAS. The last time we shopped around was a while ago. At the time they weren't the absolute cheapest (but within 5-10%), but were just superb to deal with and have been awesome the couple of times we made a claim. Haven't bothered looking around since. Happy to pay a little more for that level of service.

My fathers been with MAS for donkey's years and always raves about them. Any claim he's put through them has always been paid quickly and with little fuss (and with low to no excess including the time my car was written off through wilful damage - no leads, no suspects, no excess). We currently have our cars with AA. Last time I tried shopping around all the quotes were comparable except for one through my union which was considerably higher. I've had good service with the AA so I've never looked seriously at switching. MAS would be a great bet if you can join them.

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Inphinity

2780 posts

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#1533176 14-Apr-2016 19:34

I would try State.

Benoire

2798 posts

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#1533197 14-Apr-2016 20:16

So it looks like the AA have dropped their protected no claims bonus for new policies... We've got two polciies with the old AAI codes which appear to be protected generating, but the new S4 is on a AMV code which means no protection... Does that mean that the S4 will get the benefit of my partners high discount but should an accident occur in that car that we're 'at fault' for her protection on the other car is under threat? They've made it really confusing and not explained it well!

icekayak

50 posts

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#1533239 14-Apr-2016 21:08

Prestgio. Might need to go through a broker and you need to specifically request the no claims bonus. Pm me if you want to know more.

JamjarsNZ

63 posts

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#1533299 15-Apr-2016 00:13

mdf:

What do you do professionally? We're with Medical Assurance, but you have to be a member. Membership is now wider than it used to be (just doctors and medical staff), but its still usually limited to professionals.

Fantastic to deal with though - last insurer (I think) to still offer full home replacement cover. I _think_ they have the no claims for life thing, but you'd need to double check that.

FMG is the only other I know that does full home replacement cover.

Athlonite

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#1533325 15-Apr-2016 04:40

Benoire:

I'm a Civil Engineer, so a decent profession.

Tried AMI; the quote for my car (550i) came out at 2000 for the year, compared to the AA of 1500... The S4 (partners) came out at 1000 for AMI but 1300 for AA... Its all a bit weird!

You may find if you put both cars the house and contents with them they'll work out cheaper

nakedmolerat

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#1533392 15-Apr-2016 08:30

Both cars are well over 5 years old. I personally don't see much of an issue replacing it with after market windscreen. You probably due for a new car soon anyway.

With regards to repair - I would have thought most insurance work use original parts - as they usually provide warranty for their workmanship. Sometimes they do need to use non-genuine parts due to the parts are not available. This is probably an issue for the imported 2nd hand cars.

Benoire

2798 posts

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#1533431 15-Apr-2016 09:44

nakedmolerat: Both cars are well over 5 years old. I personally don't see much of an issue replacing it with after market windscreen. You probably due for a new car soon anyway.

With regards to repair - I would have thought most insurance work use original parts - as they usually provide warranty for their workmanship. Sometimes they do need to use non-genuine parts due to the parts are not available. This is probably an issue for the imported 2nd hand cars.

For the S4, perhaps although I'm not sure on their construction... The 550i on the other hand uses the glass as a structural component, which was confirmed by BMW NZ, and being a thicker glass the airbag uses the windscreen to 'bounce' off while inflating. There are also issues relating to the sensors and the quality of the glass construction & again thickness, plus I was informed that the main glass guys do not know how to remove the glass from the firewall partition safely without damaging it; its an alloy that any damage to requires immediate fixing or the firewall is effectively damaged and the only way is to then rebuild the front of the car with a new firewall... Again came from BMW repair specialists.

The age of the car should not really matter when parts of the car are still required for safety and structural strength... this is the reason why I want a company that will do a genuine windshield replacement.

alligator

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#1533439 15-Apr-2016 10:08

I had an accident in a remote location at night, in winter a year ago – and AA Insurance were unable to help until the morning, because their call centre closed at night (it might've been 6pm or 7pm that it closed in the weekend).

Had to sort out my own transport and accommodation, even though my insurance was meant to cover it (because their call centre was closed, they couldn't help).

I've switched to AMI because they have a 24-hour call centre, and friends have had excellent experiences with them.

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