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ADMIRAL: Their aim is to provide insurance to a wider range of people by providing low cost motor insurance for those who drive performance cars, younger drivers and people living in cities. Admirals insurance sells personally over the telephone and through the Internet. The first website went live in October 1995 making Admiral the first direct insurer in the UK on the Internet. Optional extras with this company include a national service network, instalment payment protection, plus breakdown and hire car cover. |
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NORWICHUNION: Founded in 1797 in Norwich they are the largest life insurer in the UK with a growing presence in all other areas of insuring including home and car insurance policies. Known here and abroad for their humourous insurance avertisements, sadly they may be leaving us in a few years as their parent group Aviva disolves the brand. So get the cheap deals while you can and keep an eye out for their internet only insurance offerings. |
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CHURCHILL: Certainly the figures add up with Churchills guarantee to beat your renewal quote resulting in 1 in 10 people saving as much as £140 when they switch to Churchill car insurance. There are extra savings to be had with churchills motor insurance with 25% off breakdown cover when you add it to your car insurance quote and a further 10% discount if you buy online. The Churchill no claims discount goes all the way up to 65% for 4 years and they have the optional no claims bonus protection cover available also. |
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DIRECTLINE: Well noted as a front runner in insurance firms that offer to build up a no claims bonus for named drivers on a policy, they also offer to match your no claims discount if you are switching from either a company car or a motorbike. Other bonuses include 10% off insuring a second car with them and 10% off your premium for buying online. Other savings come with policy attachments such as breakdown cover where you can get up to 35% off. |
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MORETH>N: Currently with MoreTh>n car insurance you can get one month's free cover in the first year and two months free in the second year and two months free motor cover every year after that unless you make a claim. This is above and beyond the discounts you get for your no claims bonus which with More Th>n goes all the way up to the usual 65% discount. They do offer to protect your no claims bonus and they have created a special service for women's car insurance. MoreTh>n's insurance for women includes extra services such as priority emergency cover if you are travelling alone or with children and 'female friendly garages' ... though we're not sure what that means. |
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ESURE: Backed by the HBOS group (Halifax Bank of Scotland) there is a wealth of experience and resources for them to draw on. Since esure's inception they have grown to encompass Halifax car insurance, Sainsburys car insurance and Sheilas' Wheels specialist insurance for women. Certainly a market stayer even though they plagued us with "Calm down dear ..." for many years. |
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PRIVILEGE: Privilege certainly tries to be different in the field of car insurance by offering the same savings available from other insurers but with more benefits. With 4 years no claims discount already in your pocket they guarantee to beat your car renewal quote. If you have less no-claims years behind you, your discounts will range from 30% in your first year up to the 65% for 4+ years. |
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LIVERPOOLVICTORIA: LV's car insurance comes with up to 75% no claims discount which is the magic figure we love plus a 10% discount if you buy online. You can also have the option of no claims bonus protection with four or more years no claims. There is a large number of people looking for personalised savings with the two major areas being insurance for women and insuring the over 50s. Liverpool Victoria have sections under their car insurance information about insuring female drivers and fifty plus drivers but they don't seem to offer any extra discount just for fitting into either of those categories. |
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KWIKFIT: Quoting themselves as the cheapest online car insurer in the UK, the move to insurance sellers seems a natural one for KwikFit and the benefits are no less fitting either. Each customer get an exclusive 10% Kwik Fit's discount card, that can be used at any of the Kwik-Fit autocentres plus they are throwing in a free MOT (worth £45) as well. Cover should be pretty comprehensive as well with items like courtesy cars and 24-hour windscreen replacement being standard. So if their figures add up then this wouldn't just be the cheapest quote you could get, but a great bargain for the level of cover too with savings of up to £220 apparently possible and an extra 15% off if you buy online. |
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CO-OPERATIVE: Named drivers on a policy can earn a no claims discount of their own whilst the policy holder can enjoy up to 67% no claims discount off their premium with that rising to 70% for those over 50. CoOperative car insurance is non restrictive either allowing anyone between 17-75 to apply for cover with a 25% introductory discount for those with 0 no claims bonus. Uniquely, CIS will offset 20% of your car's CO2 emissions by investing in projects like rainforest reforestation and renewable energy sources - all this with a 5%-10% discount for buying online. It's strange they're not higher on this list. |
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MARKS AND SPENCER: With Marks and Spencer's car insurance you'll find top level cover with expected items such as a courtesy car and legal protection standard. You'll also get UK and European breakdown recovery cover included with your policy plus thoughtful extras such as key and lock replacement cover should you lose your car keys. Not exactly stripped bare budget motor insurance is it? Unfortunately discounts are less forthcoming with no mention of the level of no claims bonuses that can be achieved. The only discount is 10% off the premium if you buy online but you might want to phone first to ask relevant questions then jump back online to get the benefit of both worlds. |
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ZURICH: With Zurich's car insurance you can get up to a 65% no claims discount if you have 5 years no claims bonus. You can get 10% off for buying onlineand they quote savings of up to £128 - it's nothing astounding and certainly most other insurers that quote possible savings figures have a bit more to boast about. It is only when you look underneath the standard offerings that you see appealing differences in the actual level of cover. |
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POST OFFICE: The Post Office's reach has continued to expand over the years becoming a one stop shop for all things relating to life in the UK from home phone lines to insurers to broadband (the less said about the Westlife ads the better though). Mostly brokered deals so prices will be competitive but still likely comprehensive. Something 'budgety' about their branding but no signs of the usual no frills stuff you see with supermarkets. |
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ENDSLEIGH: Although not a household name as such compared to the other heavy TV advertising firms they certainly are part of the UK landscape with over 120 branches nationwide. This sets them apart from other insurers in that you can actually visit a location to take out your policy, make changes or make a claim. But whether you visit one of these branches, telephone their call centre or visit their website you will still get the same savings which they say can be as much as £136 without having to reduce your cover or accept a huge excess. Endleigh are a broker and they search a panel of insurers (up to 50 at one time) to try and find the best deal. |
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PRUDENTIAL: Prudential state that with their car insurance, 63% of people could save money when switching from their current provider. Not exactly headline news but you have to remember that such claims are generally the domain of internet only insurance companies that strip policies bare to drop the price. Prudential are offering these savings whilst still retaining a high level of service such as courtesy cars and new for old replacements. No claims discounts extend up 65% off with 70% no claims bonus for drivers over 50 which is average for motor insurance. Throw in a 10% discount for buying online and they could certainly well be worth a look. |
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ECAR: Firstly they not only offer no claims discount protection but they do not have a limit on the number of claims you can make. Once you hit 5 years no claims bonus it is protected for life. You can cover up to 4 cars on one policy too, plus have up to 4 named drivers on a multi-car policy. They also offer a PAYG (pay-as-you-go) car insurance service which comes with eCar's rapid discount accelerator giving you a year's worth of no claims bonus for every eight months of claim free cover. This means after forty months you could have earned 5 years no-claims with them. They allow you to transfer any no claims you've earned under company car or motorcycle cover and with each eCar car insurance policy you get free breakdown recovery assistance. (Did you catch all that first time round?) |
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SWINTON: Swintons insurance is a brokerage which has been in business, and making news, since the late 1950's. They took their name from the small town of Swinton, near Salford, Manchester where the first branch was opened. Swinton's have always been trendsetters and were the first to offer new options on car insurance, such as motor insurance for young drivers, women drivers, and for specialist cars. |
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NATWEST: The discounts are standard but the obvious benefits are having a much stronger brand name behind you. You can get up to 65% no claims discount with that increasing to 70% for those over 50. No claims bonus protection is available and you can get discounted breakdown cover from Green Flag attached to your policy. |
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THE RAC: RAC are aware of their brand strength so if you're looking for the cheapest quote as opposed to top level cover you may not get what you're looking for here. That being said, they do quote figures that suggest more than 70% of their customers are paying less than £350 for their insurance cover which doesn't sound too bad. But, with a 70% no claims discount possible it will most likely be safer drivers that qualify for such low rates. Bear in mind that you will be getting some hidden savings as breakdown cover is included in any car insurance policy the RAC supplies. Their discount for buying online isn't as impressive as others with a measly 10% off if you are new customer and a £20 discount if you already have break down cover with them. |
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SIMPLECOVER: Simple Cover car insurance services from Norwich Union does exactly what it says on the tin. It strips away all the extras you normally pay for by default with most insurers and just leaves you, still with comprehensive insurance, forking out less money for practically the same cover. The only thing we don't understand is the leap to creating a separate brand identity for this product when NorwichUnion could quite easily have just placed it next to their current line of products. |
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INSURE.CO.UK: The level of no claims discount you can get is not stated but currently there is a 10% discount if you buy Insure's car insurance online. Along with a car insurance policy you can get breakdown cover attached and although the concept of a no claims bonus being attached to your breakdown policy may seem new, there are similar programs with other breakdown recovery specialists. Called Autonational Rescue you can get a 25% no claims bonus on joining if you haven't had a breakdown in the past year and you'll continue to get a 25% discount if you only make one call-out every two years. |
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SWIFTCOVER: Not much information about the actual standard of cover, their website focuses more on convincing you that they are the cheapest - we even found one quote saying a customer had saved £170 compared to Elephant.co.uk which is impressive. You can protect your no claims discount though has long as you have at least four years no claims bonus behind you and you can't have made a claim against a protected policy in the last three years. As part of AXA, Swift Cover's marketing campaign has focussed on the opinion that call centres are always hard to get through to and that they keep you on hold constantly. |
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YESINSURANCE: Yes Insurance's motor insurance panel consists of 20 car insurance providers, all big names as usual, all offering comprehensive cover and quoting savings of up to £185 against other brokers and internet insurers. Incentives include free gifts when you sign up like Marks & Spencer vouchers when you refer a friend and their site is certainly much prettier than most. Still, they are a broker so things like online purchase discounts and quote guarantees won't be common. |
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LOCALBROKER: Like most brokers, LocalBroker cannot offer you special online purchase discounts, free breakdown recovery or indeed tell you how much no claims discount you can get because they are not providing the actual insurance. As part of the BISL group, which appears in many different brandings across the web, this particular incarnation searches 90 insurers to find you the cheapest deal amongst them. We couldn't find a list of which insurers they search though but the site doesn't work that well in IE7 anyway. |
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ITS4ME: Another online brokerage, this time brought to you by Swinton. As a broker obviously they can't guarantee any special offers, discounts or inclusions in your policy though they are offering to give free RAC breakdown cover with every policy sold. They quote themselves as the cheapest, (these days who doesn't), but we were concerned about the rather large list of fees in their terms and conditions. Probably best to clarify if they are going to charge you for things like temporary courtesy car cover whilst your is in the garage and adding someone to your policy. An extra £50-£100 in charges could wipe out any savings you made. |
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