Car Insurance – don’t let them get away with it

My insurance broker

I implore you to check your insurance premiums very, very carefully when they are due for renewal.  Whatever your insurance company offers, ring a few other people and mercilessly play them off against each other until you get a sensible quote.

My car insurance is up for renewal tomorrow.  I am currently insured with the AA and I get a special deal on AA Breakdown into the bargain.  I have been insuring my car and home contents with them for years but, come renewal time,  no quarter is given.  Apart from the fact that I am sick to death of the AA apparently having a long, long checklist of reasons why they can’t come and rescue me when I break down, I considered defecting to the RAC after the fantastic service I received when I was recently involved in an accident.

I received two unsolicited quotes from the AA in the post, the first on 27^th October for £533, the second on 8^th November for £589, both for the same policy specifications.  When I rang them they assured me that the absolute lowest they could go was £500.  So I rang the RAC, and obtained a quote for £478.  I immediately rang the AA back and, magically, they were able to offer me £478.

All insurers are thieving scumbags who take your money and make every excuse in the book not to pay out when you need them.  In the unlikely event that they do pay out, you are required to meet them at a crossroads in a lonely spot, where you both play the banjo and your soul is handed over to the devil.

I am a great believer in haggling, ducking and diving.  I bob and weave.  I lift and separate.  I haggle at book fairs, antique fairs and market stalls and I even attempt it in ordinary shops.  I managed to get a pair of shoes from Brantano  for £10 less than the sale price because it was the last pair “and you can never sell the last pair…”.  I managed to get £200 off a petrol lawnmower by playing three local companies off against one another until they broke down sobbing with tiny drops of blood oozing from their ears.  Whenever I go into the shop now, it’s like a ghost town with tiny sounds of scuffling coming from the stock room.

The insurance companies will rip you off if you don’t keep your wits about you and tradespeople will always charge the highest price they can get away with.  Just remember that insurance is  betting under another name.   Pull yourself up to your full height, take a deep breath and start haggling, do a deal, strike a pose.  You’ve nothing to lose.