Insurance Quandry

fletch

Opinions wanted.
Here's my situation, I'm 22, driving a 1.4 for the past yr, car is worth about €2.5k, I've completed the Ignition course & been insured with Hibernian for the past year 3rd party fire & theft.
Got my renewal quote today of €1,666 (compared to last yr of €2,300) so as you can imagine I'm pretty happy with that.
Now to put a spanner in the works, I rang Quinn and got a quote of €1,183 (a difference of €483!)
Now I've heard about how Quinn policies aren't the greatest but lets face it I'm only going to get my car insured 3rd Party Fire & Theft since it's worth so little. And even if I did have a minor crash, the chances of me claiming of my insurance are slim to none since my premium would be loaded the next 5 yrs or so.
So should I stick with Hibernian and pay the extra €500 or go with Quinn? (Oh I rang Hibernian & they said they can't match Quinn's price)

Big Nelly

Its well known around here that I hate Quinns policys and would never join them myself personally but then Im 26 with abotu 10 years driving experience so my insurance is alot cheaper than yours and I have better options when shopping around....anyway in your case I would actual take the Quinn policy.....you dont expect much from the policy so you know already it is not very good!! 500 quid is alot of money and as you said it is only for Fire and theft so Quinn should be ok

I have only read there fully comp policy and it is very thin!!

kdevitt

Have heard loads of horror tales about Quinn, anyone I personally know who's insured with them has had no problems at all though - and that includes people who've made claims. So I've just gone with them myself and have found them excellent to deal with so far...

fletch

Oh the Hibernian representative I phoned told me that their policy had a lot more benefits that Quinn's. When I asked her to list them, there was a lot of himming and hawwing and stuttering & eventually she told me that they provided break down assistance which Quinn didn't.
Well my car is in pretty decent order, serviced regularly & hasn't broke down once in the last year....Also I'm guessing if I did break down, I'm betting my Dad could get to me a lot faster than any breakdown service.

fletch

Big Nelly wrote:

Its well known around here that I hate Quinns policys and would never join them myself personally but then Im 26 with abotu 10 years driving experience so my insurance is alot cheaper than yours and I have better options when shopping around....anyway in your case I would actual take the Quinn policy.....you dont expect much from the policy so you know already it is not very good!! 500 quid is alot of money and as you said it is only for Fire and theft so Quinn should be ok

I have only read there fully comp policy and it is very thin!!

Yeh I'm definately swaying towards the Quinn policy, I'm sure I'd feel different if I was going for a Comprehensive policy....I'm just kind of disappointed with Hibernian after completing their Ignition course & one year later I can get a better price elsewhere

kdevitt

fletch wrote:

Oh the Hibernian representative I phoned told me that their policy had a lot more benefits that Quinn's. When I asked her to list them, there was a lot of himming and hawwing and stuttering & eventually she told me that they provided break down assistance which Quinn didn't.
Well my car is in pretty decent order, serviced regularly & hasn't broke down once in the last year....Also I'm guessing if I did break down, I'm betting my Dad could get to me a lot faster than any breakdown service.

Agree completely, my F/C policy with Quinn has the same benefits as my old Hibernian, except for the breakdown - which I don't need as I'm with the AA. My missus and my dad are now named drivers with fully comp cover on my car, and I wasn't charged any extra - Hibernian wanted over a hundred quid extra.

Eoin

fletch wrote:

Oh the Hibernian representative I phoned told me that their policy had a lot more benefits that Quinn's. When I asked her to list them, there was a lot of himming and hawwing and stuttering & eventually she told me that they provided break down assistance which Quinn didn't.
Well my car is in pretty decent order, serviced regularly & hasn't broke down once in the last year....Also I'm guessing if I did break down, I'm betting my Dad could get to me a lot faster than any breakdown service.

Sure, a fully loaded AA policy would give you the same benefits, and that wouldn't cost the €500 difference:
http://www.aaireland.ie/membership/personal.asp

Seth Brundle

Like Big Nelly, I wouldn't waste a call on Quinn as I was treated badly them in the past.
Am I correct in believing that Quinn don't offer windscreen cover?
Is there an excess difference between the QD & Hib policies?

bazz26

Did you try ringing any other insurance companies other than the two mentioned? FBD, Eagle Star, AXA, etc?

Big Nelly

kbannon wrote:

Like Big Nelly, I wouldn't waste a call on Quinn as I was treated badly them in the past.
Am I correct in believing that Quinn don't offer windscreen cover?
Is there an excess difference between the QD & Hib policies?

There is loads of problems with them but in this situation where if he does crash then he aint going to claim then why not use Quinn when they are cheaper!! its only 3rd Party....its only when your going fully comp I wouldnt touch them and would recommend everyone else not to as well!! mite you if it was me I still wouldnt go to Quinn.....never had a policy with them or anything buyt I have read there policys and they are a joke!!

Seth Brundle

Fair enough B.N.
The problem I had with them was that they decided that I wanted to renew a policy with them - not me! They also expected to be paid for the 3 or 4 weeks which ran before they told me about this! Seemingly Im not the only one!

Big Nelly

kbannon wrote:

Fair enough B.N.
The problem I had with them was that they decided that I wanted to renew a policy with them - not me! They also expected to be paid for the 3 or 4 weeks which ran before they told me about this! Seemingly Im not the only one!

Heard loads of stories about them!! actual know a few people that work in there centre in Cavan!! thats nothing when you hear some of the horror stories!!

kdevitt

kbannon wrote:

Fair enough B.N.
The problem I had with them was that they decided that I wanted to renew a policy with them - not me! They also expected to be paid for the 3 or 4 weeks which ran before they told me about this! Seemingly Im not the only one!

To be fair - Hibernian did this to me as well. Charged me for four months insurance, while promising me every time I rang that a refund cheque had just been posted.

My excess is less with QD (€180 I think) , and windscreen is covered.

I can't understand the 'their policies are a joke' comment - they include everything that anyone else does, they've been fine to deal with, what more do people want?

5500

The biggest issue with quinn is that you loose your NCB regardless if your car is stolen/burnt out whereas with hibernian and most others once the car has an alarm your ncb is not effected.

Its so cheap because its basically the thinest bones of cover you can get,in saying that for young drivers they tend to be cheaper but ive found them ****s to deal with if ever i did have a problem

fletch

bazz26 wrote:

Did you try ringing any other insurance companies other than the two mentioned? FBD, Eagle Star, AXA, etc?

I am with Hibernian through a broker (Insure.ie)
Also things like excess and windscreen cover don't really concern me since I only intend on making a claim if I have some sort of major accident where somebody is hurt or a piledrive a Maybach

Seth Brundle

Agreed kdevitt
Hib also cancelled a policy on me and failed to notify me. It turned out to be their error entirely and I recieved an apology.
QD however, still insist that I wanted to renew when I know I didn't!

kdevitt

kbannon wrote:

Agreed kdevitt
Hib also cancelled a policy on me and failed to notify me. It turned out to be their error entirely and I recieved an apology.
QD however, still insist that I wanted to renew when I know I didn't!

My gripe was that I informed them by phone that I wasn't renewing, they still tried their very best not to refund me, telling me I'd left it too close to renewal date to inform them! No apology, but the cheque came in handy If you end up dealing with a gob****e on the other end of the phone, these things happen.

The gas thing is that my policy is over a grand cheaper with QD assuming no NCB, than it is with Hibernian with my 7 years NCB!!

Edit - just to add that I think Hibernian are excellent in general - just not cheap for my current car!!

De Hipster

I'm in the process (almost 6wks since the incident) of trying to claim from a third party F&T policy held by a Quinn client...not heard a word & my insurance (who are 100% supporting my claim) have already indicated that Quinn intend to mess me about on this.

Wouldn't touch them with a barge pole & if possible would voluntarily stay off any stretch of road any of their clients were using to avoid having to risk dealing with them ever again.

BME

Quinn Direct are grand, for younger drivers they offer cheap insurance what more do you want, blood? :mad:

You're car's insured, you drive away and everyone's happy. I had a claim with QD which was settled in less than 2 weeks so I don't know where those "Quinn are a joke" comments are founded.

I'm currently a satisfied Quinn customer, I will probably renew with them next year if they give th best quote without stoopid extras like breakdown assistance (€38 from the AA thank you very much)

Seth Brundle

BME wrote:

what more do you want, blood? :mad:

I'd like to know that they wont treat me like crap, while Im one of their customers (or not as was in my case!).
There have been too many anecdotes of bad treatment from them for me to have any ounce of faith in them to offer me insurance cover

De Hipster

BME wrote:

Quinn Direct are grand, for younger drivers they offer cheap insurance what more do you want, blood? :mad:

You're car's insured, you drive away and everyone's happy. I had a claim with QD which was settled in less than 2 weeks so I don't know where those "Quinn are a joke" comments are founded.

I'm currently a satisfied Quinn customer, I will probably renew with them next year if they give th best quote without stoopid extras like breakdown assistance (€38 from the AA thank you very much)

I'd very much like blood at this present moment in time with the treatment I'm receiving after being hit by their 3rd party insured client...Quinn are the scum of the insurance market in this country & are insuring high risk with little considereation (legal or otherwise) of the consequences for other road users &/or insurance parties.

Rudolph Claus

and windscreen is covered.

I assume this is only with the Fully comp policy? I know its not covered on their 3rd P,F+T policies but maybe thats how its done on all 3rdPF+T policies?

he biggest issue with quinn is that you loose your NCB regardless
if your car is stolen/burnt out whereas with hibernian and most others
once the car has an alarm your ncb is not effected.

Is this true? They reduce your NCB to zero if your car is stolen? Even if alarmed and immobilised? That seems harsh, i didnt think they were that bad.

But to the original OP, definitely go with the Quinn policy. It does exactly what you want and saves you E500 for petrol or "to spend on your car" as Quinn advertise themselves.
Its a joke that Hibernian wont meet you halfway on the quinn quote after you doing their ignition and all. Lousy fooks. They`re all a shower of fooks, and anyone singleing out quinn alone are muppets, unless they have had personal bad experiences.

BME

De Hipster wrote:

Quinn are the scum of the insurance market in this country

:rolleyes:

BME

Nuttzy wrote:

They`re all a shower of fooks

Behold the truth!

5500

Nuttzy wrote:

Is this true? They reduce your NCB to zero if your car is stolen? Even if alarmed and immobilised? That seems harsh, i didnt think they were that bad.

.

It most certainly is.

They offer a stepback protection for extra money tho where your ncb drops from say 50 to 30 if you make a claim.

Aside from that even if your cars fitted with a tracker or machine guns to scare thiefs,if its stolen or burnt ect and you claim then your Ncb is reduced to zero.

JohnBoy

they also don't do temporary transfers, except to hire cars and garage cars.

and they cancelled a policy on me once too due to an administrative error.

also when I first took a policy with them 3 years ago i did it online and they called me about two weeks later to basically say that I hadn't been insured for the previous two weeks, cos the website didn't really work, twas madness.

I'm still with them, but I'm forseeing a row in about a weeks time when I transfer my insurance back onto my focus after two months of driving a range rover, at which stage I'll be demanding my money back.

Mostly their an inflexible bunch of people, but I've no "horror story"

kdevitt

As if to prove what a shower of **** all insurance companies can be, I've just found out Hibernian have done the exact same thing to me this year again. They've charged me for a policy I asked not to renew, and refuse to cancel it until I forward them the cert and disk I haven't received...

beer enigma

The NCB reduction can be a pain alright, but don't forget...if you do make a claim with any of the main insurers and you have a protected NCD, that often only applies with THAT insurer - check the small print. If you change insurer, chances are the new insurer will use a reduced NCB allowance for you.....in effect, you've paid your current insurer to protect the NCB & its treated as a deal between you and them. There are a couple of exceptions to this, but on the whole, thats the way they work.

Although your NCB statement will show maximum NCB, it will qualify it by saying representing x years claim free & if that x = 1, then you'll probably only get a 30% NCB with another insurer.

QDI are a get what you pay for company, ideal for younger TPFT, but not Comp stuff.

Their claims system is pretty good compared to many...my wife is a regional claims manager for them. When notified of an accident, she has 36 hours to contact all parties and 5 days to agree settlement where there's no liability dispute. In the case of liability being disputed, QDI ask her to reach agreement with the other insurer within 10 days from claim notification...thats pretty speedy in my experience.

I've heard of Hibernian holding up claims on technicalities...even to their own policyholders, so there's good and bad with all companies.

De Hipster wrote:

I'm in the process (almost 6wks since the incident) of trying to claim from a third party F&T policy held by a Quinn client...not heard a word & my insurance (who are 100% supporting my claim) have already indicated that Quinn intend to mess me about on this.

Im sorry to hear about your problems here & frankly amazed knowing how the QDI system works.....have you tried phoning QDI directly ??

De Hipster

Andip wrote:

Im sorry to hear about your problems here & frankly amazed knowing how the QDI system works.....have you tried phoning QDI directly ??

Have been intouch directly several times, they are stalling & looking for a percentage out...they are now dealing with my solicitors & insurance company.