Strange one regarding Quinn insurance..

Redisle

Im thinking of buying a cheapish car (currently drive parents car) and I was messing around with a few quotes on the quinn site..

Strange thing is they seem to base their calculations in no small part on the value of the car. For example I just took a 99 Fiesta Zetec, its on sale for about 1500, If I put the value of the car as 2000 or under on the quinn site the insurance quote comes to over 2500.. if I increase the value of the car to 2500 (this is just what I chose, not sure where the actual cutoff is) the quote drops to 1200...

Is this a mistake on their part or is it that they think people will be more prone to accidents in cars of a lower value?

Is there any disadvantage to putting in a higher value than what the car is actually worth? (I know this has no bearing on a potential payout, which is based on market value)

If they are charging massive premiums for cheaper cars it does defeat the purpose of trying to get a cheap car..

Barr

Has to be a mistake on their part , theres no way when you increase the value the premium drops

P.C.

I used to have a car insured through them.
When I bought a newer car, worth a lot more, the premiums came down.
New car had bigger engine aswell.

So, maybe they do load the premium on cheap cars :eek:.

master-d

I think they do it on purpose, I assume their thinking is the more the car is worth the less likely the driver is to act the bollocks and crash!

oldyouth

I have to repeat what I have advised on other threads. Insurance Companies do not give a flying fig as to what your car is worth when it comes to insurance. They are only concerned with what injuries you can cause to other people, if you cause an accident.

Yes, they will charge more for a brand new Fiesta as opposed to a '07 Fiesta but ask yourself this question. Will they have to pay out more to a garage to replace a rear quarter panel and bumper on a new car or an older car? The answer is that they will pay the same amount.

The value of your car bears no relationship to the cost of your insurance, it is the risk that you cause to others

L1011

oldyouth wrote: »

The value of your car bears no relationship to the cost of your insurance, it is the risk that you cause to others

On third party cover, yes. Fully comp / TPFT have a very obvious value element to them. Costs a lot more to do a direct swap out on a minorly damaged 6 month old car (due to a first year replacement clause) than it does to repair an 18 month old of the same car...

Random

I've commented on this a few times to people in the know and I've been told that it's a case of low value cars generally being older and in poor condition. They may be harder to handle, more suceptable to failures, etc. Therefore you're more likely to have a crash in them.

Just what I'm told .. it's one of many factors I guess.

Redisle

If that's the case I wonder if they actually validate the value you submit to them?

I mean if I was to spend 1500 on a car that was probably worth 3000 last year I don't want to pay a huge premium just because the current market value is around 1500. If I put down 3000 (or whatever) as the value will they actually check it against current market prices and readjust the quote to suit?
Because if that was the case there would be no point at all in trying to buy a cheap car because the insurance would kill me..

L1011

Redisle wrote: »

If that's the case I wonder if they actually validate the value you submit to them?

I mean if I was to spend 1500 on a car that was probably worth 3000 last year I don't want to pay a huge premium just because the current market value is around 1500. If I put down 3000 (or whatever) as the value will they actually check it against current market prices and readjust the quote to suit?
Because if that was the case there would be no point at all in trying to buy a cheap car because the insurance would kill me..

You can put down whatever you want, basically. If you undervalue a car they won't pay out more than the value you put down if its stolen/written off and claimed against yourself. If you wildly overquote they won't pay out more than its book value anyway...