Spa Therapist
Well-Known Member
The new system for car insurance bands goes from 1-50 but it also has a letter too. My old car was a 5e, which was cheaper than a 4. The "e" was there because it had a good alarm/immobiliser system, so it was cheaper than the car in band 4 because it was less likely to be stolen, despite it having a bigger engine. It's very confusing!
They also give cheaper quotes for more expensive cars as they expect you to take better care of them. If you do a quote for an old banger it's usually very expensive as they think you'll care less about it and therefore drive it irresponsibly. It also depends how many thefts or accidents have been reported for each individual vehicle. BMW were on the news a few years back because they'd been manufactured a whole batch of cars that were extremely easy to start without a key - something about plugging them into a laptop on the passenger seat?! If insurance companies got a whiff of that the price would shoot up for those models.
I'm 24, have 6 years no claims and have a Vauxhall Astra 1.7 turbo diesel, and I've been doing quotes for this year that are coming up around the £200 mark. That's for fully comprehensive and all the optional extras like legal cover, protected no claims etc. I used to have a 1.0 Nissan Micra that was £1,800 a year!
They also give cheaper quotes for more expensive cars as they expect you to take better care of them. If you do a quote for an old banger it's usually very expensive as they think you'll care less about it and therefore drive it irresponsibly. It also depends how many thefts or accidents have been reported for each individual vehicle. BMW were on the news a few years back because they'd been manufactured a whole batch of cars that were extremely easy to start without a key - something about plugging them into a laptop on the passenger seat?! If insurance companies got a whiff of that the price would shoot up for those models.
I'm 24, have 6 years no claims and have a Vauxhall Astra 1.7 turbo diesel, and I've been doing quotes for this year that are coming up around the £200 mark. That's for fully comprehensive and all the optional extras like legal cover, protected no claims etc. I used to have a 1.0 Nissan Micra that was £1,800 a year!
