What is car insurance?
It is a requirement within the Road Traffic Act for any person who will drive or keep a car/vehicle on the road to have car insurance. The person who owns the insurance policy (the insured) pays a premium (a figure of money) in exchange for cover by an insurance company, which will relate to the company's assessment of the risk that you and your vehicle pose to them - (given historical knowledge of the area the car is kept in, the age of the drivers, how powerful the car is etc.)
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How am I able to get a car insurance quote?
There are 2 routes through which you are able to get a quote:
The first is via the Quick Quote Insurance Engine on our website, to access this, please click for a Car Insurance quote.
If you wish you are able to call us free on 0800 028 3571
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I don't actually own a car at the moment but am just looking to see how much the insurance may cost?
This is not a problem but it goes without saying that until you provide us with a registration number when you buy your car there will be no way of us covering the vehicle.
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What if, whilst I'm insured with you, some of my personal circumstances change, for example I move house?
What you need to do will be entirely dependent on what the changes to your circumstances are. For example, some of your details can be changed by yourself, online by clicking through to the Existing Customers section on our sister site - Endsleigh.co.uk. Should you wish to take this option then please click here then follow the instructions.
The second option is to call up our customer services department who will make the exchanges to your insurance policy for you. The number that you choose to call depends on the policy type. For a list of relevant contact numbers click here.
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Am I able to attain instant insurance cover?
In most cases you are able to attain instant insurance cover for policies such as car insurance, home insurance and even holiday insurance as examples.
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Am I able to view my insurance policies online?
Yes you are. This will require you registering with our sister website Endsleigh.co.uk, this will enable you to be able to log-in and look at your policy details. By clicking here you will be forwarded to the relevant page.
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When I input the make and model of my car it does not seem to register on your quote engine - what should I do?
If the car is brand new then you should refer this to a customer advisor, for phone numbers please click here. If the car is older then it is likely that we will not able to provide you with an insurance quote.
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Does my car insurance policy give me cover if I am driving abroad?
This can be added - free of charge if you are travelling to an EEC or EU country up to a maximum period of 90 days, but does not come automatically included. If the circumstances are different to this then speak to a customer services advisor, click here for the relevant telephone number.
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Does my car insurance policy cover me when I am driving other vehicles?
This will depend on the specific cover of the insurance policy you are covered by. This feature is normally only available to persons over the age of 25 and also not normally available to people whose job is part of the motor trade.
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How long will it take to receive my documents?
In most circumstances you will receive these the next day if not it is highly likely that it will be the day after that.
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What do the initials NCB mean?
The letters NCB, when in relation to insurance, stand for No Claims Bonus An NCB effectively means the discount that a policyholder has earned on an insurance policy by not making a claim. These discounts are established by the number of years that a claim has not been made for.
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What is protected NCB?
You usually are allowed to pay an extra premium to an insurance company so that the 'built up' NCB does not get lowered or taken away completely in the event of a claim being made where the incident was all or partly the policyholders fault.
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If I make a claim do I lose all of my NCB?
If you have a single accident within the period of a year, you will usually lose the year NCB you are at that time accruing and generally 2 more years worth.
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If I have been a named driver on someone else's car insurance, do I qualify for an NCB?
In most cases, no, but we have some car insurance schemes available which use your driving experience as a guide to help lower the premium that you will be charged, but they will not give you any NCB.
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Can I be offered an NCB based on my company car driving experience?
In many cases this is available however you would need to provide a letter from the fleet insurer not the company itself.
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What is an "Excess"?
An Excess is the amount of money that the insurer would have to pay out in the event of a claim needing to be made. This money would have to be paid to the insurer before they deal with the residual amount of the claim.
Most polices have an excess. You can volunteer to a pay a higher excess making you likely to make savings on the upfront cost of your car insurance policy.
It must be remembered that the only reason this reduces your premium is because you will pay out more when making a claim. When you are thinking about the costs of your car insurance, this should not be forgotten!
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What different types of excess are there?
An Excess is the amount of money that the insurer would have to pay out in the event of a claim needing to be made. This money would have to be paid to the insurer before they deal with the residual amount of the claim.
Most polices have an excess. You can volunteer to a pay a higher excess making you likely to make savings on the upfront cost of your car insurance policy.
It must be remembered that the only reason this reduces your premium is because you will pay out more when making a claim. When you are thinking about the costs of your car insurance, this should not be forgotten!
The usual compulsory excesses that can be found on a car insurance policy are the age excess and the standard excess. It may be that, if you are a younger or less experienced driver that an excess could also be applied.
Excesses can apply to either/or accidents and theft and are very complicated.
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If I do low mileage, will I get a reduction in my car insurance premium?
Most Insurance Companies take low mileage into account as working out premiums is all down to the statistical likelihood of someone having an accident. It stands to reason that if you are in the car less time than someone else or not driving as many miles that it is less likely that you be have or encounter and accident. Therefore Insurance companies will partly work out you Car Insurance premium to reflect this.
However when applying for your Car Insurance it is important that your mileage is not under-exaggerated. If you needed to make a claim an insurer could request service and MOT records, which would give an idea of what your actual mileage over a period had been. If this isn't similar to the mileage that you declared when applying, then the claim is likely to end up being disputed.
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Is there a discount offered if you have 'Pass Pus'?
The Pass Plus course can be taken up to two years after you pass your driving test. By taking this course you could give yourself one of the biggest discounts that a newer driver can muster, although how much this discount would be would need to be discussed with the insurance company.
It consists of 6 driving lesson with different scenarios that should hopefully increase your driving knowledge and skills which could involve night driving maybe driving on the motorway. It is literally a course and does not have a test at the end of it.
Typically costs would be approximately £90-£160 and needs to be taken with an specially qualified instructor for the course.
Some insurance companies will offer up to a 40% discount although before banking on this it will be worthwhile speaking to them to see whether they recognize the course. Also it could be the case that the discount would not be available to you if you have points on your license or have had an accident.
Click here to get a quote for Car Insurance.
Remember that if the cost of the course is, for example £120. The discount on a £1200 premium could, for example be 30%, meaning an overall year saving of £240!
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Can an Advanced Driving Test provide an insurance discount?
By obtaining one of the further driving qualifications such as The Advanced Driving Test from the Institute of Advanced Motorists, it is likely that you may qualify for discounts on your Car Insurance. It takes roughly a couple of hours during which time you will be assessed on your level of car control, safety, speed and general smoothness of drive. Insurers sometimes offer a discount for this in the area of 10.
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Can I insure my classic car through you?
Classic cars in most circumstances are best served being insured through specialist Insurance companies whether they are used for rallies, club days or just standard daily use. Standard Insurance companies may well refuse to insure your car or charge larger rates.
Many more specialist insurance providers of Classic Car policies have entered the market in recent years.
The specialist classic car policies on many occasions feature further benefits compared to standard policies to help you feel at ease when driving your prized possession.
High mileage is usually restricted as these specialist insurance policies, in the most part, have not been designed for driving your classic car on day to day use, although you will find exceptions.
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Can I insure my van through you?
Having a van in most cases means that you will be using your vehicle for commercial purposes. This can mean that the type of vehicle insurance that you may require to cover these commercial purposes may well be different to that that a standard driver would need. One example of this is if the vehicle in question is a requirement for your business to actually function on a day to day basis, such as a courier.
In these sorts of circumstances there tend to be many options of insurance cover that can be selected due to the varied nature of the business uses.
To try to gain the best deal for you, make sure that you disclose full details of the requirements for your cover to make sure you don't end up getting cover for features that you would not need.
Sonar Direct is able to search a panel of insurers for Van Insurance and Car Insurance. Click here and you should be able to attain a competitive insurance quote in a matter of minutes.
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Can I affect my premium by leaving my car in different places overnight?
Yes you can as a factor that is used by many insurers to assess the risk of your insurance and hence the respective premium will be where the vehicle is left overnight, mostly due to the fact that a large amount of crimes against cars are committed during the hours of darkness.
Therefore, keeping your car on a driveway or a garage can help to lower the risk of such a crime taking place, which will hopefully also lower your Car Insurance premium.
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Do women get lower cost car insurance?
Insurance rates and rating factors are worked out through historical, statistical data and because women drivers have over years proved themselves as a whole to be better risks their insurance is usually cheaper than their male counterparts (although obviously this is assessed on a case by case basis).
In the case of younger drivers it can be particularly prevalent with younger women generally paying a considerable far less for their car insurance than young men.
We will search a panel of insurers to try to help reduce the cost of Car Insurance. Click here to get a competitive insurance quote in seconds.
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Can I be insured through you if I have modified my car?
Modifying your car can have implications for insurance, it tends to be more prevalent in younger drivers, but is highly likely to increase Car Insurance premiums.
It is very worthwhile to talk to insurance companies prior to modifying a vehicle to find out what sort of premiums you may have to pay for the changes.
The greater the modifications the more difficult it is likely to be to find an acceptable cost of cover. Changing your wheels to alloys with locking nuts may make no difference to your insurance, whereas changing engine will have serious insurance implications.
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If my car is being repaired will I get a replacement car for that period?
With our policies a replacement car is a benefit that is automatically included, but only if you have taken out Comprehensive insurance cover.
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Who is the main driver of a vehicle?
This main diver is the person who will use the car the most.
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What is legal cover?
When you have made a claim there can be circumstances meaning that certain costs are not covered through a standard car insurance policy, in many cases when you have not chosen to take out Comprehensive cover. That's where our uninsured loss recovery service can be of assistance.
Paying the additional premium for this means you will have professional help when recovering losses from such things as repairs to car hire, from the person responsible for the accident.
We'll help you towards an amicable solution including when to report an accident, whether your claim is a valid one.
This claim will be pursued as vigorously as possible and all possible steps will be taken, by legal process if necessary, to come to a satisfactory settlement.
However, you should be aware that some unforeseen factors are able to prejudice the liklihood of success which therefore are never able to be confidently predicted. Some expenses may well need to be made to the policyholder pending the outcome of such a claim.
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