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MG ZR ZS ZT Technical - Z Insurance

Need to sort some Insurance today!
Who are others with and how much.

First quote Ive sourced (for ZS 180) is with Norwich Union @ £710.

Kelvin.
Kelvin

> Who are others with and how much

I'm with Direct Line and was told that my premium for the whole year would have been just under £500. I've heard of others getting a good price from Tesco Insurance as well.

HTH,

S.
Steve H

I have been amazed by a quote from Lancaster and have now accepted!
£383.25p (I had to renew MGOC membership which had lapsed)

I'm 40+ full no claims etc.
Clean licence, car to garaged!

I'm well pleased, cut my insurance by around 1/3rd

Kelvin.
Kelvin

I'm with Direct Line for my ZS180, my premium is about £560 for the year with bonus protection and legal cover. I have full no-claims, drive about 18k per year. I shopped around, but other companies were just too expensive for me.

Alex
Alex Rogers

Okay I know it's our club scheme but do check out Lancasters MGOC scheme. It's currently very competitive and includes RAC cover, rescue, recovery, at home and European cover too. If you are unlucky enough to write the car off in the first twelve months, you get a new replacement. It might not suit each and every risk but overall it is pretty good.

If someone has no no claims bonus because they have had a company car they can get an intro discount up to 65% off with a letter from their firm to say that they have had a claims free record. Anyone have any problems, send me an e mail and I'll do my best to help.

Cheers

Roche

For a quote call 01480 484848, look up the website www.lancaster-ins.co.uk
roche bentley

Thanks Roche for your comments as you know I am well pleased with my quote!

Alex, I would think it is the 18k miles that has moved you up the scale. I do between 10-12 miles per annum which I think is still the national average?

Kelvin
Kelvin

I was asked a strange question when completing the proposal over the phone.
When I said I was a photorapher I was asked wheter I came came across any celebrities in my work. I said to the the girl "I know your boss Roche Bentley and asked does he count?"

I wondered if this was anything to do with the Lady Diana incident when the photographers chased her on motorcylces?

Kelvin
Kelvin

Believe it or not but we paid £328 with Tesco.com. But telephone them rather than online quote.
That is 2 drivers 34 & 40, 4 years ncd, fully comp.
Nik & Anita

Nik & Anita, good price, any benefits with the policy?, and what is excess on the policy?

Kelvin.
Kelvin

Kelvin - I think that driving 18k does push it up a little, along with having 3 points for an SP30 (doing 70mph in a 50 zone on the M20 in May 98).

Alex
Alex Rogers

Kelvin, Cambs, UK

I am no expert, but I would think that the reason you were asked if you come into contact with celebrities is just in case you were to drive them in your car and crashed. You (well your insurance company) would be sued bigtime.

ProMGR

£200 excess (would have been £50 less with a £600 excess)
Benefits??? Breakdown cover is included, other than that it is fully comp' insurance. We did not protect the NCD as that whole subject is in my opinion a grey area.
Nik & Anita

Re Kelvin's photography occupation. Insurers load journalists and press photographers. They particularly don't like major newspaper and tabloid photographers. News desk involvement indicates a possibility of racing to scenes to beat the competition. Fashion and celeb photogaphers are loaded because of their possible association with high earning stars. They are believed to have the opportunity to mix socially with their subjects and if they crash and hurt say a top model or top footballer, the claim for lost earnings could be very high.

Roche

Re Tesco's If you had a claim and needed help because it wasn't straightforward, you may need someone to prod the insurer into paying. If you insured with the MGOC, I would do what I could. Can you imagine the boss of Tescos fighting your corner? Should we start selling Tea and Coffee? Free jar of Nescafe with every policy? Might be a good idea afterall.


roche bentley

Roche I will be stopping by the club this week, so its a white coffe, no sugar!! ;-)

Kelvin
Kelvin

Roche,

You wouldn't insure my SEAT Leon TDi would you ;-)

Acually, I dont have a problem insuring newer cars (24, full NCB etc etc), but I have had problems getting a quote on my 1991J Montego GTi Estate (MG Spec), cheapest for limited mileage (3000), and 3rd party F&T was over £400, for a car I'm only going to drive to shows etc!!!! :-(

My Showroom condition 1990G Montego 1.6L is better, £197 on Classic policy, agreed value £1500.

Neil
Neil Turner

Just like to say THANKS to Nik & Anita for the Tesco tip.........saved me £60.....Thanks again.
Mega.
Mega

Roche,
We have spoken to Lancaster insurance for quotes for our MGF & ZS180. Very disappointed on both occasions. Tesco have a very good reputation and were keen for our business and very helpful. I do understand that you have a bias towards the MGOC insurance but you must accept that all other companies are not inferior. We will continue to obtain quotes off the MGOC and when the quote is competative we will, as keen members, accept it.
Nik & Anita

I did not try Tesco's for a quote, it may have saved a few quid on premiums in short term but the differences in excess can easily wipe out any savings shud you make a claim.

In my case, because of where I live, Lancasters are on my doorstep so any promlems, they are just 20 mins up the road (oops forgot! thats just 10 mins now in the ZS) :-)

Kelvin
Kelvin

Kelvin
I did try Tesco, Direct line and several other companies and Lancasters were still cheapest! and as you rightly say they and the MGOC are right on the doorstep if we ever need them
Cheshire Cat

Hi Nik and Anita

premiums vary and can rise or fall almost daily. We try to keep abreast of what other insurers are doing and whilst some risks can be cheaper than others we try to keep competitive across the board. When comparing prices remember that the club includes RAC Rescue, Recovery, At Home, European cover, the full monty! I didn't say Tescos were inferior. If you had a claim and the Tesco claims manager was unwilling to pay you what you wanted who would you shout at? If one of our insurers was being unhelpful, (and all insurers want to avoid claims if they can) then you have me and the size and the power of our schemes to battle on your behalf. Personally I like Tescos. Please e mail me personally with details of the quote you got from the club and the Tesco premium. If I can use it (without showing your personal details of course) to get our underwriter to look again at our rates then that will improve our scheme for others and for you next year.

Cheers Roche
roche bentley

Hi,

Thanks for the tips in this thread.

I "upgraded" from an MGF VVC to a ZS 180 earlier on this year. My company (15 yrs a customer) grouped the ZS at 18 and charged me £697 (fully comp, Protected NCD, Advanced motorist, Owner & spouse 39/40, both in HM forces). After phoning a couple of the firms mentioned above I am now getting a refund from my company as I threatened to go elsewhere based on todays quotes.

The refund..........£314!!!!!

Cheers all!!!

Regards
Pilky
ZS 180 5dr Trophy Blue
Pilky

No e mail yet from nik and anita, if I can compare the rates and benefits against the club scheme I may be able to persuade the underwriter to lower the club quote. I am delighted with tescos for insuring mega. cheers lads! don't forget to disclose your modifications mega. We don't want your claim being rejected.

anyone having insurance problems, i'll help if i can, use my e mail if you prefer.

cheers

roche
roche bentley

Should we need to e-mail the MD of Lancaster Insurance to get a good deal? Shouldn't you just provide a good, quality service from the outset.

After 5 years of claim free custom with Lancaster, "you" doubled the premium on my modified midget a couple of years back. I rang your call centre and was told that was it - a done deal. Needless to say I took my business else where... How many people have done that to you, without your knowledge? In trying to con me/ rip me off (take you pick) you lost my business.

And how many people do we know who's company driopped the price of insurance on the threat of taking the business else where? Pilky from Somerset (above) for one!

New ZR arrives next week. It comes with free insurance for a year. I can void the cowboy insurance industry for another year...

David
David Coulthard

Hi David, You are right of course re good service from the outset, every insurer does his best to get the right premium for the risk and if he can take enough to cover his claims, he's happy, if he doesn't take enough, he goes broke. The insurers on our panel quote us premiums and we negotiate the best deals we can get. If a competitor is offering lower premiums and we can persuade our insurers to match them, we do. But if everyone else is higher we can't.

Insurers load on performance and expensive modifications and cover the cost of replacing those mods if a loss occurs. Some brokers "forget" to tell their insurers about a customer's mod. If a small claim occurs, no one checks and they get away with it. If a big claim occurs, the mod may be discovered and the insurer can refuse the claim. The "cowboy" broker then might claim that the policyholder never mentioned the mods. Not so common with MGs but VERY common with Minis.

An insurer we used to use (Highway ay lloyds) would drop his premium to undercut a competitor. Therefore if he quoted say £300 and someone else quoted £250, he would bring his rate to below £250. Great for the client but the insurer lost a fortune and cancelled the deal earlier on this year. Again, "cowboy" brokers have a premium set at say £300, they'll quote £350 and if the customer buys it, fine. But if he argues or says he can get it cheaper, they "reduce" it to £300. That dodgy practice is illegal and is being curbed by the new strict GISC rules. Our insurance department applies the GISC rules properly.

There's no such thing as "free" insurance. The insurer agrees a set rate with the company and the company pays it to include "free" cover. Then at renewal the insurer hopes to get the right premium. You could ask your dealer to knock off the "free" insurance and then obtain a quote for the difference. Ususally the "free" insurance is a bargain but then you should shop around at renewal. Our scheme replaces a stolen or written off car in the first year with a brand new one from the dealer. Other insurers offer to "top up" the depreciation. Eg, your new car costs say £13 on the day you buy it, as you drive it away, it's worth say £11k. The top up cover is extra and covers the depreciation. Is that a con or what?

Lancaster is actually part of the MGOC, it trades as MGOC Insurance for members and Lancaster for non members and non MGs classics, motorbikes and vans. If anyone has a problem I do my best to help.

I take delivery of my ZTT this weekend, good luck with yours. Super cars.
Roche
roche bentley

The ZTT I have to see Roche!!!
What colour have you chosen?

Kelvin
Kelvin

Roche,
But how does that explain the suddent drop in premium if the insured complains about the price (i.e. e-mails you)? Are you simply relying on the punter not shopping round, in the hope of bit of extra income? What other business operates like that?

Ah, the car sales business does. Start with a silly figure and let the haggeling commence.

Can you imagine the queue at Sainsbury's if they introduced that sort of pricing structure? "You want 25p for a tin of beans? I'll give you 15 and not a penny more...".

Insurers, just give the punter a fair price!

David

David Coulthard

Hi David, There is no sudden drop in price now, the Highway price beating policy died earlier in the year. If however customers can show us examples where our insurer is highly priced, armed with that info we can present a case to the underwriter and say "Look we are losing business to this company. If they feel that they can cover themselves at this lower premium, can you look it your sums again?" Now either they'll say no and that's that, or they'll look at our whole scheme, feel happy with its performance and they'll agree to drop the premium to help us sell the policies. Then they'll monitor the claims closely and if things go well, they'll leave the rate as it is. But if the claims exceed income, they'll say sorry but up go the rates.

Tbe analogy with Sainsbury's is perfect. Sainsbury's watch Tescos and others closely, they see Heinz Beans selling cheaper at Tescos and so they lower their price. They see something that they sell cheaply selling dearer elsewhere and up goes their price!

Sadly insurers are merging and some are going out of business. Five years ago, we had thirty to forty good insurers chasing classic business, we now have less than ten. The other day Cornhill bought Groupama. We have good schemes with both. What will happen? We'll be reduced by yet another one. In 2001 Independent collapsed, Drake fell last year and just before that London and Edinburgh got bought by NU and their classic car scheme wasn't anywhere as good as L and E.

Happily, new, small, niche insurers are emerging but its a very competitive and tough market to do well in.
(It is interesting and fun if you like a battle, fortunately I love it.)

In real terms, customers are paying less for motor policies than we were before.

Roche
roche bentley

Hi Kelvin,

the ZTT is anthracite. A rich charcoal grey colour I wanted the same colour as the X power, I could have it but at another £2,500! No thanks.

Should be on the road by next Monday or Tuesday.

Cheers

Roche
roche bentley

This thread was discussed between 16/11/2001 and 14/12/2001

MG ZR ZS ZT Technical index

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