Disappointed and a waste of time

Insurance is due soon so it was time to start ringing around for quotes. Bowsing through a recent copy of Total Off Road I see an advert by Direct Line.com. Thinking to myself they're advertising in an off road magazine therefore worth ringing. Anyway I called them up, spent ages listening to their drivel about the professional accumine (spelling?) and pressing 1's and 2's I eventually speak to human. The personal questions seemed endless; inside leg measurement, eye colour etc, all the usual drivel. Eventually we got on to the vehicle, after quoting here the reg she tells me it's a Frontera Sport S 2.8 TD, correct says I. She the asked if it was modified in any way so I duely told her it had a 2" suspension lift and none standard alloys with 32" mud tyres, then she wanted to know if the lift affected the engine power where upon I explained to the blimp that suspension had nothing to do with BHP or torque and the reason for the lift was to acheive more ground clearance forgreen lane driving. At which point she seemed to be a little vague and went to call up the underwriters. She came back with " unfortunately we have to decline your inquiry".

So, help me Lord, why does a National Insurance Compamy advertise and tout for business insuring vehicles in what is a hardcore off road magazine, where most of the feature vehicles and advertised componentry is designed to modify your truck into a monster bog hopper when they have no intension of quoting you, even for a mildly modified daily driver. Apart from wasting their own money on pointless adverts someone in there marketing department wants their A88e kicked for not doing their research thoroughly.

But more importantly, if you has as much as hung an air freshener in your Fronty don't bother calling Directline as I'm sure they would see this as a none standard embelishment thus efusing you a quote.

Think I'll stick with LV through Glynwood.

Rant over, Regards

Stuart

I used to use Frank Pickles as they were great with modified stuff but they were taken over by another company and didn't want to know.
I'm now with Swift cover and they seem ok explained I had oversize wheels and tyres they were a little worried until I said they were steel and not alloy's then they were fine they were more worried about the proof of no claims bonus

I called FP they havent been taken over its just they have had a stricter stipulation on the underwriters, so they can not quote competitive prices anymore, but if you are already insured and are deemed as not risky (changing cars, or policy details often) they will continue to honour existing policies, but this is at the underwriters discretion.
So short and tall for the time being is no new business but they will pick who they retain, this is for the moment and they assured me they are looking for other options.
In this financial climate things are tough and "perceived" risky insurance gets hit first. :evil:

Thats a bit weird I was told they were now part of the Hyperformance group and the policy on insuring modified vehicles had changed, my quote rose from £124.00 to over £400.00 quite a big rise so I went with Swift cover £160.00 fully comp where FP was only 3rd party fire and theft.
I would have thought a 53 year old with over 10 years NCB would have been a safe risk but I must be wrong

I last spoke to them about June'ish (its posted here somewhere at the time) my policy was up in May and continued.
No mention of a take over and looking at their site now still indicates its a family brokers but the 4x4 specialist insurance option has been removed, this was as, I was informed as a result of abuse, people in for the short term who are not modifying cars and using them as an everyday car but actually claiming the car was modified (if you see what I mean) this produced more claims and the underwrites pulled the plug, though they keep reservations with some, so its basically out of FP hands.

Had the conversation with FP last year, as i use mine as a daily drive as well as a toy my annual mileage expectation is circa 10,000 there not really covered by a restricted mileage policy, shame really cause the fronty ticked all the other boxes. Maybe I'll give Swift cover a call!

Regards

Stuart

Got my insurance sorted though it beats me how they arrive at then price. Current insurers renewal premium is £362.00. Graham Sykes insurance wanted 3£367.00. The company that goes by the name of 2Gether quote £295.00, needless to say I bought it. I quoted them all identical particulars............ here's this part I don't understand...... all 3 brokers quotes to me were from the same company; Highway underwritten by LV. Can anyone make sense of it?

Regards

Stuart

And the irony is its Highway and LV that Frank Pickles used

I ended up with Flux. They were a bit more expensive (£380 versus £300 with FP) but I have a much better policy with NCD, european cover, etc. I'm guessing FP decided I was too risky cos I have points, either way they weren't straight with me so I won't be going back to them even if they do sort their problems out.

Noel Dazeley seem to use the same policies as FP and quoted me £307 with 6 points and an accident on my record, but unfortunately their quote came through too late for me to take advantage of it. The strange thing is their quote was an LV policy, but if you phone LV direct they say they don't insure modified vehicles. I'm assuming that stuff is done by a satellite company that trades under the LV name but isn't part of the main business.

Provided their prices remain reasonable I'm happy to stick with Flux for now. The policy is much more comprehensive and worth the extra money for those of you who can't get away with calling your fronty your second car (which is a requirement with the FP type policies)