The Matthews Guide to Motor Insurance – Insurance Specialists – Buyers GuideBuy The Guide for only £1.99
home | about us | features | contact us | information | quotation | companies  

 

Price comparison companies

• Best Advice UK
• gocompare.com
• Moneysupermarket
• Tesco Compare

List of companies
(analysed by Matthews Guide)

• AA Insurance
• Admiral
• AIG Direct

• Asda
• Auto Direct
• Aviva
• Barclays Insurance
• Bell Direct
• Bradford & Bingley
• Budget
• Churchill
• CIS

• Dial Direct
• Diamond
• Direct Choice
• Direct Line
• E Car Insurance
• E Sure
• easyMoney.com
• Egg
• Elephant
• Endsleigh
• First Alternative
• Ford
• Halifax
• Hastings
• HSBC Insurance
• Insure & Go
• Insure it all
• its4me
• Kwik Fit
• Lancaster Insurance
• Liverpool Victoria
• Lloyds TSB
• Marks & Spencer
• Masterquote
• Mercedes
• More Than
• Nationwide
• NatWest
• Nissan
• Peoples Choice
• Privilege
• Prudential
• Quinn Direct
• RAC
• Rias
• Royal Bank
of Scotland

• Saga
• Sainsbury's
• Screentrade
• Sheilas Wheels
• Swiftcover.com
• Swinton
• Tesco
• The Post Office
• Toyota
• Vauxhall
• Virgin
• Volvo
• What Car Insurance
• YES Insurance
• Yorkshire Bank
• Zurich

line

 

Direct Line

3 Stars
Direct Line
Major insurance company –
Owned by Royal Bank of Scotland – developed by Peter Woods.

(av) amounts in brackets are market average.
Address:
3 Edridge Road, Croydon. CR9 1AG.
Affiliated Companies:
• Churchill • Privilege • Tesco • Prudential
• Nationwide
• Virgin • Lloyds TSB • Egg
• Royal Bank of Scotland
• Natwest • Nissan
• Vauxhall • BMW • NIG.
APR on instalments:
21.5% (23.5%) average. Deposit then 10 monthly payments by direct debit poor value.
Cancellation charges:
1 months premium charged as fee (£42).
Courtesy car:
Guaranteed courtesy car upgrade £29 (£24) poor value.
Foreign Use:
First 3 days of trip (69 free days) not great.
Notify your company of any trip abroad before going.
Legal protection:
£23 (£21) poor value.
Maximum age for new business:
80 years-of-age.
Personal accident cover:
Difficult to ascertain until policy has been paid for (they do give you 14 days to study the policy and schedule, you can then cancel without penalty).
Policy amendment fee:
£17.85 (£16.75) too high.
Protected no claims discount:
Do not pay more than 10% extra.
Staff:
Good product knowledge, polite 8/10 (7/10).
Standard use of car:
Normally includes use in connection with your occupation + social. Some occupations are social use only.
Stereo & personal effects cover:
Difficult to ascertain until policy has been paid for (they do give you 14 days to study the policy and schedule, you can then cancel without penalty).
Vehicle breakdown:
Green Flag (owned by Direct Line). Basic cover price £35.70 (£34) plus home call £70 (£65.50) expensive.
Voluntary excess available:
• £150 • £250 • £350
Windscreen Cover:
Included free. Excess £60 (£63) average.
Repairs £10.
Cards Accepted:
• Major Credit/Debit cards.
Website:
www.directline.com – Excellent layout, well designed.
Phone Number:
Local rate: 0845 246 8701.
Comments:
Not competitive in 2008 look closely at your renewal premium as alternatives are available. Very expensive. Beware of increases of compulsory excess on renewals.

Special Offers

Motor or Home
legal protection policies...
from £9.99

Guaranteed courtesy car...
for only £16.99

Breakdown cover
including home start...
for only £42.50

Go to offers page.


Best Advice UK
www.bestadviceuk.co.uk

http://www.localmotoring.com
w
ww.localmotoring.com

Legal Cover

Company summary:

• Recently competitive on young drivers.

• Not particularly competitive on anything else.

• Direct Line are now charging £10 for windscreen repairs (previously free).

• Beware renewals as compulsory excesses on windscreen cover and accidental damage etc. have been increased and are not very well shown on renewal notices.

• The Direct Line Group have a habit of increasing compulsory excess at renewal without properly explaining or highligting this on the renewal notice. They also impose automatic renewal of policies without properly telling their client.

• Named drivers now earn no claims bonus with the Direct Line Group. But this applies in the first year only and you then go back to one-years no claims discount (assuming you've had no claims).

• Direct Line are not reducing no claims bonus if the vehicle is damaged due to vandalisim.

Tel: 01782 838404 • Email: info@matthewsguide.co.uk
The Matthews Guide to Motor Insurance – Independent Insurance Advice