UK Insurance for customized Caddys

[Doc]

I've had my renewal from Brentacre today, I'll be pricing around as I always do but more than likely stay put. Less than last year but only by 4%.
They've been spot on for me although I've only ever had to claim a windscreen. To which their underwriter wouldn't agree to me having a genuine VW screen fitted to a van more than two years old which kinda pissed me off somewhat.

[Scoobysrt]

Hmm, not sure what to do now then.
I might give some others a call tomorrow in that case and go from there, if its not much difference in price I'll stay put and grit my teeth.

[Scoobysrt]

Just an update, still no documents from Adrian flux, over 30 emails, 15 phone calls and lots of arguments over consumer rights and their cancellation charges for a policy still not active for 2 weeks. Ive still had no documents and everytime I ring they act like its a new request, say they will send them out and never do, they constantly refer me to their portal to download email replies which doesn't work for me. I gave them until today to sort something out.

In the end I've just had a quote from Brentacre for £420, which is £35 cheaper than flux and has 2k more miles on the policy, (6k)

Flux eventually said they would wave the cancellation fees so I've requested a refund from flux and will likely go with brentacre.

I wish I had never heard of Adrian flux, I will never ring them again.

[Ripley55]

Hi @Scoobysrt
Fingers crossed, I’ve not really had any problems with Flux, I’m like you mate, hate having my chain jerked, and if they had p*ssed me about like that I’d walk too.
I’ve got my 65 VW Beetle with them, £180.40p a year, and my Caddy with all the Mods listed comes in at £413.94p a year, with mileage limit set at 7500 miles per year.
It’s actually up for renewal on 04/01/21, so lucky I checked after seeing this thread.
I’ll see what the renewal looks like, but may have a little look see around just to double check, although at £414, I thought that about right ?

[Scoobysrt]

£414 doesn't sound terrible with flux if you're willing to play their games and can download your policy ok and everything.

I personally dont trust adrianflux now and if they treated me like this on taking a new policy out I dred to think what the treatment would be like if heaven forbid, I need to claim. Im just hoping I don't have to spend the rest of the month chasing my refund up.

Things have actually just changed in my situation again, Brentacre wanted a copy of my driving license which I can't find at the moment after a house move so I rang aplan and they don't need it, they said its an outdated request that they don't ask for anymore. Also Brentacre admin charges are obscene, £75 to do this or that, other charges on top etc, as he was reading them out i was thinking to myself the annual price will double if I ring to add mods on more than twice in a year.

Aplan price is £300 inc broker and legal aid costs etc so its a bargain, they are also doing my car at less than its renewal price as well (due on same day) so im happy as Larry.

I highly recommend aplan. Their excesses are less than flux or brentacre and any admin charges etc either aren't charged for or are £30.
With aplan I had a very pleasant chat on a clear phone line with someone who knew what he was talking about who genuinely seemed to care. Its rare i recommend anyone as highly but the difference in the headache ive had for the last month to go to getting both vehicles sorted in a quick phone call is certainly the way I like things to be done.
01635879910, they then transfer you to their modified van branch in Thatcham.

[scratcher]

I've been with Brentacre for years. I've got a few policies with them and they've always been great.

Theyre a decent broker for modified stuff and seem to reward you for declaring all of your mods.

The only downside for me is that they don't do multi car.

[Doc]

I've never had a problem with Brentacre either, they've always been spot on for me.
I'm certain the admin charge when I declared my engine change was £25 so I'll be checking to make sure that's not gone up.
As for the driver's license and aplan saying it's a dated process, isn't it a requirement to provide your license to police when requesting while driving? I'd read the small print on that one, it may be a get out clause for them in the event of a claim.

[the swan fiend]

I don’t recall ever being asked to provide my drivers licence when taking out insurance. I did notice a few years ago that the likes of moneysupermarket have a box to provide your licence number, but it’s optional.

How would not providing it affect a decision to pay out in the event of a claim?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Scoobysrt]

Aplan did say there's a company that they sometimes deal with that request to see it in the event of a claim but I'm not with them. My license will definitely turn up, its just in a pile of stuff I've not gone through yet and had hoped I didn't have to go through right now.

Its not a legal requirement to carry your license, the police sometimes ask for it but its all on computer, the police know everything before you've even stopped. These days they've got a direct line to the dvla and to an insurance database so its all done over radio before they put their blue lights on. There's no local stations open around here anymore and I've not heard of producers for years.

Brentacre seemed OK and were only £30 dearer than aplan, the first guy I spoke to seemed friendly and helpful and I was going to go with them, I didn't want to take the policy out without first cancelling flux so I rang flux up to cancel and start the refund rocess and it was only when I rang brentacre back to take the policy out I got someone different who wasn't as warming, the line was bad (of course it could have been my end) and when I said ill go ahead with it he started reading the charges out.
It was something along the lines of 1 thing was £75 (maybe if I cancelled) with an additional fee from the insurance company on top, if I wanted to add a mod on mid policy it was £45 per mod or something, £75 + company fee if they cancel it £25 for policy changes etc, I must admit when the numbers started coming out I started to think I should have stayed with flux and started to switch off, there were around 5or6 different charges for various instances, it seemed never ending.
The excesses were a bit expensive as well, £350 in case of a claim with a £100 voluntary on top.

When it got to evidence I said I could email my ncd proof and take a pic of my mileage counter he then asked for my driving license, I said I hadn't ever had to do that before and unfortunatley ive lost it right now. He said I can just get a new one, there's enough time between now and when I need the policy to start, I said I didn't want a picture license, I've held off for as long as I can and also it costs £20 which puts the insurance £20 higher, and I don't have a passport so I have to fill additional forms to provide a picture which i can't get done locally in which case makes the process take longer and could possibly take it close if not over the date I need to start my insurance as I'm in tier3. He just said well everyone needs to move to a picture license at some time and I thought not if I can help it.
We left it that I would try to find my license to scan for him and get back to them.

As I stood up I looked at my bit of paper that had brentacre, greenlight and aplan numbers written on it so out of interest rang greenlight, they said they needed a copy of my license as well so I didn't even get a quote with them.

I rang aplan and they said they don't need my license, its outdated and its done electronically now through the dvla and it will be checked during the quotation process, the rest you know. The excess for a claim is £100 and the windscreen excess is £90 so much cheaper than the others not that I've ever claimed in 25 years of driving.

Each to their own, experiences will vary, there's probably those that don't like aplan but they also knocked £50 off the cheapest quote I had found for my car and also added my 70yo dad on the car as an additional driver for free so I insured van and car with them. The only thing is they don't cover my tools in my van but neither did the others, they did give me a number of one of their other companies that does deal with that sort of insurance who ill give a ring to next week.


Just to answer the question above posted while I've been typing this out, as a locksmith I know only too well insurance companies will use any excuse at all not to pay out on any policy, I see house break ins not covered daily because they didn't have the locks they request fitted but they dont tell you those locks when you take the policy out they just ask if you have bs3621 locks which people don't understand and just say yes but I think they would be on shacky ground not paying out for no license having been seen as they can be checked electronically. They may however use it as an excuse to reduce your claim or increase your premium if they request it and don't get it.

[Ripley55]

Well it's back to the drawing board for me
There I am a few posts back, harping on about having a decent deal with Adrian Flux, and I have just got my renewal today.
So to recap. On 6th Jan last year, I paid Flux for Insurance for 1 year. Premium was £341.01p, plus £100 Policy issue fee, making the payment total £441.01p
(Apologies not £414.00p,as I said in an earlier post)
Today have an email from them saying that my Policy is up for renewal on the 5th Jan 2021, that they've got me a great deal, and that they will take the F****ing Payment automatically from my card on the 5th with this year coming in at £551.99p which is a 25% increase on last year. Soon as they open for business at 09.00, I'm going to be on their case.
Then it's Brentacre, or A Plan for a quote

[the swan fiend]

I’m with Flux, mine is up in February. I paid £434 last year. I’ll be interested to see what they want this year.
They’ll probably blame the price rise on COVID......that’s the go to scapegoat at the moment for a lot of things.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[C Chis]

I'm with Admiral.

£292.62 - 0yrs no claims, 58 yr old, fully comp, £250 excess, AA recovery, lowered (<5cm), Alloys, all cosmetic changes - bumpers, seats, aircon, etc..

I was quoted a slightly cheaper price from Aplan, £275, which i would have taken if I was lowering my van more, however, decided to stay with Admiral for the moment...

Might be worth giving them a shout...

[the swan fiend]

Indeed mate. That’s not a bad price at all!
If I could get anywhere near that I’d be happy.
I’m 39. 20 years no claims, and in Liverpool.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Scoobysrt]

Well as I say I couldn't recommend Aplan enough, documents came first thing Monday morning after sorting it out the Friday afternoon.
Price was £300 all in with 6k mileage limit, legal costs, protected ncd etc, and I got my car done with them for an extra £188.
My van is performance modded which makes a difference, Aplan and most others don't seem to mind aesthetic mods.

On the flux thing, it's still not over for me, considering they couldn't seem to get insurance documents to me they sure can get threatening letters out to me. I left a review on yell about them, every review is terrible across the internet so I joined in, and they sent a letter asking if it was me and if so telling me to remove it, not asking telling, so I left another on trust pilot lol.

They also sent a letter saying its illegal to drive with no insurance and as I had cancelled I had none and that they would report it to the dvla unless I renewed with them.

Bear in mind I've never been insured with flux, I paid them for a policy not due to start until the 18th this month and cancelled it before it started.

Worst company Ive ever dealt with for anything.

The 3 main ones mentioned on this thread other than them are,
Brentacre,
Greenlight,
A-plan,

I would get a quote from all 3 and see who you prefer and not just based on price.
A-plan was quite obviously on a different level to the others for me but your experience could of course be different.

A quick note on renewals, I've found out, if you pay annually in one payment they are not allowed to auto renew and take payment without your consent.
If you pay monthly or in any kind of instalments they can and will auto renew. This goes for any insurance but whether they all do or not I don't know, flux do of course.

If you go online to your bank you should be able to see any set up debits as a standing order or direct debit, simply cancel the flux one if its there and you don't need to do anything else although I recommend a courtesy call or email to them saying you're not renewing. If they renew automatically and can't take the payment you are not liable for the period they say they insured you for before they realised or was told you're not paying or continuing.

Let us know how you get on.

[Ripley55]

Oh well
Had a long chat with Flux..............Total waste of time !! "Yes sir, £551.99p is our best price" !! But...................."If you get a better quote elsewhere, we GUARANTEE to beat it"?? How the F**k does that work ??

Anyway, went online with Brentacre, added all my details, and listed all of the Modifications, and got a call back within the hour. Very helpful, and everything I wanted, and they can do it for £445.00p.

So do I go back to Flux, and let them beat that price ?? Do you know what ? Bollox will I.

I'm 99% probably going to go with Brentacre. I may give Admiral a quick look at it, but I have written formally to Flux to their renewals dept and confirmed I will NOT be renewing at all.