Dreaded Car Insurance renewal time

10/01/2010 - 15:36

Well it is THAT time of year again and I have to renew the car insurance. Up till now I have always used Direct Line because it was the cheapest, but to me it was always extortionate! Last year the insurance was 763 Euros, and this year's renewal notice put it at 818 Euros. Believe me, nothing has changed, I have just got one year older! I found a wonderful site www.assicurazione.it which is just like go compare in the UK. You put in some simple details and it comes out with quotes from 11 insurance companies. Mine were ranging from 541 Euros with ConTe right up to 1406 Euros with Linear. Needless to say, I went with ConTe, and you literally click, pay and go. I was amazed to save 300 Euros, and I just thought this might be useful information for all of you out there who have to pay Italian car insurance!

Comment

I love you London lass!

Thanks very valuable info

Londonlass. Is that a 3rd party, or fully comprehensive policy, as have just paid £816 for a comprehensive policy through Italsure?

Well.............the way you drive , you got lucky !!! S

Hi Badger, It is third party as well as damage to windscreen etc and legal cover. Interestingly I think comprehensive was still a lot cheaper than the amount you have paid. When I asked Italsure for a quote they came back with over 900 Euros. Well worth looking at this site before next year! Sorry I could not tell you about it before you paid this year's premium.

That's not very nice........ lol I always drive safely, albeit fast!!! Anyway Sprostoni, don't think you have ever driven with me!!

It does seem to be an excellent price you have been given but I would urge anyone using the site to check the policy they take out really is like for like and double check the small print! Many Italian insurance companies tie you in for a fixed period, often as many as 10 years and to leave early you have to pay a high penalty fee. If you are taking out a policy for the first time in Italy, most companies give no regard to the 5 years NCB from UK or wherever, so you start in the enormous premium group as if you have never been insured before. Also, not all companies basic insurance policies cover all occupants of the car! Perhaps I am just too cynical in my old age, but when something seems to be too good to be true, it all too often is, but I hope not in this case! Even so, best to do all the checks beforehand.

I've just renewed my policy at a bargain price of over 1000 euro...but I'll certainly look into this for next year. Thanks!

It's definitely worth using these 'comparison' sites. Another one is www.6sicuro.it which I religiously connect to, and it always comes up with www.genialloyd.it as my 'best buy'. The historic snag of Italian insurance companies 'tying you in' to a ten year period is truly historic these days. I don't know of any online site which imposes this 'tacito rinnovo' condition. It's something which a 'friendly insurance agent' might try to wedge you into - just refuse. I think it is even illegal nowadays.

Well...............very fortunately(?) I have NEVER (in 40+ years) needed to claim on any house or car insurance. Arriving here in Italy (very naive, not speaking the language etc etc)............bought a car, had it insured through RSA. One year later at renewal time I received a letter from said insurers which I understood (my fault!) to mean that I had to let them know if I didn't want to renew. Due to linguistic difficulties, I decided (about 10 days before the renewal date) to go their office and tell them that I didn't want to renew. The reply was along the lines of ' your are contractually required to renew because you should have told us IN WRITING two weeks before the due date '. WAS I NOT HAPPY !!!!!! So...........I renewed.................grrrrr! I made sure that I didn't get caught out on that one the following year by having the lady at the brokers write the next years cancellation letter there and then. I thought this would therefore allow me to leisurely decide who to go with a year later. As it happened, (and with my grasp of the Italian language and the systems here having improved a little)...........A week or so before renewal date, I went back to the same broker and asked for a price to renew................The price had gone UP 300euros(!!!!), because I would be treated as a new customer due to the fact that I had cancelled in writing a year earlier !!! Absolutely mad crazy !! If I had had the language skills that I thought would have been needed, I would have written to the Head Office of RSA here in Italy and told them that they were letting circa 1,000 euros slip through their hands to a competitor. Sadly I was unable to do take this on. So the lock-in on insurance policies does exist, but there is a get out if you can understand it.......... In my second year of living here I ended up with TWO house insurances due to a similar lock-in clause. Over my three years of living here, the insurances side of things has been far the worst. I will look at the comparison site next year for sure. S

Believe me, the path to this enlightenment has not been an easy one! We moved here 7 years ago and had to buy a robust car that could cope with the rigours of a very steep unreliable white road! Our first car was a Honda 4x4 - old, not new, and we first went to our local insurance offices trying to get a quote. First no-one wanted to try and cope with our infant level of Italian, and then when they did, the quotes were the equivalent of a super mortgage! Eventually, we found Direct Line and they tried hard to help us out. After a lot of fuss, we persuaded them that as we had a letter from Norwich Union Direct saying that my husband had been driving blamelessly for more years than he hoped, we had a full no claims bonus, and that this could be transferred to our new Italian insurance. Well, they did not give us the full no claims, but they did give us 3 years. We then stuck with Direct Line for a few years because although we tried other companies we could not get a better quote. (This was about 900 Euros!)Then we changed the car three years ago and bought an old Nissan X trail in my name. When I tried Direct Line for insurance, it was when they had just brought ou7t this Bersani rule that a wife could use her husband's no claim bonus if she had nebver had insurance in Italy before. So, I got my first insurance at about 820 Euros. Last year it went down to 750 Euros, and although we looked at other companies we could not better that. It was only when my renewal notice from direct line put my insurance up rather than down, that I started looking on this comparison site. ConTe was very simple to complete, and saved me 300 Euros, so I think it was well worth while. However, as I said, the journey to enlightenment was a long, painful and expensive one!

The high premium was for the Mitsubishi Pajero LWB. Have just had the quote in for the citroen xsara as copied and pasted below. "Your motor insurance is due for renewal with us on 02 November 2010. The renewal premium is US$ 859 (about 540 GBP)."

I think the best way to get the best prices is to use one of those many comparators that now exist in the market. They can at least give you an overview of the prices, and which company is expensive or not... Well I personnally do that and I have saved hundreds of euros...