Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

Bitumen Boy · Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 2:51 pm Post subject:

I don't know it, but I suspect the real issue is that the wider insurance industry uses this dodge to discourage people from running classics as everyday cars - which is what we've been doing for the last several years. Essentially, they want to keep people paying out to keep a modern(ish) car on the road for fear of losing their NCB, in case they might need it one day.

Either that, or they assume that classics are unreliable, therefore you hardly ever drive it on the road, and thus you haven't really got any experience/road sense under your belt - which of course makes you a bad risk. Personally I think driving a slower older vehicle makes you more aware of what's going on around you, and makes you a safer driver, but that's not the sort of logic at work in the insurance industry. For instance, on one site I could toggle between comprehensive and TPFT cover - selecting TPFT instantly increased the premium by 50% or so! I've heard they consider people who opt for comprehensive to be a better risk - until, of course, TPFT cover is priced out of the market permanently and premiums skyrocket for everyone - but that's just taking the mickey.

ukdave2002 · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 4279 Location: South Cheshire

It was my understanding that one of the reasons classic vehicle insurance was cheap is because the driver has a policy on a modern and therefore the classic wouldn't be the main vehicle used, if the policyholder only has a classic then I'd have assumed it would be assessed and charged for in the same way as a modern?

Dave

Bitumen Boy · Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 3:48 pm Post subject:

I think that's generally the case, but some brokers will accept the policyholder having access to another vehicle as a named driver on someone else's policy. Come to think of it I was insuring the Herald as a classic while dad was still insuring the Acclaim as a modern - we've always had each other as named driver on the other's policy for convenience - so maybe that's the situation we're in, I know when he first tried to get classic insurance we weren't sure the car was old enough to qualify, but he had no problems and much cheaper cover than he could get anywhere else.

Mind you, I think there are a few people on this forum who only run classics on classic policies with no moderns in sight, so maybe it can work like that with a sympathetic insurer?

Richard H · Joined: 03 Apr 2009 Posts: 2150 Location: Lincolnshire, UK

Keep the Acclaim - or at least buy a replacement one. Acclaims are extremely rare now.
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Richard Hughes

Bitumen Boy · Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 12:30 pm Post subject:

I'd love to keep the Acclaim - wish I hadn't sold mine a few years ago. But their rarity means increasing issues with the availability and price of spare parts, plus the fact that this particular example seems to have been a "monday morning car" - there's a continuing (and apparently worsening) problem around starting from cold which is still causing trouble in May! Me and my dad haven't been able to figure it out in several years, nor have 3 different garages, nor the acknowledged Acclaim experts in Club Triumph. Added to that is poor fuel economy - not too bad for an auto, but still a nuisance - and an increasing amount of things either seizing up or falling off Rolling Eyes

We've been talking about outing it for a while, just hadn't got round to doing much about it beyond idly scanning the classifieds...

Bitumen Boy · Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2014 6:03 pm Post subject:

Quick update on this, picked the Corsa up the other week, 140 miles home with no problems and over 50 mpg to boot. Even the tyres are in reaonable shape! I doubt that I'll ever get attached to it, mind you, but all the signs so far are that it'll do the job we need it to do.

And if anyone was thinking of taking a rail journey of over 4 hours with a dog in tow - even a small one - I can confirm that it's no fun at all Smile

emmerson · Joined: 30 Sep 2008 Posts: 1268 Location: South East Wales

I've been away on hols for three months, so have only just caught up with this thread. I've been in exactly the same insurance position this week, as I now need a modern(ish) car as well the Range Rover LSE. I've bought a Citroen Berlingo, and had no NCB to start a new policy, but my insurance broker, who I have used for the last twenty years, came up with a comprehensive policy on the 1.8 petrol Citroen for only £258. This in spite of a claim on my record.
It can be done if you shop around.

Bitumen Boy · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 8:42 pm Post subject:

I'm surprised, couldn't get anywhere near that sort of figure. Maybe it's the car as much as anything else - i.e. Corsas are so often boyracered that it gives them all a bad name as far as the insurers are concerned, even the basic and absolutely standard ones like this. I don't really understand it, because although it isn't nearly as bad to drive as some other odd moderns I've experienced, I still need to think hard to make safe progress in it and on decent local runs (out of town, but no dual carriageways) can easily make better time in the Herald - which feels incredibly surefooted by comparison. If Corsas are "good" moderns - and their popularity would indicate so - then I'd hate to drive a "bad" modern, would probably end up parking it somewhere and walking home... The other possibility is age, but having just turned 31 I would have thought myself out of the danger bracket by now.