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FAQ: Car Insurance

Plan Insurance

Questions

Answers

How can I save money on my Car Insurance?

Many factors affect the cost of your car insurance. They include where you live, your driving history, the named drivers on the car insurance, the amount you use the car, what you use it for and the make and model.

Ensure you’re the lowest risk possible – If your car does not come with a ‘Thatcham Approved’ immoboliser or alarm, we suggest you have one fitted. The initial expense of fitting one can be offset against the long term savings, the increased salability and value it will add to the car.

Don’t over-estimate your annual mileage – The less you drive the car the less likely you are to have an accident. If you do more miles than you expect you can always increase the mileage limit that you have set with your insurer. If you do fewer miles than you estimate it is unlikely that you will receive a retrospective discount on your car insurance.

Keep your car safe – Wherever possible park your car off the street and in a drive or garage overnight. This makes it less likely that the car will be damaged whilst parked, or worse still, stolen.

Select the Most Appropriate Excess Amount – A ‘voluntary excess’ is how much you want to pay towards a claim. The higher this excess, the less you’ll pay for the policy as some insurers will significantly reduce premiums if you set an excess of £500 or more.

However if you have an accident you will have to pay out more towards the claim. Though, if the claim is not your fault Plan Assist will act on your behalf to seek reimbursement of your policy excess.

Having a higher excess makes little odds to many people who tend to settle small claims themselves in order to avoid the loss of their no-claims bonus and increases in the future cost of their insurance.

Select the Most Appropriate Main Driver - Drivers who are under 25 pay much higher insurance premiums. If you are a parent with good driving and claims records, who intends sharing the use of a car equally with your child, put yourself as the main driver on the policy, and the younger driver as a named driver. This may reduce the cost of the car insurance.

Remember to be Entirely Honest – Should you need to claim on the policy, and have failed to disclose any material facts, your insurance could be invalid, and as a result your insurer will refuse to pay-out and you could be liable for the full amount of the claim.

There are a couple of points that are worth considering that might save you money in the long term. Young drivers pay higher premiums as they are far more likely to be involved in accidents. If they are a named driver on a parent’s policy and they have an accident, the parent’s No Claims Bonus will be affected. Also if the young driver manages to avoid having any accidents, as a named driver they will be unable to build up their own no-claims bonus.

Select the Most Appropriate Cover – Weigh up the cost between fully comprehensive cover, third party (fire and theft) and third party only. Does the potential cost of your car repair outweigh the increased insurance premium for comprehensive cover? If you drive a low value vehicle and it were to be stolen or involved in a fire, would the potential cost of replacing it outweigh the increased insurance premium for fire and theft cover?

Women Only Insurers Aren’t Necessarily Cheaper- Some insurers advertise lower prices for women because they have fewer accidents than men. However as mentioned above, a driver’s sex is just one factor that insurers use to calculate the risk and premium. Other factors include where you live, your driving history, the named drivers on the car insurance, the amount you use the car, what you use it for and the make and model.

Just because a direct insurer offers a special price doesn’t necessarily make it cheaper than Plan Insurance’s price. At Plan we deal with over 40 insurers. We select your cover from over 293 different insurance policies. The chances are one of these insurers will allow greater discounts on your car insurance, for reasons other than your sex.

Shop Around – Once you’ve decided on the most suitable cover you need to start the time consuming job of shopping around for the lowest cost car insurance.

Fortunately Plan Insurance will do that part for you. At Plan Insurance we deal with over 40 insurers. We select your cover from over 293 different insurance policies.

We’re able to find you the best cover at the lowest cost. It makes sense to deal with an insurance specialist. Click for your quick low cost car insurance quote.

Haggle with Plan Insurance – Car insurance is a very competitive market. Insurance companies want your business. Often we’re able to beat our screen rates as we have good relationships with many insurance companies.

If you have a lower quote than the price our system is quoting give us a call. The people that set the prices are intelligent, and if we explain that your insurance presents a sensible risk they will often beat their screen rate to lower the cost of your insurance.

This often happens if you have been driving a company car claims free but don’t have No Claims Bonus in your own name, or if you are buying a second car but you don’t have any No Claims Bonus to use on it.

Insurance underwriters will allow ‘introductory discounts’ equivalent to No Claims Bonus. These discounts are discounts that the system can’t automatically allow and have to be granted manually.

So if our screen rate isn’t as low as you hoped make sure you give us a call on 0800 542 2740.

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Can I get a quote if I don’t have a registration number?

We understand that might not have the registration number of the car you want to insure for various reasons. For example- you may be thinking of buying a new car and are interested in finding out how much car Insurance will cost for a particular model. You can select your model car from our list of manufacturers and models to obtain a quotation. However if you decide that you want to take up a policy, then you will need to know the registration number.

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Can I get cover for a personally imported car?

Plan Insurance are experts at providing insurance for personally imported cars. Finding the best price on imported vehicles requires specialist knowledge. To avoid any confusion we suggest you call 0800 542 2740 to speak to one of our expert staff.

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When would I need to contact you after I’ve taken up my car insurance policy?

You must tell us as soon as possible if any of the following occur:

We will then inform your insurers who will re-assess your cover. An additional premium, and likewise a return premium may be incurred as a result of notification of these changes.

Failure to notify your insurers of any changes may invalidate your insurance, and leave you uninsured. We may charge you an administration fee for any changes you make to your policy details during the period of cover. This is shown in your policy schedule.

Please call us on 0800 542 2740 to inform us of any changes to your policy.

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Am I covered when I drive abroad?

Most policies will at least include up to 30 days third party cover for driving within EU countries. However all insurance policies are different. It is essential you check your policy documentation to learn whether the cover you require is included as standard by your policy.

If you have a comprehensive insurance policy it is possible that 30 days comprehensive cover within EU countries may be included as standard.

For an additional premium many insurers will extend the level of cover provided by your standard policy to include named countries in Europe, and certain other countries outside Europe, as well as giving you an international motor insurance certificate (Green Card).

If you are unsure please contact us on 0800 542 2740 and one of our experienced staff will be able to advise you.

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Does the price include motor legal expenses cover?

Plan Assist provides a Full Accident Management service to our clients. Your Accident Management service is included free with your Plan Insurance Motor Insurance policy.

Motor legal expenses cover provides insurance in respect of solicitors’ fees to assist you in recovering any uninsured losses in connection with a claim (eg, your excess or damages for personal injury). Please see Plan Assist to find out about the full range of benefits this service provides.

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Can you arrange break down cover?

Free Break Down and Home Start cover is included with your car insurance if you take up a policy online.

Please see Plan Assist to find out about the full range of benefits this service provides.

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When do I receive my Certificate of Motor Insurance?

Your Certificate of Motor Insurance is issued by your insurance company. Once we are in receipt of the necessary payment and documentation we will post it out to your contact address by first class mail.

In the mean time you will be sent a valid insurance cover note. This cover note acts as evidence of your valid car insurance.

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Does my policy cover me to drive other vehicles?

Certain policies exclude third party cover for driving of other vehicles for certain occupations. They also place some age restrictions.

The driving of other vehicles policy extension does not apply to other vehicles owned by the policy holder. Each vehicle you own must be insured separately to allow you to drive it.

It is essential that you check your car insurance policy documentation before driving another vehicle. If you are unsure whether you are insured to drive another vehicle please call us on 0800 542 2740

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I’m under 25, can I still get a quote?

No matter what your age is, thanks to the extensive list of insurers that we deal with, you can benefit from our quality car insurance cover and low costs.

Click here to learn more about about our low cost car insurance.

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Do you offer flexible payments?

Plan Finance offers you numerous easy payment options at low rates. You can choose to pay your car insurance premium in one lump sum or, if you prefer, for a small additional charge, the cost of your van insurance can be spread over the year by paying instalments by direct debit. For more details of our direct debit scheme please visit Plan Finance.

Paying online is via a secure server, which uses advanced encryption technology to ensure your details are safe during transmission.

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How do I cancel my policy?

If you’re not satisfied with the cover provided by your car insurance policy, you have 14 days to cancel. If you decide to cancel, you must return your Certificate of Motor Insurance to us at 1 Purley High Street, Purley, Surrey, CR8 2AF

As long as no incidents have arisen which could result in a claim under your policy, we will refund the part of the premium you have not yet used, less an administration fee to take account of our costs in providing your policy. The fees will be detailed in your Schedule.

If you don’t exercise your right to cancel during the 14 day period, your policy will continue as normal.

If you decide to cancel after this 14 day period, you must return your Certificate of Motor Insurance to us. The policy will be cancelled from the date the returned certificate is received. As long as no incidents have arisen which could result in a claim under your policy, we will refund the part of the premium you have not yet used, less an administration fee to take account of our costs in providing your policy. The fees will be detailed in your Schedule.

Cancelling your direct debit does not mean that you have cancelled your motor trade insurance policy. We’ll cancel your policy from the date we receive your Certificate of Motor Insurance.

If you have lost your Certificate of Motor Insurance we’ll ask you to complete a Lost Certificate Declaration and your cancellation will not take effect until the date we receive your Certificate of Motor Insurance or Lost Certificate Declaration. If the amount due when you cancel your policy is more than the amount you have paid, you must pay us the difference. If a claim has been made, we’ll cancel your cover but not refund any premium. If you are paying by installments, you must still pay us the balance of the full annual premium.

We also have a right to cancel your policy at any time by giving you seven days’ notice in writing. We’ll send our letter to the latest address we have for you. If we do cancel your motor insurance policy, we’ll refund the part of your premium you haven’t yet used. If you or we cancel your motor insurance at any time, we’ll automatically cancel any motoring legal protection or breakdown assistance cover purchased with it.

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How do I know if my online payment has been accepted?

Once you’ve entered your payment details, the “payment confirmation” page will be displayed. This page is confirmation that you will be on cover from the time and date you requested.

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How can I renew my policy?

Around 3 weeks before your policy expires, we’ll send you a renewal notice by post which will show details of what your new premium will be and how you may renew.

We will have re-quoted your policy with our extensive list of insurers to make sure the price we’re offering is the most competitive on the market.

If needs be, we’ll provide you with details of have you go about saving money by changing insurers.

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Will you give me a low price now, only to increase it at my renewal date next year?

45 years is how far back our book of business goes. Once people have found us, they tend to stay with us.

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