What have you been doing today?

[Mottie]

Been searching online for insurance quotes for our car that’s due in a months time. Haven’t had my renewal yet but I won’t be staying with them. Tried go compare and through them with LVE (5 star Defacto rating) it was £549. Tried MoneySupermarket and through them with LVE it comes to £465 plus, if I go through TopCashback, I get £34 back. Looks like that’s what I’ll be doing then.

 

[fillyboy]

Been searching online for insurance quotes for our car that’s due in a months time. Haven’t had my renewal yet but I won’t be staying with them. Tried go compare and through them with LVE (5 star Defacto rating) it was £549. Tried MoneySupermarket and through them with LVE it comes to £465 plus, if I go through TopCashback, I get £34 back. Looks like that’s what I’ll be doing then.

I got striped up when I bought the Boxer, they almost doubled the premium. It was a sudden purchase and we were arranging the insurance the day before we picked it up which is not ideal.
Since moved to a broker called Howdens who have a specialist campervan dept and they were great. Mrs filly switched to them with the Tucson as well.
She loves that car, sadly it hasn't got the heads up display you mentioned.

 

[Mottie]

I got striped up when I bought the Boxer, they almost doubled the premium. It was a sudden purchase and we were arranging the insurance the day before we picked it up which is not ideal.
Since moved to a broker called Howdens who have a specialist campervan dept and they were great. Mrs filly switched to them with the Tucson as well.
She loves that car, sadly it hasn't got the heads up display you mentioned.

Yeah, I think we got done over when we bought the Tucson. I changed the insurance over from the A3 then found out that I wasn’t allowed to drive other cars (I’m named separately on the Fiesta) and I didn’t have any driving in Europe cover. Won’t be staying with them whatever the renewal price as we plan a trip abroad in it later this year - as long as there’s no fuel shortages in Europe!

 

[pete01]

Could be worse...poor old Jim

 

[Mottie]

Been searching online for insurance quotes for our car that’s due in a months time. Haven’t had my renewal yet but I won’t be staying with them. Tried go compare and through them with LVE (5 star Defacto rating) it was £549. Tried MoneySupermarket and through them with LVE it comes to £465 plus, if I go through TopCashback, I get £34 back. Looks like that’s what I’ll be doing then.

Bah! The price has gone up £6 with moneysupermarket since the other day. Buying through moneysupermarket through TopCashback was over a hundred quid more expensive so of course they’ll give you £34 back!

Ended up paying £471 for LV= through moneysupermarket (and will get £15 through them) but I tried going direct to LV= with the exact same details. You’d think it would be cheaper if they are not paying a commission to a referral site but I was quoted this:




WTF?

 

[Highway Man]

Just got back from horse riding. I went past a shop window and had to stop to admire my reflection. I looked so majestic and felt like Napoleon. How I havent been painted is beyond me. I would make a fabulous water colour or at the very least an amazing front of a chocolate tin or biscuit tin. I have really got into my riding and can now turn corners etc.

 

[kingandy2nd]

Bah! The price has gone up £6 with moneysupermarket since the other day. Buying through moneysupermarket through TopCashback was over a hundred quid more expensive so of course they’ll give you £34 back!

Ended up paying £471 for LV= through moneysupermarket (and will get £15 through them) but I tried going direct to LV= with the exact same details. You’d think it would be cheaper if they are not paying a commission to a referral site but I was quoted this:

View attachment 414550


WTF?

Just drive a classic Mottie

 

[fillyboy]

Just drive a classic Mottie

View attachment 414584

Nice.

 

[Mottie]

Just drive a classic Mottie

Tell me about it! Been there, done that with some of my classics in the past. My 105E, my Cortina Lotus and my Mk1 RS2000 replica cost peanuts to insure and two of them were valued higher than our main car. Came with full European breakdown and repatriation cover too. Mind you, from memory they had a limited mileage (2,000 miles per year maybe?) and you couldn’t buy a classic policy if it was your main car - you had to own and insure another car in your name before you could get a classic policy, dunno if that’s changed now?

Anyway, Mrs Mottie and I are past the sweet spot for car insurance these days - it’s alright for young 'uns like you. Enjoy it while you can!

 

[fillyboy]

Tell me about it! Been there, done that with some of my classics in the past. My 105E, my Cortina Lotus and my Mk1 RS2000 replica cost peanuts to insure and two of them were valued higher than our main car. Came with full European breakdown and repatriation cover too. Mind you, from memory they had a limited mileage (2,000 miles per year maybe?) and you couldn’t buy a classic policy if it was your main car - you had to own and insure another car in your name before you could get a classic policy, dunno if that’s changed now?

Anyway, Mrs Mottie and I are past the sweet spot for car insurance these days - it’s alright for young 'uns like you. Enjoy it while you can!

Was talking to somebody last week who mentioned he knew someone in his 80's who was paying a few K per year insurance because of age. Terrifying.

 

[Mottie]

I've been doing a bit of accidental plumbing today. Our new shower screen arrived yesterday and I’m probably going to fit it next week. When I take the old one off, I’m going to remove the bath taps so that I can remove the mastic around the bath, re-mastic the bath (might get a bloke in), refit the taps (very little room to mastic between taps and wall), and then fit the new screen. In preparation for that, I had a poke around under the bath to see if there were any shutoff valves for the taps as I stupidly boxed in my main stopcock when I did my kitchen which means I would have to shut my mains off in the street if I ever needed the water off. Anyway, I found two 22mm gate valves under the floor, under the bath so I shut one off and that shut the cold off. Shut the other one and there was the slightest drip from the hot tap. Gave it a bit more welly and I snapped the shaft! It was now stuck in the (almost) closed position. Luckily I have a bucket of plumbing bits and I found another gate valve in with them so I replaced the valve, not forgetting to use some white hawk that was at least 30 years old but after a good stir up, it was good to go. The valve was a fiddly bar steward to get at and Mrs Mottie said it sounded like I was fighting with an elephant? Eventually I succeeded and now the valve works and the hot water is back on. Saved me some fecking about when I come to remove the taps.

 

[Mottie]

Bah! The price has gone up £6 with moneysupermarket since the other day. Buying through moneysupermarket through TopCashback was over a hundred quid more expensive so of course they’ll give you £34 back!

Ended up paying £471 for LV= through moneysupermarket (and will get £15 through them) but I tried going direct to LV= with the exact same details. You’d think it would be cheaper if they are not paying a commission to a referral site but I was quoted this:

View attachment 414550


WTF?

Just got my renewal through.

 

[diy_fun_uk]

Just got my renewal through.

View attachment 414673

View attachment 414672

On the one hand I don't know why they (insurance companies) do this i.e. hike premiums, on the other hand of course I know why. One has to assume the maths works in their favour due to factors such as customers simply letting their policies roll on, even when the price increases significantly.

I had the same with my house insurance this year. Jumped by enough to make me want to shop around. I found comparable cover for the price I had paid the previous year so went with the other company.

Had to phone the existing company to cancel. They asked why. I told them their initial email with the price increase was the catalyst to me shopping around. They gave me some waffle 'We don't set these prices' blah blah blah. Ironically, they were able to get my premium down to the same level as the one I'd switched to. 'We can contact the other company and cancel your policy for you as you'll still be in the cooling off period?' they said.

'No' I said 'You lost me with that initial email. I appreciate I'm just one customer so it won't make much odds, however it seems farcical to me that I receive an email saying my premium is going up by £x amount, and then you can essentially wipe the increase out. If your renewal price in the email had even just been comparable to last year (slight increase) you'd have retained me'.

 

[Mottie]

No' I said 'You lost me with that initial email. I appreciate I'm just one customer so it won't make much odds, however it seems farcical to me that I receive an email saying my premium is going up by £x amount, and then you can essentially wipe the increase out. If your renewal price in the email had even just been comparable to last year (slight increase) you'd have retained me'.

Quite right too. It seems they only give discounts to new customers.

 

[Mottie]

Just completed my 2025/26 tax return. All submitted now and always a relief when that’s done and dusted.