anyway to get straigt to the point... I've been insured by quinn direct for a year on my 6n 16v for £2190, my renewal has come through at £1470 third party fire and theft which was fine although that was without any of my mods declared.

so i ring them up and tell them that my insurance is up for renewal but I'm wanting to modify my car. they tell me that due to my age (19) i will be very hard for them to insure me which is fair enough. they say the cheapest they can do it for is just over £2200.

i ring around to find that brentacre will insure m will all mods declared for £1650, this was by far the best wuote i could get anywhere and so i decide to change over and insure with them.

i then ring back quinns and say I'm going to cancel my policy and move to another company. they ask the usual questions.. (did you find thier policy good, customer service ok ? etc,etc) they then ask how much ill be paying with brentacre so i tell them... they then reply to say that they can beat that quote will insure me for less ! at £1498

how can they just pick and choose what thier prices are whenever they want ?! its outrageous ! arrhhgggg !

i think they just make it up as they go along,i was in the same boat a couple of weeks back when my insurance got renewed.

i ended up going with brentacre myself.and if they can keep there prices down i may well stop with them for a long time too.

my 1.4 8v 6n quin did the same with me, my renewal came for 3000 (as i have a claim) and i said fuk that found admiral for 1000 (save 2000) and rang quin up and they said whats the price they have give you we can beet it, well they couldnt but they stil halfed the cost givin it me for 1400 the scammin bastards, so I'm with admiral for 1047 quid :)

If you deal with an insurance company direct they will just give you the standard renewal cost which is always higher than the previous year, unelss something major happens like you hit a different age bracket in their policy or points dropping off your licence (not that it ever changes that much)

Same with insurance brokers they will give you the renewal from the company you are currently with. I dont know of any insurance brokers that activly search for a better deal on your behalf before your renewal.

If anyone just accepts their renewal, even if it seems a lot lower than the previous year they are really missing out. The renewal period should be a time to start searching for a better deal, you know you will get it. And as you have found out they wont usually budge on price until you do so. Just go back and forth between companies and you current one to get a better deal. It may take an hour on the phone but you'll always end up with a better price. Same for any type of insurance.

I find most insurance companies always make out as if the renewal is difficult and they try to take the 'hassle' out of it by renewing automatically or doing the work for you. I also find that using a site like gocompare, you can find a company then phone them up directly they will either give you the same deal or better especially when asked what your best quote is, give them their online quote a lot of times they never ask where you got the cost from and they try to beat it I've only found one or two places that are actualy more expensive when you phone them up after finding them on a comparrision website.

Also try to barter on the other things like excess and windscreen cover if it's third party you can most of the time get windscreen cover thrown in for free if you ask. Also if you are someone that changes car a lot make sure your not stuck with a company that charges a huge admin fee to change the details. Most will do it for £10-15 or even free but some I have seem charge as much as £40-50 JUST for the admin fee.

Anyway good stuff glad you saved some money.