Cheap insurance: how I haggled £80 off the price

When it comes to renewing any type of insurance, it can be a hassle getting the right price. Here’s how I got on with my negotiations.

Earlier this year, it took me longer than I hoped to try and find a better deal when my partner and I faced a hefty £115 price hike for breakdown cover.

Recently, our breakdown, car and home insurance were all up for renewal, which was frustrating.

But this time, it was a lot easier and I found it simple to haggle with my insurer Admiral.

Car insurance: save £100s by rejecting auto-renewal

What happened?

I decided to call Admiral to negotiate on the renewal price after they offered £713.41 for the year.

While this was lower than what we were paying last year, a quick look at a comparison site revealed we could be paying around £630.

However, rather than having all our policies in one place, we would have to switch to Churchill for car and breakdown cover and get contents insurance with Sainsbury’s Bank.

Before making the switch, I decided to call Admiral to try and negotiate.

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‘Save £60 by removing a named driver’

A customer service representative pledged to cut the price after I explained how I'd found cheaper deals elsewhere.

Firstly, she reduced the breakdown cover costs by around 20% as we didn’t use it at all over the last year.

Then, she asked a few questions about how much we drive and whether we have had any accidents and needed to claim (we didn’t).

Surprisingly, she enquired about the named driver and whether they drove the car a lot.

When we first got a car and started driving, we decided to add my partner’s father to the policy as he sometimes drove the car.

While price wasn’t an issue (my partner passed his test years ago), it was a good idea at the time.

So, I was startled to learn we could save nearly £60 by simply removing a named driver, so we decided to go ahead with it once we checked with my partner’s father.

On top of that, the excess for contents insurance was lowered, so we will pay less if we have to claim.

What do car insurance terms really mean?

How much did we save?

Thanks to the swift negotiations, my renewal quote from Admiral fell from £713.41 to £636.08 – a saving of £77.33.

The new price was only nearly £6 higher compared to switching to Churchill and getting contents insurance with Sainsbury’s Bank.

As the price difference was so small and there was nothing else to negotiate on, I agreed to the new price.

We’ve had no issues with Admiral in the past and they’ve offered great customer service and lowered their prices every year, so we were happy to stick with them.

While price is always a key consideration when it comes to insurance, I think it’s important to choose a company that treats its customers well, which is a big part of why I decided not to switch.

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Have you tried to negotiate on insurance and were you successful? Share your experiences in the comments below.