Got an email today reminding us that the
Insurance is due end of the month on Sian's BMW, renewal price of £275. That seemed a bit steep so off to the comparison sites we go.
The Meerkat came up with £203 from Swinton with no voluntary excess but, when I added a £250 excess that went up to £208. Removing the excess took it down again - but only to £208. So that's a £5 charge just for asking!
Next was the owners of a certain popular moneysaving site.
They came up with £194 from M&S or Lloyds at £189. But they were showing windscreen cover as an "optional extra", so I ticked the box to see what happened. Lloyds crept up to £191 but M&S went down to £192.
Now really intrigued, I decided to see what protecting her NC would cost. With Lloyds it would add a perfectly reasonable £3, with M&S it again went down to a final price of £191.45
Happy with that price, but can't help wonering what they're playing at. I know it's only a few £ either way but why on earth do Swinton increase their price just because you check what difference an excess would make and why does it cost less to have windscreen cover and protected NCD with M&S than it does to not have them? That just makes no sense at all from a risk management POV!
eta: Just checked with the robot and, through them, M&S want £293. Unless we protect her NCD in which case they'll accept £214. That's a whopping £79 saving for taking an optional extra that's supposed to cost you more - no wonder they're confused!