Darwin Insurance

[anglaslt]

Does anyone have any experience of using Darwin Insurance? I'd never heard of them but they are regulated by the FCA and Prudential Regulation Authority. They are way, way cheaper than anyone else on the camparison website and nearly £300 cheaper than LV, my present insurer, who has just rewarded yet another claim free year with a 20% increase

On the face of it their insurance looks OK and covers everything I need. There are though very few meaningful reviews about Darwin but they do have a five star rating from Defaqto, if that means anything at all.

I just hate this process every year of searching for new quotes. I usually end up getting a new online quote from LV (which is always cheaper than their renewal) but this year I might be more adventurous.

 

[zipdip]

I know the lure of very cheap car insurance,but there are bogus sites,I am all for getting a new quote every year,but go for a insurer you know,I think this Darwin insurance maybe bogus,Prudential Authority,well I do not believe there is such a thing,but I have not checked,I would ring up LV and say you have a quote for £20 under last years quote and see what they say.

 

[zipdip]

Well looked Dawin up and they seem to be part of Direct line,so they may well be ok,you live and learn.it seems they look at the driver rather than just give block qoutes for the car and where it is.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

I know the lure of very cheap car insurance,but there are bogus sites,I am all for getting a new quote every year,but go for a insurer you know,I think this Darwin insurance maybe bogus,Prudential Authority,well I do not believe there is such a thing,but I have not checked,I would ring up LV and say you have a quote for £20 under last years quote and see what they say.

Golden

 

[Deleted member 149005]

Well looked Dawin up and they seem to be part of Direct line,so they may well be ok,you live and learn.it seems they look at the driver rather than just give block qoutes for the car and where it is.

which Darwin?

Darwin

www.directlinegroup.co.uk

or

Car Insurance | Darwin Direct

Unhappy with your current insurer? Being quoted a lot more than last year for the same policy? Not sure if you are paying for cover you don’t need? Many

www.darwindirect.co.uk

 

[Deleted member 149005]

deleted

 

[del320]

Does anyone have any experience of using Darwin Insurance? I'd never heard of them...

Neither had I - but since I like to keep UTD with these matters, I've just done an on-line quote.

Typical Direct Line - totally uncompetitive.

Exactly like for like - £280.85 vs £196.98 with Saga in February.

Shower!

 

[anglaslt]

Well looked Dawin up and they seem to be part of Direct line,so they may well be ok,you live and learn.it seems they look at the driver rather than just give block qoutes for the car and where it is.

Thanks, I'd missed the Direct Line connection. Presumably it's their way of accessing comparison website business. The Prudential Regulation Authority incidentally is part of the Bank of England with responsibility for the supervision of UK authorised insurers. I'd never heard of them either

I've never had dealings with Direct Line but generally pretty good reviews on car insurance. So, on the face of it, Darwin might be worth considering.

 

[anglaslt]

Neither had I - but since I like to keep UTD with these matters, I've just done an on-line quote.

Typical Direct Line - totally uncompetitive.

Exactly like for like - £280.85 vs £196.98 with Saga in February.

Shower!

Thanks, I forgot about Saga. I can also try them for a quote.

Update: Saga quote more than twice Darwin's quote

 

[anglaslt]

which Darwin?

Darwin

www.directlinegroup.co.uk

or

Car Insurance | Darwin Direct

Unhappy with your current insurer? Being quoted a lot more than last year for the same policy? Not sure if you are paying for cover you don’t need? Many

www.darwindirect.co.uk

The first one, part of Direct Line

 

[DuFFmAn]

Companies such as Aviva and Direct Line will never come up on comparison websites. They don't want to devalue their brand and image.

However, they dont want to miss out on the comparison market customer base so create subbrands which do provide quotes on comparison websites.

I think Aviva's version is quote me happy.

 

[Dryce]

Direct Line will never come up on comparison websites. They don't want to devalue their brand and image.

Direct Line are at the heart of a number of brands - Privilege ad Churchill are xeamples.

 

[DuFFmAn]

Direct Line are at the heart of a number of brands - Privilege ad Churchill are xeamples.

Yep. Which is why you'll see Churchill and Privilege on comparison sites but not Direct Line.

 

[LXA]

keeping it simple, bless 'em......

 

[MrGreedy]

Currently with Direct Line, £680 annually.

Due October but thought I would check how the market is looking.

£252 with Darwin

I'll give DL a call on Monday to see what they can do, then ask them to cancel and hopefully get something like a pro rata refund and go with Darwin. They are £70 cheaper than the next best price.

Compare the weasels and Confused both came back with the same price to the penny, which I haven't seen before.

 

[merc estate]

Direct line. My son a few years ago drove his car into a ditch ( like you do ) on a Sunday afternoon, the car was picked up by direct line within an hour, Monday morning he received a call at 8.10 am telling him the car was a write off and the insurance would be in touch with him, about 30 minutes later Direct line called told him it was a write off and made him an offer adding extra for the alloys he had which was not standard. He was very happy. I think if he tried to sell the car he would have got no where near what they paid him out. I do try to insure with them myself, which they do come up with a fair price for the cover but then on renewal they try to whack you, so them i'm off else where.
12 weeks and counting till my renewal

 

[Teego]

Just check Darwins excess.

 

[MrGreedy]

Just check Darwins excess.

Ah, yes. I see it's £250 compulsory excess vs the £150 for most others.

I think it's still worth checking out the details of the cover for the potential saving.

 

[merc estate]

A thing i always take note of also is, where you can get your car fixed eg where you want it to go or there cheap crap place and also who's going to replace your windscreen, but saying that i have heard autoglass can make a good job now.

 

[MrGreedy]

A thing i always take note of also is, where you can get your car fixed eg where you want it to go or there cheap crap place and also who's going to replace your windscreen, but saying that i have heard autoglass can make a good job now.

So how do I check this, what exactly should I be looking for in the policy wording, and do you have any knowledge of poor experience with Darwin?