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[Jules]

How would you like to get 25% discount from your car or motorcycle insurance premiums?  Well, I just want to tell you that a new scheme has now been launched, and it is completely exclusive to Ride Drive customers.  Click HERE for more details.


Jules

[Mustang Baz]

Having completed a 1 day course in Nov 05, I undertook a half day refresher in March 07 which I found very beneficial, specifically in the fact that rather than learning new skills throughout the session, I could demonstrate putting them into action in this intensive morning program.

In addition, I received a formal report from the company which upon submission to Adrian Flux, has secured me 25% off my quoted premium on both my cars. The saving has been considerable, and due in part to this scheme, I moved from one insurer to place my second car on with A Flux (one was already insured through them).

Very much recommended - pass the program with an appropriate level of skill and positive feedback from the independent appraiser and you will not only pick up more skills but also potentially save some considerable money.

[balrog]

I have just taken advantage of the Adrian Flux offer.  I got my current vehicle 2 years ago and, failing to impress any of the companies who could offer 20% off, 30% off etc I ended up with Subaru Insurance [I wonder why they don't like my STi with the uprated Pro-Drive engine especially when I use it for business?].  At renewal time I contacted Adrian Flux - who by sheer co-incedence offered insurance with exactly the same Insurance company - Equity Red Star as I was already using.  In the light of this I offered my current insurer the opportunity to improve their pricing - they found a cheaper quote [surprise, surprise] but had no interest in reducing the premium in the light of improved driver training.

In my mind this just makes me wonder just how much money each of them makes on each policy.......

[Spark Plug]

Hi Balrog

So you ended up still being with your old insurer but through a different broker?  You don't say how much of a saving you made, or is that not the point?  I take it you did a ridedrive day beforehand?

[balrog]

Hi,
On a like for like insurance I got 25% or thereabouts - exactly as it says on the tin.  So that in itself was worthwhile, on the Adrian Flux welcome letter it did ask for 'Copy of the IAM/Max Driver Certificate' - which does suggest that there is a wider mechanism in place.  [I know that TVP have other meanings for IAM - and it has nothing to do with Ride Drive].  Given that Adrian Flux offered a 25% discount off a price quoted by Subaru Insurance when the business was placed with the same Insurance provider I don't believe that all of that discount was found by the broker.  This means that the Insurance Company is prepared [under some circumstance] to reduce the price it charges if the end user [me] has made some steps to become a better/safer driver as certified by an independent authority [in this case Julian Smith], by implication it also accepts IAM.

That then begs the question why all insurance companies don't do the same thing - rather than that they trade marketing techniques - free this or that.  Rather than that would it not be much better - less car damage and/or mutilated bodies if there was more focus on improving driver skill?  Clearly the way to do this is by financial incentive - give something [money off] for something worthwhile [better driving] rather than the current practice of discounting to get the business [watch any TV ad] and then try to claw back some of the cost by penalising someone who gets photographed by a Talivan.  But that is another soapbox.

Roger

[Jules]

Just to clarify, before Ride Drive became involved with Adrian Flux Insurance, they had attempted to get a scheme off the ground that involved the IAM and readers of Max Power magazine.  The result was that really it didn?t work, but the paperwork by that time was already in place.  I guess that until the existing stock of forms are used up, the reference to Max Power and the IAM will remain on there.

As far as I am able to tell, that IAM/Max Power scheme no longer operates, unless someone can advise me any differently

Jules 

[Spark Plug]

IAM and readers of Max Power magazine?  That's gotta be like inviting a family of Jewish people around for a bacon butty breakfast! 

Thanks Balrog for your notes on this.  I may well give AF a try and see what these Ride Drive boys can offer.

[Jules]

Those of you who are pondering on whether this scheme is worthwhile, here is some >Unsolicited Feedback<  which might help to guide you

Jules

[DavidM]

Unfortunately this scheme didn't work for me.

Adrian Flux did indeed offer me a quote 25% lower than my current renewal premium, but my current insurance has a guaranteed no-claim bonus (i.e. it is protected for an unlimited number of claims) and the policy offered by Adrian Flux did not include this. My renewal premium without guaranteed NCB was less than the Adrian Flux quote.

I pointed out to Adrian Flux that this seemed a bit unfair, and that they should really apply their discount to a comparable policy, but they refused to offer anything other than a discount off of my current renewal premium.

So the upshot was that the discounted Adrian Flux policy was no cheaper than an equivalent policy on the open market, so my Ride Drive assessment effectively counted for nothing.

To be fair to Adrian Flux, their agreement with Ride Drive only says that they will discount the renewal premium, so the problem is really with the wording of the agreement. However Adrian Flux could still have been a bit more flexible and tried to follow the spirit of the agreement rather than sticking to the letter of it.

Of course there would not have been a problem if Adrian Flux had been able to offer a policy that included guaranteed NCB, but they could not find anyone willing to insure me on this basis. This seemed odd as I had no trouble finding several insurers offering this feature when I approached them directly.

[Spark Plug]

How can you have an unlimited no claims protection?  Doesn?t make sense?  Despite what your current company are telling you I bet if you had six fault accidents in six months they would want to change your agreement ? probably tell you that the arrangement was no longer offered to their customers.  I can?t see any company promising to uphold that sort of liability risk.  Must be some small print in there somewhere.

[DavidM]

How can you have an unlimited no claims protection?  Doesn?t make sense?  Despite what your current company are telling you I bet if you had six fault accidents in six months they would want to change your agreement ? probably tell you that the arrangement was no longer offered to their customers.  I can?t see any company promising to uphold that sort of liability risk.  Must be some small print in there somewhere.

You may well be right. The large print definitely said that the protected NCB stays protected regardless of the number of claims. However there was no promise that the basic premium wouldn't rise. There was also a substantial extra premium to get the guaranteed NCB in the first place, which may have made up for the risk from the insurer's point-of-view.

Anyway, I don't have it any more. I decided it wasn't worth it.

My original message was mainly to point out that Adrian Flux is not obliged to offer the same level of cover for its 25% discounted premium.

[Spark Plug]

So what you are saying is that Adrian Flux WOULD discount the renewal quote provided from your old insurers, but then you got a quote from your old insurer that cut out the unlimited NCB feature, and which then came out cheaper than the original renewal quote they gave you for the like for like cover.  When you put that modified quote to AF insurance, they WOULD NOT discount that price by the 25%?  But then AF insurance would not give you unlimited no claims protection (I still can't see how an insurer can say you can have as many prangs that are your fault as you like and that will not affect your premium).

If that is correct then it seems they have honoured the ridedrive agreement (I think - if I understand what it says on the ridedrive website correctly) by taking 25% off the original renewal notice but will not take off that discount when you go to them with a quotation from another insurer??  It seems that the bigger winners here are those who are already with very comptative insureres and then go to AF after doing the Ride Drive course?

(Sorry for the long wait for me to respond, but I have been travelling all week).

[DavidM]

I'm sure that for anyone who currently has reasonably-priced insurance, without any unusual features, the Adrian Flux scheme would provide a genuine benefit.

Adrian Flux did indeed follow their agreement. Unfortunately, the wording of this agreement does not take account of cases like mine where Adrian Flux is not able to offer insurance on similar terms. I presume that the agreement is worded like this to prevent people from getting a quote from Adrian Flux, then ringing round other insurers trying to match it, then returning to Adrian Flux and saying, "now give me 25% off of this!"

But that isn't what I was trying to do. I only obtained a second quote in order to have an open-market price for insurance on similar terms to those offered by Adrian Flux. I then hoped to get the 25% discount because of my Ride Drive assessment.

As I said in my original post, Adrian Flux could have been a bit more flexible and tried to follow the spirit of the agreement rather than sticking to the letter of it. However they were perfectly within their rights to act as they did.

I realise that my case is a bit unusual, and I merely offer it as a warning that not everyone will benefit from this scheme.

[WazzaL]

I am currently renewing my insurance with Adrian Flux.

I took the RideDrive and passed entitling me to the 25% discount.

Unfortunately, although they claim a 25% discount, their original quote it is based on an uncompetitive quote by comparison with other insurers.

As a result, they are only a few pounds cheaper on the renewal than Admiral! (of all people)

As much as I enjoyed the RideDrive day and I did learn a lot from it, and still highly recommend anyone with a performance car to do it. Please do not expect this scheme to be as cost saving on insurance premiums as you might have hoped.


Warren

[Jules]

Just to clarify how this works, because the only reason anyone will have to be disappointed will be that the result of this does not meet with their expectations.  Therefore we have to get your expectations in tune.

The 25% discount is genuine, but that figure will only be subtracted from the price that you have been asked to pay as written on your current insurers renewal notice.  You CAN NOT go shopping around to find the cheapest quote you can and then expect Adrian Flux to undercut it by 25%.  That ain?t never going to happen ? ever.

So, to be idiotically simple about it, you are currently insured with Zurich, for example, who quote you ?750 to continue the cover for another year.  You do the Ride Drive programme, you get the certificate, and by switching to Adrian Flux, you pay around ?560 instead.  That?s how it works.  Nowhere does it say or imply anything any different.

Most grumbles that we hear about this scheme come about where people expect Adrian Flux to beat the cheapest quote after shopping around.  The answer here is that if you are considering taking advantage of the scheme, call Adrian Flux Insurance first and get a quote before you say you will do the risk assessment.

I hope that makes things clearer.

Jules