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Those requiring high-value motor insurance could find arranging it through a broker a far superior option, explains William Cooper, Managing Director of Prestige Insurance Brokers.
During the summer a man was caught on film keying an Aston Martin parked in an East London car park and only narrowly escaped a custodial term at his September hearing. Sparing the man jail time was perhaps merciful, but unless the victim had insured their vehicle through a specialist high-value motor insurance broker, they will have to pay the excess and in all likelihood see their premium substantially increase.
At Prestige Insurance Brokers Ltd, we work with leading insurers and arrange bespoke policy cover, so that when life takes a turn for the worse, you are properly insured and not penalised for something that isn’t your fault.
We place motor insurance on single, multi-car and collectors policies. Our clientele ranges from supercar owners and racing drivers to families and sometimes even young drivers (as part of a multi-car policy.)
High-value motor insurance typically starts with at least one vehicle having an original price of £30,000 or over when it was new. This is only fractionally above the average price of a car purchased from new in the UK, which is thought to be circa £27,000. It therefore caters for a far wider demographic than people realise, provides enhanced policy cover and most importantly a reliable claims service.
We’ll let you into a secret…
There are those who seem to resent entrusting a broker with their motor insurance and prefer the quick fix of an online comparison site. It’s fair to say that this is usually price driven, but the great secret that needs to be revealed is that a broker product with two or more vehicles will often be similarly priced to that of an online provider, and the policy and claims service will be superior.
A family with a Mercedes Benz valued at £30,000 and Volkswagen Toureg valued at £35,000 can expect to pay a premium of circa £1,400 if the cars are parked favourably in a low-rated postcode area, their driving record is good and they place their motor insurance with the same provider of their home insurance under a portfolio policy which often leads to a 10% premium discount.
However, even if the home is not added, the bespoke policies we provide are competitively priced – because we work with a panel of specialist insurers with vast experience in this sector and knowledge of the risks involved, which can often lead to them providing superior policy cover at more competitive premiums.
We come across families who have insured three or four vehicles all with different providers. When we ask to provide terms we are met with the same initial resistance mentioned earlier, but more often than not they are amazed when we come back with one policy, one insurer, enhanced cover and a cheaper premium.
Prestige has recently quoted on a collection with a total sum insured close to £900,000 which included a McLaren, a Range Rover, a Bentley and four Ferraris for a total premium of £5,560.00. That is exceptional value, with outstanding cover that could not be matched on an online website.
Above and beyond
The higher value and more modified the vehicle, the more our clients benefit from the specialist insurance products Prestige has access to. Clients benefit from agreed values, like-for-like courtesy vehicles and open driving policies which can allow their friends and non-residing family to jump in their £180,000 sports car (with their permission of course), drive it and be automatically comprehensively insured. One provider does not include any age restrictions as standard but typically this will only apply to drivers under 30 years of age.
Obviously from a risk management perspective we do not encourage our clients to entrust a friend with a vehicle of this value on a whim, however, in an emergency or under supervision this can be of real benefit. In a frantic world, who has time to contact a call centre and try to insure their best friend or uncle on their vintage classic car for a weekend trip to the countryside? Hiring a car for the summer vacation? You’re automatically comprehensively insured with one of our policies.
Talking of call centres, Prestige provides you with your own broker, with their own contact number who will administer and advise you on the claim process because that’s our job not yours.
Don’t take it personally, it’s the law!
The new 65 registration plates came into effect on 1 September, but if you are lucky enough to have your own personalised plate, please make sure this is insured or you have informed your insurer in writing that in the event of a total loss, the registration mark will remain your property. Prestige arranges policies that automatically provide up to £5,000 cover, however, this cover does not come as standard if you have purchased your insurance directly.
In the event of a theft where you haven’t insured the vehicle’s registration plate, you will have to wait 12 months before you can be assigned with a new one. If you do not inform your insurer from the outset or immediately after your car is written off, if the car is sold as salvage or scrapped, you will lose your personal number plate.
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