Signing up to an annual direct debit payment plan from your energy supplier is supposed to help prevent bill shock as your payments are spread equally throughout the year. But it might not work like that...
Cheapest cars to insure
Fiat Qubo (2009 onwards)
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This is a five-door MPV that uses the same platform as Fiat's Fiorino van. The Qubo is higher off the ground than your average car so it should be attractive for drivers with creaky knees or backs.
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57Comments
24/02/2012 17:43
We all talk about rip off Britain, have you ever thought about how much you pay in STANDING CHARGES, for BT, Gas, Electric, Water, Drainage companies, for what, why do we pay these charges? The companies that do charge then say, it is because we supply a service, telephone lines, drainage pipes etc.
Well so do any other company or shop. Can you imagine for instance , going to the supermarket and having to pay a charge to go in, because the supermarket has had to supply the building and the shelving and the car park. It's the biggest rip off ever.
23/02/2012 15:42
How about the biggest rip-off being the fact that you can have maximum no-claims (over 15yrs without so much as a scratch), held a licence for 33 years, driven professionally for 30 years without incident, but because you haven't had insurance for 2 years and 4 months (due to not having a car), you are classed as a 'new' driver and forced to start again!!!
22/02/2012 14:35
This countries Insurance Industry epitomises the phrase "Rip-Off Britain" until this industry stops heavily penalising car drivers even before they have had accidents, it will never be a fair system. Across Europe there are much better systems which penalise those who have accidents and reward those that don't. The fact it would cost in the region of £3500 to insure my 18 year old son on pretty much any of these cars is absolutely disgraceful. Where is the regulation in that? they push and push the boundaries and make huge profits then at the slightest discrepancy will refuse to pay out. There was a time when a profit was a profit, now theres not enough profit when they dont break record margins.
19/02/2012 16:06
24/02/2012 20:22
23/02/2012 09:10
waste of time moaning about it. no one does anything about it. iv got a 1.4 fiesta diesel it costs £440 to insure. it was £298 last year. i had a mitsubishi 2800 long wheelbase 4x4 and that was the same price to insure as my fiesta ? its just a rip of..they charge what they want.im with saga and never claimed in my life. driver for more than 30 years. rip of britain is right
23/02/2012 08:44
12/03/2012 13:55
If you dont claim they charge more, if you do claim they charge more. If they dont make enough profit why dont they just shut down. Of course they wont do that, instead they raise prices, my thoughts are they raise prices in line with every other company and we have to accept it or break the law by not having insurance. Insurance in the UK is a Cartel and there's nothing we the motorist can do about it. We are ripped off either way with no other option other than to pay.
23/02/2012 00:05
23/02/2012 22:23
23/02/2012 21:11
I'm quite fortunate. Up here where I live in Northumberland the cost of insurance (with age of car and driver..) is around £200. That's for either my 1991 Volvo 3 litre, or my 2004 Saab diesel automatic. I really can't see how insurance companies justify high prices for people living in other parts of the country.
Is a 58 year old driver in the south east a greater insurance risk than a driver of the same age with similar car up here in a rural area? I think not. And young drivers are penalised for being young, not because they are bad or dangerous drivers. Not all youngsters are irresponsible road risks yet the insurance companies treat them all as if they were.
A long time ago, 3rd party insurance was the cheapest you could get. Really, you were insuring the other driver and not yourself or your own car. If you had an accident that was your fault ... well, the cost of repair to the other car was met by your insurance company, but you bore the brunt of the cost of repairing your own car. Maybe that's why most people drove cars of little value.
Many insurance companies don't seem to offer 3rd party insurance any more. And for some reason third party fire and theft insurance is more expensive than fully comprehensive insurance. I wish somebody could explain to me the reason for this. If there's a reason why insurance companies charge more for less, it really does leave me baffled.
I gave up any loyalty to insurance companies a long time ago. House insurance... car insurance ... I take the cheapest quote I can find. I'm well aware of the risks involved by accepting the cheapest quote, but when you've paid insurance premiums year after year without making a claim you do begin to wonder... And certainly insurance companies have loyalty to you, as long as you don't make a claim..
And Juli Ousley .. if you have driven for 33 years and the insurance company class you as a new driver because you haven't held insurance for 2 years ... well .. name that insurance company here. If we began - we being the motorist - putting pressure on insurance companies by taking our business away they may change their tune.
It's scandalous, it really is.
Is a 58 year old driver in the south east a greater insurance risk than a driver of the same age with similar car up here in a rural area? I think not. And young drivers are penalised for being young, not because they are bad or dangerous drivers. Not all youngsters are irresponsible road risks yet the insurance companies treat them all as if they were.
A long time ago, 3rd party insurance was the cheapest you could get. Really, you were insuring the other driver and not yourself or your own car. If you had an accident that was your fault ... well, the cost of repair to the other car was met by your insurance company, but you bore the brunt of the cost of repairing your own car. Maybe that's why most people drove cars of little value.
Many insurance companies don't seem to offer 3rd party insurance any more. And for some reason third party fire and theft insurance is more expensive than fully comprehensive insurance. I wish somebody could explain to me the reason for this. If there's a reason why insurance companies charge more for less, it really does leave me baffled.
I gave up any loyalty to insurance companies a long time ago. House insurance... car insurance ... I take the cheapest quote I can find. I'm well aware of the risks involved by accepting the cheapest quote, but when you've paid insurance premiums year after year without making a claim you do begin to wonder... And certainly insurance companies have loyalty to you, as long as you don't make a claim..
And Juli Ousley .. if you have driven for 33 years and the insurance company class you as a new driver because you haven't held insurance for 2 years ... well .. name that insurance company here. If we began - we being the motorist - putting pressure on insurance companies by taking our business away they may change their tune.
It's scandalous, it really is.
22/02/2012 05:24
22/02/2012 09:55
27/02/2012 01:12
08/03/2012 23:54
sorry it made me laugh when i saw that linda works for a car insurance company. You are rip offs lol, u charge stupid prices for people when you know there is no money around no more.. I agree that most young drivers drive like idiots, but then you price normal people with some stupid prices for cars aswell. For example my toyota avensis is 100 a month, 2.2 diesel, however a vauxhall corsa is 90 a month? £10 difference between two different cars. You should be ashamed for working in a car insurance firm and then saying people are ignorant here, its not true
25/02/2012 13:55
Yes small cars are cheaper to insure but when you have a family to ferry around small cars are not practical. I have a Peugeot 307 diesel estate,I have been driving for 26 years without an accident and I am a qualified class 2 lorry driver and have taken a driving instructors course and yet the insurance companies still want to charge me over £350 fully comp.
26/02/2012 14:16
i sold my 2ltr honda before moving back to UK as i knew it would cost a lot here, i bought a little citron c4 as i thought it would be cheaper insurance, but as i insured it when staying with my daughter untill i moved into my house a change of address added another 90pounds onto price with LV, i wish id kept my mouth shut it dosent pay to be honest, but they said if i hadent told them i wouldent be insured, you cant win can you
25/02/2012 11:57
i bought a renault,megane rxe,scenic.i looked on line for a quote the cheapest was around £900 left it for a month got another qoute went down to £600 so i went for it. cos i have,nt driven for 6 years they wacked up the price to £1200 and saying in not so many words that i was a lieabilty.wot a joke. and as for my access £500 it,s more than the car is worth so if i made a claim for another car i would get sweet FFF all so thanks for everything rip off britain
19/02/2012 19:27
I have a courtesy car at the moment. It is an Aygo. The visibility is not good at all. It is quite nice to drive, but there are too many wide areas of metal by the sides of the windscreen and between the front and rear seats. The rear window visibility is also restricted. It feels good to drive but I cannot believe the difference between this car and my Saxo Desire (where you can see clearly everywhere you look). I have my wits about me when I drive, but this is a car that you just cannot take any risks with whatsoever. I don't want to diss the Aygo at all but I would recommend a test drive before buying.
12/03/2012 12:42
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