Another rant ensues. I gave up on the car six years ago, mainly because it was only a 10 minute cycle-ride to my workplace. The last 'serious' cycling I had done had been in my teens, so getting 'saddle-fit' once more, proved the biggest obstacle I encountered - don't know if it's typical, but going from saddle-sore to saddle-fit took me about six-months, an experience I don't remember fondly either. Ouch!
Up till now, any time I needed a car, I'd just rent one from Hertz, who, though not the closest car rental company to me, have at least proven to be both cheap & reliable. Damn, I could do a whole other 'Rant' regarding car rental outfits, given all the experience I acquired while on hols here, when I lived in the UK - but I'll suppress the urge! Anyway, car procured, I'd do my thing, then go back to pedalling. This was my routine, and since I like cycling and have no special affinity for cars, it worked for me - and it was much cheaper!
Fast-forward to the present. Events dictated that another car-purchase was essential, and in order to do so, back to Hertz I went, as it's practically impossible to car-shop without having a car! Long story short, I ended up buying a car that would definitely not have been my first-choice under normal circumstances, but given that I had a limited time available, it will have to do for now. But onto the meat of the post.
Everyone in Ireland knows what a rip-off the Car-Insurance market here is. It has in fact been proven that it's little more than a price-fixing Cartel. So before actually buying a car, I had sought insurance quotes from multiple players here, the first of whom was FBD Insurance, mainly because I'd been insured with them continuously for 12 years, and 'claim-less' for the entire period. Also, being of Farming-stock, I was more inclined to give my business to a company that had started out (and continue to advertise), providing "Insurance for Farmers, By Farmers".
Therefore, I was initially disappointed to discover that FBD-online could not provide me with an insurance quote, suggesting that I should visit their office instead - which I proceeded to do on the last day of my Hertz car-rental. This disappointment turned into bewilderment on being told by the FBD rep. I spoke to, that she could find no trace of my decade+ with them on their system, then outright anger when she said they would not even be prepared to offer me an insurance-quote. I could accept that it was policy throughout the insurance industry to render a lapsed-driver's no-claims-bonus (someone that had been off the road for more than 2 years), null-and-void. But for an insurance company to purge all traces of my time with them, then treat me like some 17 year-old starting out, rather than someone who has been on the road & claim-less, since 1984, just made me angry. To top it off, a couple of days later, I received in the post a letter from FBD, explaining their refusal to insurance-quote me, though in reality, explaining nothing, which I'll include below.
Thing is, they were the ONLY insurance company that refused to offer me a quote! I'm not saying that ALL of the other insurance companies offer quotes, only that the half-dozen or so that I requested quotes from, did so - and they all did so online as well, which is another black-mark against FBD. In fact, I'm now convinced that the FBD rep. I spoke to, has no more access to the FBD 'innards' than I have - all she sees on her computer screen is what I see when I apply for a FBD-quote online. Irrespective of how they operate, they've burned their bridges with me, I'm done with those arse-holes.
I eventually ended up getting car-insurance with Liberty Insurance, who offered me the best quote by far. AXA Insurance's quote was close to twice that from Liberty, who then proceeded to spam my email with the same quote! The worst quote was from XS Direct - these jokers quoted "Fully Comprehensive" for considerably more than Liberty did, but also stipulated a €3,000 excess (Liberty's is only the standard €300 excess). Good as Liberty's quote was, it was still more than 3 times as much as I was paying 6 years ago - so, I miss my no-claims-bonus, Sob.
But, the thing is, they all at least offered me a car-insurance quote, which is more than can be said for FBD, The Farmer's Friend Fiend. SCUM-BAGS.
The only thing worse than Car-Insurance companies, are Car-Insurance Brokers. I came so close to falling into the Brokers net. This in fact was at the behest of the FBD rep. I visited as well! A real pretty lady too, which given the nature of the business, is probably a pre-requisite to getting the job. It turned out that the quotes I received from her, for Liberty car-insurance, were almost TWICE what I ended up paying Liberty by going direct. I know Brokers have got to eat too but for fcuks sake, there's price gouging, then there's financial-rape - how can these pricks legally get away with this? I tried two other online-brokers, but only one of them offered a direct online quote, which was €600 less than the one I visited in person - so, not so desperate to screw you over! Most broker's sites give you the impression that they will give you a direct quote, only for you to discover, once you've fed them all of your contact details, that you must then phone them to proceed. These guys are vermin, that are being freely allowed to prey on the unwary.
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