Hi All,

I have just received a letter from Mark Richard stating that current insurer - KGM are unable to invite renewal & Mark Richards have further stated that they have searched the market & are unable to find an alternative quotation !! I have been with them for over 20years with a Bongo & this is my second 2.4 Alphard. I've enjoyed relatively trouble free motoring with 19 years NCD., until May '22 when I was rear-ended by a truck whilst stationary in a traffic queue & subsequently Alphard was written off. Then on July this year I bumped a car in a similar situation causing minor damage to both cars. Taking this one fault claim & my age - 74yrs. has resulted in them not renewing. Has anyone been in this situation & can recommend an insurer before I start trawling around for quotes.

Many thanks in advance.

cheers chris just want to thank you i did phone mark richards they quoted me £1100 but i had a nice phone call from gary at mark richards this morning they admitted to making a mistake with my quote and they wanted to double check everything best they could do for me was £766.00 which i paid as i was getting over a £1000 + everywhere else 

Good outcome! Happy motoring!

Many thanks for info.

Just to add.

 

https://www.quotezone.co.uk/car-insurance/average-car-insurance-premium-by-region

 

I think people have an unrealistic view of what they should be paying. 

 

I think it depends from the idea that insurance should get cheaper as your no claims increases, whereas the no claims discount is applied after taking into consideration the average insurance increases.

 

Even the month you renew has an effect on price!

Hi all, been a lurker for a while as I've been taking my time to look over as many topics on here as I can before deciding to make my purchase and I'm happy to say I'm finally picking up my Alphard on Saturday! 

 

I made the call to my current insurers (Hastings Direct) to see what they could do, currently have a 2019 Ford Kuga Titanium 1.5tdi paying £462 this year, it cost me an extra £82 to change over to the the 2012 Alphard 3.5 V6.

 

£542 seemed pretty reasonable to me, although I should point out that I am in South Wales and based on Chris' post above Wales is the third cheapest region in the UK. 35 M 9 years NCD doing around 9000miles a year and parked over night on drive. 

Thanks for info., all sorted now.

Hi, I was hoping to import a 20 series hybrid, but insurance is either non existent or stupid prices.

Has anybody had any luck with hybrid quotes?

My best quote is £950, which is £400 more than the best I got for a plain 2.4l petrol, or even a 2.4l 2016 hybrid. I can stomach around £550, but anything near £1000 is crazy. 

On 11/1/2024 at 2:23 AM, Mist7887 said:

Hi, I was hoping to import a 20 series hybrid, but insurance is either non existent or stupid prices.

Has anybody had any luck with hybrid quotes?

My best quote is £950, which is £400 more than the best I got for a plain 2.4l petrol, or even a 2.4l 2016 hybrid. I can stomach around £550, but anything near £1000 is crazy. 

Have you tried Mark Richards (Jap Cover) ?

 

It will be a case of shopping around.

Also, add a second driver like a spouse or sibling who has full licence and access to another car. I have seen massive drops in price by adding another driver.



 

Cost of insurances depend on age, where you are, how much damage to your vehicle in an accident, trouble free driving etc etc. Insurance companies are inclined to write your motor off rather than repair it. I have only ever had fully comprehensive insurance and unfortunately a claim was made against me several years ago after I misjudged moving my Estima in a hospital car park. I washed the paint from another car off my bodywork, the other driver claimed £1000. from my insurance because the cars touched each other and his paintwork on his plastic bumper was little damaged. Then my insurance wrote off the next 2 Estimas. Not had anoer accident since June 2022.

Then I changed to an Alphard. I got an insurance quote for £1,500. on top of the £565. I had paid for the Estima. When it came up for renewal in March 2023, an eye wateruing £4,200. At renewal in March 2024 £3,600. As i had had a new Hybrid Inverter fitted April/May 2023, I wanted to get my monies worth. Alfie is driving very well apart from the trailing arms still to be replaced, 2 weeks time.

If my insurance is not greatly reduced in March 2025, I will be looking to change vehicles and not an import. The insurance companies have gotten their monies back from paying me out  over the 2 write offs. I am now 73.

I am insured with Aviva

On 11/3/2024 at 8:31 AM, Alphard Club said:

Have you tried Mark Richards (Jap Cover) ?

 

It will be a case of shopping around.

Also, add a second driver like a spouse or sibling who has full licence and access to another car. I have seen massive drops in price by adding another driver.



 

I spoke to them this morning, and got a rough quote I'm happy with. I didn't think of it but I'm guessing they'll insure based on vin number until it has a proper uk reg. 

On 11/4/2024 at 12:29 PM, Mist7887 said:

I spoke to them this morning, and got a rough quote I'm happy with. I didn't think of it but I'm guessing they'll insure based on vin number until it has a proper uk reg. 

 

Are you planning on driving an unregistered vehicle on the road?

 

Don't.

 

You will need an MOT at least to get the van registered, and you must have Insurance before you drive it.

Some insurers will not meet a claim if the vehicle does not have a valid MOT.

 

 

1 hour ago, Rojie said:

 

Are you planning on driving an unregistered vehicle on the road?

 

Don't.

 

You will need an MOT at least to get the van registered, and you must have Insurance before you drive it.

Some insurers will not meet a claim if the vehicle does not have a valid MOT.

 

 

No, that's not what I'm saying, that would be illegal. I'm saying that as an import I can't insure with a registration until the car gets the registration, but I also have to insure it as soon as it lands, so I'll have to insure it temporarily on the vin number alone, while the import garage sorts out all my paperwork etc. 

On 11/3/2024 at 11:20 AM, Michael Brown said:

Cost of insurances depend on age, where you are, how much damage to your vehicle in an accident, trouble free driving etc etc. Insurance companies are inclined to write your motor off rather than repair it. I have only ever had fully comprehensive insurance and unfortunately a claim was made against me several years ago after I misjudged moving my Estima in a hospital car park. I washed the paint from another car off my bodywork, the other driver claimed £1000. from my insurance because the cars touched each other and his paintwork on his plastic bumper was little damaged. Then my insurance wrote off the next 2 Estimas. Not had anoer accident since June 2022.

Then I changed to an Alphard. I got an insurance quote for £1,500. on top of the £565. I had paid for the Estima. When it came up for renewal in March 2023, an eye wateruing £4,200. At renewal in March 2024 £3,600. As i had had a new Hybrid Inverter fitted April/May 2023, I wanted to get my monies worth. Alfie is driving very well apart from the trailing arms still to be replaced, 2 weeks time.

If my insurance is not greatly reduced in March 2025, I will be looking to change vehicles and not an import. The insurance companies have gotten their monies back from paying me out  over the 2 write offs. I am now 73.

Hi all, unfortunately this damaged of my vehicle has resulted in a write off. 
 

We were offered a fair compensation yet was again down to being and import and parts issue. 
 

I fear this could be the end of my Alphard journey. Unless I find one in price and to my requirements. 😂 Wanting the moon on stick situation.

🤦

Sorry to see that John, My 04 Estima looked a bit like that in June 2022 and the insurance wrote it off, they said because it was an import it would be too costly to repair. I was insured Fully Comprehensive, but I think they gave me a fair price for it. I bought it off the insurance company and tried to get it repaired. But unfortunately it could not be done because the main body members had been spread outwards.

My insuranse is high now at £305. a month and I have been told don't buy an import buy a vehicle made for the British market. So unless my insurance next March is greatly reduced, I will be selling mine reluctantly. I'd be sorry to see it go. Lovely vehicle to drive and so spacious.

Thanks to this group I secured insurance with Adrian Flux (van is still on the ship) via chassis number. I'll be able to drive the car myself to an MOT station and then home, as per their T&Cs. £470 for the premium itself, but then if you add all the fees and the fact I'm paying monthly, it'll be £680! Still ok for the first year I guess. I'll look around once my car is registered, etc.

Good work, Simbad.

For your information the importer I bought my Alphard from has been in the business for some years. The vehicle will need a rear fog light fitted to pass an MOT in UK. But in addition he chooses to drive very little and gets oil changed asap as lots of time on boat lets sludge settle which needs getting out. 
Good luck.

Out of interest,

Just got a quote from Adrian Flux.

£621.93 (with £750 excess). Alphard 2013 240S petrol

We are both retired, (I’m in my 70’s). Full NCB. 
 

Just renewed our insurance with Lifesure, who are brokers for Axa. £483.98, which is £55 more than last year. It is a motor home policy, and is recorded as a converted camper van with them. Includes Motor legal expenses of £30.00. Full NCD. I am 72. 

Sounds like a good result Charlie, (except for the increase)!
I haven’t got my vehicle yet, (it’s still in the standard 7 seat configuration), and hopefully will be collecting it next week. It’s all registered. Can’t wait, first import I’ve ever owned. Reading the other results on this forum thread, I thought I’d got a reasonable deal, obviously not! 😩

 

Edited January 29Jan 29 by Alfart
Typo

Hi all, bit of an odd question which might sound a bit daft but when insuring do you declare it an import or not? 

 

I've spoken to my insurer and they have told me that it's not an import because I bought it from a UK dealer and it was already registered in the UK when purchased. It only needs to be declared an import if I have personally imported and registered the vehicle.

 

I have always been under the assumption that as it's an imported vehicle it has to be declared an import on insurance but according to my insurer that's not the case... 

 

Should I be concerned about the fact my insurer doesn't want to list my Alphard as an import?

I'd have thought once an import, always an import

9 hours ago, Jimmympv said:

Hi all, bit of an odd question which might sound a bit daft but when insuring do you declare it an import or not? 

 

I've spoken to my insurer and they have told me that it's not an import because I bought it from a UK dealer and it was already registered in the UK when purchased. It only needs to be declared an import if I have personally imported and registered the vehicle.

 

I have always been under the assumption that as it's an imported vehicle it has to be declared an import on insurance but according to my insurer that's not the case... 

 

Should I be concerned about the fact my insurer doesn't want to list my Alphard as an import?

 

No.

 

It's all semantics.

Just renewed our insurance for our 2005 Alphard with Adrian Flux again. As ours is a day van with 7 seats, sink, single hob cooker and a pop top roof, the premium for this year is £269....up £14 on last year so no complaints here.