New member. Get a Dolomite? He ponders...

[straylight]

is there such a thing as third party property insurance in the UK. It seems crazy paying around 25% of the value of a car each year in insurance. With that option you would be covered for damage you do to other vehicles but would suffer the cost of any damage which is your fault to the sprint/dolomite. If it gets damaged and another person is at fault, you are covered anyway. How do you rate your driving ?

welcome to the forums.

stu

[Oli_88]

is there such a thing as third party property insurance in the UK. It seems crazy paying around 25% of the value of a car each year in insurance. With that option you would be covered for damage you do to other vehicles but would suffer the cost of any damage which is your fault to the sprint/dolomite. If it gets damaged and another person is at fault, you are covered anyway. How do you rate your driving ?

welcome to the forums.

stu

We have third party insurance, for some reason whenever I checked quotes for that it was never any cheaper.
Will have to check again I think. I'd never even considered it to be honest. In my case, it's not my driving I worry about, it's everyone elses.

[1300dolly]

Howdyho, and welcome to the forum. I can only echo what others have said about insurance, there is a thead about insurance for the younger folk, joining the club makes sense in the fact you will get a hefty discount with some insurance companys, more than saving the membership outlay.
Its worth looking at the 1500s as costs will be a fraction of a sprint, when you have been driving for a year then maybe look at getting a sprint, £5k will buy you a lot of car and pay for all the other bits, avoid abandoned projects for you first car and always feel free to ask for advice here first before diving into a purchase there are some very knowledgable people on here and if you are lucky amember local to you may be able to come with you to look over a car.
One word of caution though, dolomite ownership can be contagious and before you know it there are dolomites and 'usefull one day' spares everywhere

On the subject of third party, i have never found this to be much cheaper and sometimes more expensive.for the extra few quid its worth going fully comp.

[Nick C]

I was 22 when I bought my first dolly, but I'd had a few other cars before then. Insurance wasn't bad at all, especially as it went on a classic policy (a few firms will do classic policies for daily drivers, although you won't build up any no claims bonus. It was fully comp (as the current one will be when it gets on the road...) as the tpft quotes were no cheaper.

Does your uni have a car or motorsports club? They can come in very handy for help and advice...

[JPB]

...a few firms will do classic policies for daily drivers, although you won't build up any no claims bonus.....

Not in every case, Nick.

My current (agreed value, cherished car) policy with Adrian Flux continues my NCB and took it into account when I accepted their terms. I think that there are more companies doing this now than, say, ten years ago.

There are also more companies offering favourable terms for young drivers with older cars as daily drivers, a young lad I know through the RSSOC has a Scimitar (1971 Se5) with a nice, RS3.1 engine in it, he's 21 and pays only £200 for that beast of a thing, with Footman James.
OK, so the 18mpg he gets if he's really gentle with it would put some younger drivers off, but an 1850 can average well into the high 30s mpg, a 1500 only slightly less, so the thing is to ask around and, when you think you've had quotes from every insurance broker in Europe, ask for quotes from more.

[Lewis]

I had an 1850HL as my first car 5 odd years ago now - when I passed my test at 17 insurance was 1800 quid via Norwich Union (including an additional 200 quid as it had Sprint wheels fitted).

Might sound outrageous but at the time my friends say, on their 1 litre Corsas, were paying around 1200 - so wasn't miles apart.

The moment you accumulate even 1 years no claims, however, the price drops incredibly - theirs fell to around the 800 mark, mine went all the way down to 550, averaging out the initial expense quite nicely.

Always a good thing to accumulate some no claims, so do check if you're looking at classic or specialist policies that they accumulate it - as you'll get bitten eventually if you don't have any...

[H4RDY]

Hey,

Thanks so much for all your wise words. I have made a note of the insurance companies mentioned and am currently in the process of checking some quotes. Searching around for insurance advice has also proved fruitful.

I have also taken on board comments about trying a smaller engine first. There are of course many reasons as to why one should take this option into Dolomite ownership, and now its just a matter of readying my money and waiting for the right car to turn up. I dont think I'll be buying for another two months yet at which point ill have become a fully fledged adult past the grand ol' age of 21 and may also be offered a better insurance quote as well. Patience is a virtue they say.

In the mean time I'll keep an eye out for any Dolly's coming up for sale.
I will also very shortly sign up as a member, its been a pleasure already.


Hardy

[scanny143]

welcome from 1 newbie to another, have u thought of maybe getting a classic insurance with a limited milage. as for the cars dolomites are in my opinion there no better or worse than the capris ive owned for working on except in 1 area everythings far cheaper for the triumphs. ive just got my sprint and the help and advice given on the forum as been so helpfull also the ppl ive met at shows and thru buying the car is the same. good luck in getting the car you want and im sure any member of this fourum will gladly come with you to check any out you look at trust me its worth it.

[MarkVeryard]

Just a quick note on classic car policies that don't accumulate the no claims - if you have one of these policies for a few years and then subsequenlty transfer to a regular policy with the same insurer, they may well give you an equivalent no claims bonus anyway from the years that you had the classic policy.

I did this a year or so ago - after 6 years on a classic policy without a no claims feature, I then took out a standard policy with the same company, and they gave me a full 6 years no claims bonus! (and then the following year, I was able to transfer the bonus to other companies )