Apologies if this has been covered, I have used the search function with no real result.

Since I arrived in Spain 4 years ago I have always used Linea Directa for my car insurance, it was the company recommended by the supplier from which I purchased my car. They are there every hour all year and conduct everything in English. I have just received my renewal notice and the cost has rocketed. I have made no claims in 4 years. I do not live in an area with an expat community and therefore do not have access to English newspapers and their advertising. Are there any car insurance companies that anyone can recommend that offer the same type of service? I have until 20th July to find and contact alternative suppliers of insurance. Thank you very much.

There are many companies to choose from. I would suggest you try a broker, then maybe go back and see if Linea Direct will price match. They did that for me

This is one of the problems with LD - they keep putting the premiums up until you complain.

Get some cheap quotes and go back to them - any company would do. I did this on both our cars and they nearly halved the premiums.

You could try these

http://www.knight-insurance.com/

http://theinsurancecentre.net/ or direct to [email protected]

https://www.abbeygatesecure.com/corp...teengine=false

have you contacted them to ask if that is the best price they can give you ? thats a mistake many people make....they just take the renewal and either pay it or go to another company

I was with Linea Direacta for 6 years...every year I would haggle and they would ALWAYS match or beat the cheapest quote I got from another company

so my advice, phone them first to get it down a bit then shop around then go back to them to see what they can do.....it takes time but well worth it

good luck, let us know how much you save

Hello everyone and thank you for the advice.

I have contacted all three of the sites mentioned. One is 10 Euros dearer than LD, one is 102 Euros cheaper and the third has not replied yet. I did haggle with LD last year and they reduced the amount by 80 Euros, but to be perfectly honest I do not want to deal with people who try to screw you and then relent when they realise that their game didn't work. The lady from The Insurance Centre was honest and straightforward, I did not tell her what LD wanted, and she didn't ask. It looks like that she will get the business and I shall ring around my friends and tell them of the savings that I have made - thanks for all of your help.

I dont think its them screwing you (us) its business at the end of the day

if you dont tell them what other quotes you have then how can they compete

at the end of the day these companies are trying to make a profit and as much profit as they can but at the same time they all want new business so its the nature of the beast ! same as in UK

you can send emails to these places...the ones I get quotes from are below( some may be out of date but it might pay to spend a bit of time on this)

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Please make sure you are happy with the service provided. It can be false ecconomy to take the cheapest quote.

I read a report in our local free rag about some nice lady who has been arrested for selling bogus insurance. Aledgedly she used to work for a reputable broker, got fired and set up her own agency selling insurance and pocketing the premiums.

if you dont tell them what other quotes you have then how can they compete

Well, they compete by looking at my car, my age, my parking, etc and then giving me an honest quote based on that information. I do not expect to do their market research for them by giving out information about other companies and their offers.

I am still awaiting the third quotation.

I do thank you for that list of other insurers and, rest assured, once having walked the dog tomorrow, I shall contact each of them in turn - it's nice to have something to do.

Thanks again

I don't like their approach but once you know how to play their game you end up with the cheapest quote.

In both cases they beat the cheapest quote by exactly one Euro.

I stick with LD because they have an unbeatable reputation for actually paying up (from my personal experience) which is more important than the price or their business ethics!

agree with you there Fred.......and yes that is my experience with them too when I had to make a claim...very very helpful and claim sorted and car repaired in no time (lorry drove into us on a round-about)

we are talking about insurance companies here

We have XPat on one car and Linea Direct on the other, each time both companies have reduced there quoted renewal price by nearly half when informed what the other company has quoted.

Do the Spanish do screen scrapers like Confused?

I was on the English direct line for my van, and Confused blew them out the water, halving my quote even with their fee!