Third Party Fire And Theft

[bluebird34]

I am a 78 years woman who has a very old S reg Fiesta. I only drive locally now and wonder if I should take out my next insurance for third party fire and theft instead of fully comprehensive and would it make much difference to my payments. Also I am not sure what I would be covered for as far as the third party bit goes.

[VHG]

I think many insurance companies have stopped doing 3rd party fire and theft.

I think you now have to take comprehensive.

[chrissa1]

I haven't heard that VHG. Third party covers you if you damage somebody elses car or property, but won't pay you for the damage to your car.

[shoota]

There will almost certainly be either no saving or such a small saving as to be not worth it.
They base the premiums on statistics and statistically people with TPFT have more accidents than those with fully comp, consequently the lesser cover often costs more - daft but true.
Ask your company/broker - they will not charge to give you a comparison quote.

[SlackAlice]

Any economies made on switching from Comprehensive to TPFT policies are quite small nowadays and not worth it imo.

[Old_Geezer]

It's a strange thing but it can be the case that 3PFF can be more expensive than the corresponding full cover. I think possibly becuase they don't trust folk who want it, or maybe more likely they can't be bothered and don't see it as a business attractor any more.

Best option is to compare the compare site results.

Fully comp tends to cover expenses to you car caused by your mistakes. 3P covers the costs incurred for what you did to someone else.

[bluebird34]

Thank you for your very helpful answers I think I will stick with Fully Comp.

[Hopkirk]

Consider increasing the excess to a high level, to reduce the premium.

This might be worth doing, as the value of the car means you wouldn't get much if you claimed anyway.

At least with comprehensive cover you will still get windscreen cover, although that will probably have a £60 or £75 excess of its own.

[ToraToraTora]

It won't make any difference, in fact it could go up. Most of the cost of insurance is for the third party cover.

[hc4361]

Make sure you state your average mileage when you renew - pointless paying for ten thousand miles if you do four; make sure you insure for social, domestic and pleasure only, you don't need to be insured for commuting; increase the excess to the most you can comfortably afford.

Shop around and use the comparison sites - but don't forget to look at the companies that don't use them, such as Saga and Direct Line.

All this should make your fully comp insurance as cheap as possible.

Another possibility is the 'pay as you drive' type of insurance that needs the insurance company to install a black box tracker.
http://www.confused.com/car-insurance/pay-as-you-drive

[Hopkirk]

Another thing to try out, which might reduce your premiums.

If you have a middle aged relative or friend who is low risk (clean licence held for many years, no accidents, boring job), get a quote with them as a named driver.
It can sometimes come out lower than just yourself as the driver.

[SpikeyBush]

If you would struggle to buy a replacement car with your savings keep fully comp cover. If someone for example drives into the back of you at the lights, writing off your car, fully comp insurance will normally pay out fairly quick, usually in a couple of weeks and then claim it back of the guilty party. If you only have TPF&T you won't be compensated until the guilty party's insurers have accepted liability and processed the claim, which can take 18 months or more if there is any slight dispute over liability.