My wife just passed her driving test, so we searched for fully comprehensive car insurance.The car we've bought is a Skoda Fabia 1.4 Auto (looks cool, really good reviews but we still have to accept the fact it's a Skoda.)The first place I tried for insurance was AA, the quote was 1300 ish pounds. I laughed and I laughed again (well it was better than crying)As my wife, (as most wives are) is female I tried Diamond and a few of those girlie insurance companies, alas similar prices or only a touch lower.Then I found an insurance company called Quinn Direct, wow 750 pounds that was much more like it.Looked at a few reviews to see what people thought, they weren't great but then nearly all the car insurance companies have fairly low ratings and most people write reviews after a bad experience, which is fair enough.After speaking with my Dad he suggested I tried phoning up Tesco, the company he is through for his car insurance. They gave us a quote of about 758 pounds, a few pounds more than Quinn. However there were a few differences in the policy. Both companies charge about the same for excess. However, because my wife is a newbie, Tesco charged an extra excess of a few hundred pounds because of this. I don't think Quinn does, but phone up to make sure. Quinn cut corners in other ways, for instance protection if your window screen gets damaged with Quinn you aren't covered, with Tesco you are; and this is were the real difference for us came in.My Dad recently got his windscreen chipped on the motorway (and although the reviews about Tesco car insurance on the web are not good,) he said they were really great, they got it fixed very quickly and it didn't effect his no claims bonus (I think you pay the first 75 pounds for any damage but double check yourself)So I've gone with Tescos. I needed to get the policy sent to the car dealership so I phoned them up, got through very quickly to a call centre near Leeds, and got the address forwarded really simply. The guy at the call centre was called Mohammed and he was really nice, so if anyone from Tesco Car Insurance reads this, give him a pat on the back.
First timers can also get discounts from most insurance companies if they have done their Pass Plus Driving Course, however I am not sure this is with all companies.Oh and of course remember use another email address when just trying out quotes on-line, as you don't want to be inundated with Spam.