i4 Insurance

[PsymonR]

Yes, I did see your helpful previous post thanks and so when the lady said about we won’t insure it, I did say to her that I know another i4 owner (ie you) that has insured their i4 through them which is when she said she would refer it on. As we know, there is no reason they can’t cover the car, it is just that it is a new model and their systems are playing catch up. Someone in Admiral simply needs to tweak the headline name of the car to Emira i4 from V6 So it matches the 2l automatic underlying details. Then, job done and no more confusion. Did you pick yours up today?

They don't necessarily need to say i4, just not say V6. As I posted a few posts back it looks like the i4s will just show up on the system as "Lotus Emira First Edition", which follows how Lotus refer to the cars, only the V6 gets an engine designation in the model name (eg on the emira specs page)

 

[Mitcheroo]

They don't necessarily need to say i4, just not say V6. As I posted a few posts back it looks like the i4s will just show up on the system as "Lotus Emira First Edition", which follows how Lotus refer to the cars, only the V6 gets an engine designation in the model name (eg on the emira specs page)

Agree. Only needs a small tweak.

 

[Andy H]

I'm going into battle with Admiral on this today. I hope I get to speak to someone who's aware of the background. Any names you've captured during your interactions would be appreciated!

 

[Andy H]

My reg has appeared on the DVLA site today but it's still not filtered down to Admiral. Even after 2 weeks they still have the wrong label on their manual car pick list - something like Emira First Edition V6 359. The bhp is rightish and it says 1991cc in the detail but they're not happy to proceed because I said mine isn't the V6 and they can't look the reg up. Crazy thing is I asked them to look up AO24 FXH and it resolves to another option which doesn't appear in the manual list: Just Emira First Edition but with the correct 1991cc. My last chance on this is to try again on Thursday to see if the reg is on their system because they won't do the policy on the other plate.

Update: I just spoke to Manning again and their policy is looking better value now so hopefully on Thursday I might be able to give Admiral the virtual two fingered salute which would be quite satisfying

 

[PsymonR]

My reg has appeared on the DVLA site today but it's still not filtered down to Admiral. Even after 2 weeks they still have the wrong label on their manual car pick list - something like Emira First Edition V6 359. The bhp is rightish and it says 1991cc in the detail but they're not happy to proceed because I said mine isn't the V6 and they can't look the reg up. Crazy thing is I asked them to look up AO24 FXH and it resolves to another option which doesn't appear in the manual list: Just Emira First Edition but with the correct 1991cc. My last chance on this is to try again on Thursday to see if the reg is on their system because they won't do the policy on the other plate.

I'm also going to ask if there's any courtesy insurance available from Lotus to cover the first few days - I've come across this before but it's a long shot.

Mine has also appeared on the DVLA site, at least it gives a bit of time to filter through, but definitely going to be a case of keeping fingers crossed. I'm potentially going to be getting my car on Friday (if PPF done in time) so also may be needing it to be done by Thursday.

Would indeed be be so much easier if Lotus did 7-day drive away insurance to give time for things to filter through the system!

 

[Andy H]

keeping fingers crossed

The guy from Manning said the same thing happened when the first V6's were being delivered. No policies available on day 1. He thought it was due to late notification of specs by Lotus. Surely not!

 

[Verdi]

I went with Locktons bloody expensive but I feel it is a good insurance which matters more than penny pinching.

 

[Mitcheroo]

My reg has appeared on the DVLA site today but it's still not filtered down to Admiral. Even after 2 weeks they still have the wrong label on their manual car pick list - something like Emira First Edition V6 359. The bhp is rightish and it says 1991cc in the detail but they're not happy to proceed because I said mine isn't the V6 and they can't look the reg up. Crazy thing is I asked them to look up AO24 FXH and it resolves to another option which doesn't appear in the manual list: Just Emira First Edition but with the correct 1991cc. My last chance on this is to try again on Thursday to see if the reg is on their system because they won't do the policy on the other plate.

Update: I just spoke to Manning again and their policy is looking better value now so hopefully on Thursday I might be able to give Admiral the virtual two fingered salute which would be quite satisfying

Admiral were supposed to call me back today after speaking yesterday but never heard from them. To call them first thing tomorrow.

 

[CraigO]

I'm likely going to go with Mannings. They seem very on the ball, and will mirror the NCD which is all on my Giulia currently. It comes out a little dearer (£200 more) than Admiral, but at least they understand what the i4 is as a model. Excess is lower too.

 

[Cutting42]

I appreciate the troubles with Admiral recognising the i4 but I had a chat with them about my 650s today and saved £200 going multicar even when my wifes car is not due for another 6 months. Could be worth trying as Admiral were the cheapest on the Emira for me as well.

 

[Mitcheroo]

Spoke to Admiral again this afternoon. A chap called Rob was helpful. He looked at the details from my previous call and I quickly explained the issue and said if they can sort it out they might get quite a bit of business as the i4s are handed over. The upshot is that their systems still refer to V6 in the title, but he said if I am happy that the underlying car details are correct ( which they were ie 2l, 359bhp, petrol and automatic ) and the only thing wrong is the V6 in the title then they are happy to provide insurance cover. I checked to make sure the phone call is being recorded just in case so there is evidence of our discussion. So went ahead and has cost me around £475 with a £750 excess with max of 6000 miles. This is their Admiral Gold cover as referred to previously. He tried to sell me some add-ons but declined them. insured my Jag XF Sportbrake at same time so a multi car policy which gives small discount.

 

[PsymonR]

This is a bit more promising with Admiral... Don't seem to be able to select it manually though their website to multicar it onto my wife's policy with them yet, but if the meerkats are getting the correct designation coming up it's a start, fingers crossed for ringing them later...

 

[Andy H]

Promising. Admiral left me multiple messages yesterday saying they'd had updates from the underwriter in response to my issues raised over labelling. I will call them back soon to see what they have to say but fingers crossed, it's an improvement. I need to commit today and I did have Manning as favourite but it'll be interesting to see what Admiral have to say. If it's the same price, just corrected label then I'll stick with Manning as they seem to know what they're doing and they're willing to mirror my NCD from a policy I have on another car. That's a bonus as it means I don't need to switch that policy to my wife to juggle the NCD allowances. I don't think Admiral do mirroring but I need to check that today.

Update - I ran Meerkats again just now and the reg still isn't recognised but when I use manual details it's now resolving to the correct name in Admiral and the premium has come down by about £50 to £900.

 

[Andy H]

Closing remarks...

I spoke to Admiral and they don't do NCD mirroring. I tried multi-car but it seems they really don't like Audi RS3's so I'm going to stick with Manning. Hopefully the correction in Admiral might help out a few others here.

 

[PsymonR]

Well I've only been able to talk to Indian call centres with Admiral which aren't getting me anywhere, I've not been able to talk to anyone who can help with a non-standard query - they will only go off the incorrect descriptors when manually selecting a car. The fact I can get the correct descriptor via a third party and not on Admiral's website itself is frustrating to say the least!

I can at least get a standalone policy via Meerkats in the morning if the numberplate hasn't filtered through in time, but would prefer to get it multicar on my wife's policy if at all possible to get a bit of a discount.

At least no-claims isn't too big of an issue, putting 0 years NCB but with 9 years without claims on another vehicle only makes about £30 difference in premium on the Meerkat quote so just saying 9 years NCB.

Manning unfortunately isn't an option for me as the car won't be garaged initially (it will be in due course, but timing unfortunately means it can't be quite yet).

 

[Andy H]

incorrect descriptors when manually selecting a car

Just to be clear - the Admiral description is fixed as of this morning. See my post above. That screenshot came from Admiral. I was able to get to it from Meerkats by manually selecting the i4 in their search screen.

 

[PsymonR]

Just to be clear - the Admiral description is fixed as of this morning. See my post above. That screenshot came from Admiral. I was able to get to it from Meerkats by manually selecting the i4 in their search screen.

The problem comes when trying to select the correct car from within the Admiral system when trying to add the car onto my wife's policy for multicar.
The fact that I can get the correct car through Meerkats is at least a fallback for the morning if things still aren't properly selectable!

 

[Andy H]

The problem comes when trying to select the correct car from within the Admiral system when trying to add the car onto my wife's policy for multicar.
The fact that I can get the correct car through Meerkats is at least a fallback for the morning if things still aren't properly selectable!

I understand now. I was also getting call centre drones there. Luckily, today I got someone who knew what they were doing and could spec up a multicar quote quickly but it's a lottery.

 

[CraigO]

Decided to go with Mannings in the end. A bespoke Lotus policy with some business miles added. Arranged with a very helpful guy called Jason. A few hundred pounds more expensive than Admiral, but lower excess costs. Glad it's seemingly getting sorted with a few providers, its good to have choices.

 

[schuey100]

Yes, I did see your helpful previous post thanks and so when the lady said about we won’t insure it, I did say to her that I know another i4 owner (ie you) that has insured their i4 through them which is when she said she would refer it on. As we know, there is no reason they can’t cover the car, it is just that it is a new model and their systems are playing catch up. Someone in Admiral simply needs to tweak the headline name of the car to Emira i4 from V6 So it matches the 2l automatic underlying details. Then, job done and no more confusion. Did you pick yours up today?

Exactly what I said aswel! Picked it up last friday, as it was registered on the day, I rang Admiral earlier (giving them time for the DVLA systems to update etc) to ask them to input my reg number again on my policy and that will give them the exact model (obviously I4 not V6) and to update my policy, reply was ‘the reg number isn’t coming back with anything on our system, it can take 10 days or more for the DVLA system to link with theirs’ 🤷‍♂️🙄