Car Insurance Shopping Warning

We bought a new car this week which meant of course looking for new car insurance. As you are supposed to I used the comparison websites in order to get the best deal as well as contacting my usual insurers however none of these worked out the best deal for me.

When looking for insurance we want a company who know what they are talking about, who don’t expect an excess equivalent to the value of a kidney on the black market and who are competitively priced yet include all of the features that we need.

Using the comparisons certainly weeded out a few insurers who seem to think highway robbery is fine and dandy in 2014 however I found myself frustrated by some of the prices quoted, knowing I’ve had better in the past. In the end I took out a very competitive policy from a car insurance company not on any of the comparisons which has worked out cheaper with extras added in.

I posted previously about saving money this summer, being more frugal with our living costs and reducing bills and as part of this I was determined to find the absolute best deal, and did. My advice for you is to use the insurance comparison websites by all means however really shop around using sites such as this site to fine the best deal for you and to ensure that you get the most for your money. I hate paying over the odds and had I been caught up in the baby meerkat stuffed toy frenzy I certainly would have been.

Do the leg work (which still doesn’t take very long in the age of the internet) and make sure you don’t pay more than you have to!

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Holiday outings and no dramas – hopefully!

The Easter holidays have arrived and before we know it the long summer holidays will be here. Six or seven weeks of trying to keep the kids entertained and fit in as many cultural, educational and downright fun days possible before the new term starts.

I don’t drive (I know, shocking!) but my wonderful cheerful chauffer of a husband does and our weekend and holiday day trips out are absolutely fantastic. From castles to the beach, up onto the North Yorkshire Moors or just finding a new wide open green places to have a picnic and kick a ball around!

As all parents do we make sure we are properly prepared. We have changes of clothes, sun-creams and hats, first aid kit, phones, money and change for parking, plenty to drink, snacks and all of the other 101 things that can’t be forgotten when going out with small children. We take extra care not to forget anything and so that nothing can spoil our precious memory-making days out.

For this reason, and of course for safety-sake we make sure the car is properly prepared too. Roy checks the oil, water, petrol, tyres and makes sure we are ready to go. We always carry our roadside assistance cards (my idea of hell is being stuck somewhere remote with kids in the car) and of course have adequate car insurance.

We have been very lucky and have had no major dramas on our holidays or days out but many people have. Have you had a disaster when out in the holidays? Have you lost something or got lost? Have you broken down or forgotten something essential? I’ve heard some right tales on Twitter and Facebook, do you have a holiday near-miss to share?

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