LV Car Insurance Reviews
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The rather grand sounding Liverpool Victoria insurance dropped that moniker a decade ago and now goes by the more catchy name of LV= insurance.
LV= is one of insurance companies with over five million customers, offering a wide range of insurance products from car, home, pet, travel and life insurance to investment and retirement products. The original Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Limited was founded in 1843 as a burial society, so things have moved on since then. Today it is incorporated as a friendly society, which effectively means it has no shareholders and is owned by its members who are the policyholders of Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Limited. Insurance products are provided by Liverpool Victoria Insurance Company Limited. That’s all fine and good, but the question we're sure you want to know is: does LV= offer good car insurance? See how LV's policies stack up for price compared to the rest of the market by comparing car insurance online. 
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The LV= claim
LV very much markets itself on quality rather than merely cost – not a bad thing at all in our view. Its website offers an ‘at-a-glance’ comparison between what it offers and what its competitors It also make great play of the fact that they are a Which? recommended insurance provider. It claims its prices for car insurance start from £209 and they offer discounts if you buy cover online and an extra discount if you already have other insurance with them. So, all in all, it’s what you get with LV rather than just price. Types of LV= car insurance policy The company offers a variety of policies, which boil down to two types of cover: comprehensive and third party fire and theft. It’s best to make sure you understand what each mean, so you can work out which type of policy you need. If your car is under six years old LV only offers comprehensive cover. So, if you’re looking to insure a very old, low-value car, and you want to save money by opting for third party only (not even fire and theft), you’ll have to look elsewhere). Bear in mind, though, that third party often isn’t cheaper than comprehensive anyway, as just selecting it puts you in a higher risk group for some insurance providers. |
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Beyond the basics
Like most insurers, LV is keen to highlight all the extras that come as standard. And, in fact, it does do rather well when those standard features are compared with several other insurance providers. LV offers as standard: replacement keys if lost, misfuelling cover (putting diesel into a petrol car and vice versa, and more common than many people realise), an uninsured driver promise. The last one is becoming more important than ever as the number of uninsured drivers on the road continues to rise. This means you’re covered and won’t be penalised if you have to claim against another party who isn’t insured. Other options, like most insurers, offer such things as multi-car discounts and you may be able to get a discount if you also take out other insurance policies with LV – one of the advantages of insuring with a major company. Also offered is cover for in-car equipment such as audio and sat-nav equipment. If you have a ‘new’ car, as in it’s under 12 months old, LV’s new-for-old replacement promise is attractive – if you write off your car they’ll replace it with a brand new one. Your next few premiums might be on the high side as a result, though. There’s also personal belongings cover up to £200, which relates to items likes phones, clothes, or your bag. CUT YOUR CAR INSURANCE BILL SWITCHING Compare and save over £200 What extras does LV= car insurance offer? LV offers a policy aimed at the over 50s, which they say starts at just £188 (that’s the price at least 10% of new customers paid, which allows the company to make the claim). There’s also no upper age limit on this policy. Before you spend more money, ask yourself: are car insurance extras worth it? Other extras that allow you to shape your cover specifically to your needs are: Legal expense cover Most insurers will offer this. For £24.90 this will cover you for £100,000 of legal costs following a car accident caused by someone else, including help with personal injury claims. |
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Courtesy car
For £19.90, you can opt for a guaranteed courtesy car (normally a small hatchback) while yours is being repaired following an accident. If your vehicle is stolen or written off, you’l get a courtesy car for up to 14 days, or, if your claim has been paid, for four days. The courtesy car is insured by LV and you only pay for the fuel. Euro cover Every car has a minimum level of insurance cover while driving in the EU (while we’re still in it!) but this is third party only. For extra cover, that mirrors your level at home and is valid for 180 consecutive days, you can opt for European car insurance cover. Increased personal accident cover For £19.90, you can ensure a payout of up to £100,000 in the event of a serious injury to you or your partner while driving. This is ten times what you would get without the add on. No claims discount protection A standard add on these days. If you have four or more years NCD you can avoid losing it in the event of a claim. Keep in mind, though, that if you claim your premium will almost certainly rise – you’ll just get the same discount on a larger premium. Breakdown cover For £26 you can get the basic level of cover through Britannia Rescue – average response time 46 minutes for four out of five cars. When comparing car insurance deals online, keep in mind any extras you might want. |
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What do LV= customers think?
Well, in short, they like LV. Which? scrutinises 31 car insurers’ standard policies and surveys thousands of policy holders to rank the companies. LV comes out in joint second place out of those 31. Pretty good. It scores four out of five stars for customer service, transparency of charges and value for money and five out of five stars for its handling of queries and complaints. Its overall customer score was 72% and its policy score was 80%, with a final, overall score of 76%, which puts it on a par with John Lewis. If you need to make a complaint about LV, contact us at A Spokesman Said. We're in your corner. We like …. The excellent way the LV website explains how premiums are worked out under their “price explained” section. We also like the fact that they clearly put a lot of stress on customer care and satisfaction and not only price. There’s no upper age limit on who can be insured – so long as you’re fit to drive, obviously! Need to know Expect big changes gradually in the way LV interacts with customers. It is making what it describes as a “significant investment” in “digital transformation”, to transform products and the way they are marketed as we approach the era of the internet of things and driverless cars. |
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