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Please advise your readers to sue the other party directly in case of an accident, rather than go through the insurance.

Please advise your readers, if they suffer a car accident that is not their fault, to sue the person responsible if they do not get suitable redress from that person. It’s a waste of time claiming on your insurance policy, because your insurance company at the end of the year will put your premiums up. It does not matter to these crooks that you are innocent, or have been a loyal customer for years and years.

A council dustcart damaged my Bentley recently and I sent the bill for the damage directly to the council’s waste contractors. I got back a letter from the waste contractors insurers, saying I should deal with this matter through insurers. I refused and I said if they did not pay up I would sue them. They wrote back saying I was not dealing with this matter within the normal parameters of insurance etiquette. I persisted, and got the cheque for the damage to my car. Tell your readers to do the same. These insurers are part of a Mafia style racket.

Asked on 3 April 2011 by JA, Surrey

Answered by Honest John
This is a point I have been making repeatedly in the column for around five years. Any claim at all, even if you are blameless, and your premium usually increases, despite 'No Claims Discount Protection'. Insurers somehow manage to distinguish between 'increased risk' and the fact that they have sold you something that 'protects' the no claims discount you have earned. I also advise anyone suffering or causing damage of £500 or less to pay for it directly without reporting it to insurers. Unfortunately, in your case, because the council insurers paid, you were still involved in an insurance claim and that will probably affect your next year's premium.

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