I am about to change my insurance company to get a better deal. In comparing my new quote with my old one, I noticed my old statement of demands and needs recorded an incident where I had reported a third party bumping my car whilst parked. The third party agreed to pay but because he was tardy in paying up I reported the incident to my insurers making it very clear that there would only be a claim if the third party fail to pay. The third party eventually paid me directly for the damage and no claim was made. On seeing this listed on my old statement I reported the information to the new insurer only to be told that there would be an additional charge of £15. Since the agent could not give me a reason why the premium should be increased when no claim was made, I wonder if anyone else can?
Regards sherryb
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Were you already insured with the new insurer, but notified them later of the info listed on the statement from your old insurer? If so, then maybe the £15 is an admin charge to update the policy to include this information.
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Thanks Dave but no. The £15 was added to the new proposal when the incident was recorded by the agent. He took it off to prove the point. It is interesting to note that both insurers ask the same question 'during the past 3 years, have you or your spouse or any other person who to your knowledge will drive, had any loss/incidents in connection with a motor vehicle' It certainly seems nowadays you can be loaded if your car has been damaged whether you make a claim or not.
sherryb
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It's because (so an agent once told me) it proves that you are the sort of person who is likely to make a claim.
When I moved from grotty SE1 in London to smart W1 (with my old banger) my premium went up because (apparently) people in W1 are more inclined to claim for petty damage to their car.
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I take the point, I think, but we are all liable to have our cars bumped by careless parkers? I can understand the guy who hit me being loaded even if he paid out of his own pocket.
sherryb
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You don't take the point because you still are upset about the iniquity of the premium... ;)
It's just life. Because you were hit, you are a higher risk. And to be honest, people in the habit of parking badly (not that I suggest you are, or were at that time) are more likely to be hit by somebody else.
It's a risk profile thing. The only FACT that the ins co has is that your car was involved in an accident. You therefore are higher risk.
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I take the point, I think, but we are all liable to have our cars bumped by careless parkers?
Your options after a successful claim from 3rd party are to inform your own Insurer that the claim has been settled in full and get them to make such a note on your record.
It is not unknown to me that you can successfully claim from the 3rd party for your cost of time, inconvenience, reduced future resale value due to accident repair, and impact on your future insurance costs. The settlements I have seen ranged from £100 to £500 depending on circumstances. The people who have obtained the settlements have usually first sent their demand direct to the 3rd party and then later agreed to deal via the 3rd party's insurance company on a "without prejudice" basis. All without using their own 1st party insurance.
Search the financial ombudsman site to check what they feel about these costs and who should bear them.
P.S. You could try submitting an additional claim, say for next 3 years additional premium, direct to the 3rd party even now at this late stage.
Edited by jbif on 08/02/2008 at 11:27
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but because he was tardy in paying up I reported the incident to my insurers
This would seem to suggest that you wouldn't have reported it if he had been quick to pay?
You are obliged by your insurance company terms and conditins to report all such incidents to them, whether you claim or not.
Insurers use complex algorithms to calculate insurance premiums and they often don't make logical sense. My daughters premium reduced when she changed mid-year from SD&P to Class 1 business. They even sent her a refund.
Edited by Bill Payer on 08/02/2008 at 11:37
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Not related to the topic, a bit off-topic, but it is also worth noting that some Insurers will count a "free" windscreen replacement claim as an incident on your record.
Edited by jbif on 08/02/2008 at 11:39
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"You are obliged by your insurance company terms and conditins to report all such incidents to them, whether you claim or not"
Of course you are, that's so they can stiff you next time even though they've suffered no financial loss at all.
Anyone that tells their insurer about a bump that's been fixed 'off the books' must be smoking crack.
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Exactly. Surely the point is that if you had a bump and didn't claim then the insurance company have no business in knowing. It might make you statistically more likely to have another bump, but you've demonstrated that you don't make a claim when you do so! :)
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Anyone that tells their insurer about a bump that's been fixed 'off the books' must be smoking crack.
Last thing on their 'minds' I'd imagine - or is crack not all it's cracked up to be?
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Hi Dave N
I do not quite understand your assumption but it seems if you do not report and incident to your insurers and they find out you may not be insured whether you smoke crack or not.
sherryb
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Sherryb
Your premium has been loaded becuase you are now a higher risk. Your car was hit once, this means you park in and drive in areas where this has happened.
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Must admit this happened to me recently where we agreed to settle the repair bill privately. Received a cheque a week or so later and all sorted - would not dream of mentioning to an insurance company. Anyone who does is simply asking for their price to be put up - I'm in the business of keeping my insurance as low as I can (it's already far too high).
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Which is the whole point of the claims excess isn't it? It deters us from claiming for smaller amounts or for cases we can settle ourselves.
Really the insurance companies should actually decrease premiums if you're the kind of person to avoid making claims, even if you may be more likely to have further bumps.
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When I moved from grotty SE1 in London to smart W1 .............. my premium went up ..........
Premiums are all about the risk to the insurer, and different areas carry different risk ratings for all manner of reasons.
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