I wish I knew this before making an insurance claim! (2 Viewers)

[Cliffdale]

Stealaway

Late last year whilst driving onto levelling ramps, both ramps on the same side, front and rear, the front driving wheel skidded on wet grass and the van slid sideways and off the ramp. Damaged front bumper and quote to fix was / and is £1800. I claimed on the insurance.

So this turns out to be a fault claim. Come to renew my car insurance, despite more than 40years without a claim / accident, the van claim affects my car policy and its loaded as I made a fault claim. Renew my Mrs insurance, that too is loaded because I made a claim. My daughters car, as a named driver, that was also loaded.

I now wish I paid for the insurance claim! This carries on for the next 5 years.

 

[Boris7]

Live and learn

 

[Silver-Fox]

Even non fault claims very often you will get loaded as well.

Years ago some toerag tried to break into my garage.
I fixed the damage myself as couldn’t be doing with the hassle of claiming and the cost.

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[Cliffdale]

Live and learn

Too true. I hope others learn from my experience, my main reason for posting.

 

[G7UXG]

They’ve got you by the bo****ks. The whole system is set up to persuade you not to claim. That’s why I always opt for a large excess to get a cheaper premium; its often cheaper to pay up a couple of grand and fix it than take the loading on all of your vehicles for 5 years.

Unfair but that’s life.

 

[G7UXG]

Protected no claims is a con too. You may well maintain your 60% NCB but the basic premium will still be loaded to compensate.

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[Spriddler]

I think the same penalty applies if your vehicle is parked when damaged by another.
A pal's car whilst parked briefly in the road one evening and was hit (written off in fact) by a tipsy neighbour's car whilst he had nipped back indoors having forgotten his debit card.
Initially his ins co argued that it should have been parked off the road at night and he had to pursue the fact that it was before the 10pm requirement and he had just got it out of his drive to go back indoors for his debit card before collecting a takeaway. They eventually accepted that but he still lost his NCB and his renewal premium was increased.

 

[Cliffdale]

Protected no claims is a con too. You may well maintain your 60% NCB but the basic premium will still be loaded to compensate.

I found that out. I protected car no claims but car policy was loaded £105 because of the van claim

 

[Jim]

I know someone who endured premium loading just for mentioning a small bump. It was nothing really and they wanted to know whether to claim or pay it themselves. Even though they did not put it through their insurers; the "Accident" was placed on some database that all insurers have access to.

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[Cliffdale]

I know someone who endured premium loading just for mentioning a small bump. It was nothing really and they wanted to know whether to claim or pay it themselves. Even though they did not put it through their insurers the "Accident" was placed on some database that all insurers have access to.

Me too!

I asked on my house insurance whether I could claim for a leaking roof after a storm. Yes was the answer but I decided to pay for it myself considering the excess and insurance increase. Renewal came with damage notification and increase in premium!

 

[JJ]

Ah... insurance companies.

What wonderful people.


JJ

 

[G7UXG]

I had a £70 claim for freezer contents after a power cut whilst on holiday.

Guess what? The premium went up by £70 there next year, despite having never claimed for over 30 years

I changed insurance companies.

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[Lenny HB]

Last time I had a prang 3 or 4 years ago, at renewal they wanted to double the premium & yes I had protected NC, that was Saga. I shopped around and got a policy the same price I had been paying, no increase on the wife's car or Motorhome, it just depends on the company.

 

[Cliffdale]

Last time I had a prang 3 or 4 years ago, at renewal they wanted to double the premium & yes I had protected NC, that was Saga. I shopped around and got a policy the same price I had been paying, no increase on the wife's car or Motorhome, it just depends on the company.

I shop around every year for car and van insurance. Strangely, I got a cheaper van insurance than I paid last year. However, I could not find a better deal on my car insurance due to the claim. On comparison sites, I put in no claim, then admitted to claim and found generally the fault claim added
£60.

 

[Bonsaiman]

My first post on here was regarding a roof light over the cab of my van which had blown off, after trying to sort it myself I went down the insurance route. After a lot of bother I finally got it sorted and managed to convince a rather naive operator at the insurance company that is it should be classed under the windscreen excess so only paid £75 excess.

Come renewal time the premium had gone up quite a bit (over £270) as expected, as the glass alone was £780 plus shipping from abroad, fixing, VAT etc etc but I searched around and managed to find another provider who even with the knowledge of the claim quoted £38 more than my previous policy cost.

So as Lenny HB says “depends on the company”

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[Clipgate]

Daughters car her as a named driver, that's another gotcha if I am reading you correctly.
Trust if that's the case she does not drive to and from work!

 

[Cliffdale]

Daughters car her as a named driver, that's another gotcha if I am reading you correctly.
Trust if that's the case she does not drive to and from work!

Doesn't sound right. I am a named driver on my daughters policy and car. The named driver has made a claim in the last 5 years, so her policy is loaded.

 

[mitzimad]

Definition of insurance a scheme to supply you with an umberella on days its not raining

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[gus-lopez]

take the loading on all of your vehicles for 5 years.

Don't have any other vehicles and they can't stripe you up.

 

[sonny]

Plenty of reports on here remarking on (accident) reporting and how it costs you even if you’re not claiming

 

[sonny]

Although it doesn’t help you now it might help help someone else

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[RogerIvy]

Someone drove into my wife, there was absolutely nothing she could have done to get away, and for a few years it's really hit us. Love (NOT) insurance companies.

 

[Keep Right On]

Stealaway

Late last year whilst driving onto levelling ramps, both ramps on the same side, front and rear, the front driving wheel skidded on wet grass and the van slid sideways and off the ramp. Damaged front bumper and quote to fix was / and is £1800. I claimed on the insurance.

So this turns out to be a fault claim. Come to renew my car insurance, despite more than 40years without a claim / accident, the van claim affects my car policy and its loaded as I made a fault claim. Renew my Mrs insurance, that too is loaded because I made a claim. My daughters car, as a named driver, that was also loaded.

I now wish I paid for the insurance claim! This carries on for the next 5 years.

Change insurers - I run my own broking business and what you have been told is wrong......simply wrong. There will be a supplementary question as to whether a claim was on the policy/vehicle that you are now quoting for. If it's not, it should not affect the premium. if you have already renewed, ask the insurers (other than the MH one) for a review. Tell them they are not treating the customer (you) fairly and you plan to go to the ombudsman

 

[Odd job]

Stealaway

Late last year whilst driving onto levelling ramps, both ramps on the same side, front and rear, the front driving wheel skidded on wet grass and the van slid sideways and off the ramp. Damaged front bumper and quote to fix was / and is £1800. I claimed on the insurance.

So this turns out to be a fault claim. Come to renew my car insurance, despite more than 40years without a claim / accident, the van claim affects my car policy and its loaded as I made a fault claim. Renew my Mrs insurance, that too is loaded because I made a claim. My daughters car, as a named driver, that was also loaded.

I now wish I paid for the insurance claim! This carries on for the next 5 years.

I did similar, I wouldn't claim under £2,000 now. I claimed and got a loading on 3 vehicles for 5 years

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[sonny]

I changed insurance company and saved money it was cheaper than the original price

 

[Chris]

And please don’t think your premium will go down after 5 years.

It doesn’t work like that.

 

[ElliesBoss]

In most policy small print it says you should notify the insurance company of any accident whether you intend claiming or not. Technically I can understand that cos if you keep having minor bumps then you're obviously a higher risk, however I suspect that's not the reason the insurance companies do it.

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[busby]

Had my van written off in Germany 11 years ago..Blameless and did not affect my insurance policy whatsoever..Lucky.BUSBY.

 

[Geistguy]

As retired "broker" I can sympathise with the comments but the insurance companies definition of a "fault" claim Is any claim where full costs can't be recovered from a third party, even if the policy holder is completely without blame ie a hit and run claim.

Any claim or conviction on a vehicle policy, irrespective of blame, has to be declared on every policy where the person is a driver. Not declaring any fact can avoid the policy.

I've had to inform clients that their claim would not be paid due to not declaring relevant facts. Upsetting for everyone.

 

[Portland]

It's normal practice to load future renewals, you can't avoid it by changing insurers and to have it removed from your wife's and daughters record will be impossible. I have tried to get a non claim removed for years and each year it comes back to haunt me, all this when just asking for advise. Argue well and hard, they will say it's impossible, so ask to be put through to their under writers and do the same, it can be done but most likely it will be an ongoing problem.

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