Car insurance - have I done something wrong here?

zinz

Maybe it was just a bad mood, but my other half was furious at me this morning for having gone and got a quote for car insurance. He seems to think that my having got a quote will cost us money, something to do with insurers sharing the information I gave because 'they're all !!!!!!!s' and somehow my having asked for a quote means they now have an excuse to charge us more :huh:

I only got a full quote from one place (AA) and I didn't commit to anything... but have I somehow prevented us from getting the best possible deal?

Bit of background... I recently passed my driving test, and almost straight away stoved in one of the car doors when de-parking The repairs are being done under insurance - ie, I declared the accident in my quote, as not to do so would invalidate any insurance and not give me an accurate idea of what to expect.

*Kat*

Wow, your OH is mean! lol

zinz

Oh, so turns out that he doesn't know it will cause a problem - he's just assuming that because insurers take any excuse to raise your premium and he thinks that could include any quote you send them.

So - does anyone know if insurers do this; using info you may have given in an entirely speculative quote request to push up your actual final premium if you then send 'finalised' accurate details for a quote? Or is my OH just being paranoid?

iamana1ias

zinz wrote: »

Oh, so turns out that he doesn't know it will cause a problem - he's just assuming that because insurers take any excuse to raise your premium and he thinks that could include any quote you send them.

So - does anyone know if insurers do this; using info you may have given in an entirely speculative quote request to push up your actual final premium if you then send 'finalised' accurate details for a quote? Or is my OH just being paranoid?

They can keep track of changes made, so if you put the accident on, and then took it off, and added points before taking them off before taking the policy quoted for out they would know and would question why you hadn't included those details.

zinz

Thanks, I didn't do anything like that. I might not have been accurate about yearly mileage, but I didn't put on any accidents that didn't happen or anything, and it wasn't detailed enough to ask about points. But anyhow does questioning it mean they'd add to the premium?

I asked some friends and quite a few said they'd done 'speculative' quotes to see 'what would happen if...' but don't feel they've experienced problems as a result.

zinz

NB, the quote wasn't from our current insurers, though I know some 'overlap' or share info,

lisyloo

He is being paranoid. Quotes will not have any effect on the final quotation.

You must declare everything.
I don't believe points weren't mentioned. It would be called "convictions in the last 5 years". I don't think it's actually called points.

If you are doing it yourself and not using a broker it's up to you to check all information. Not just on input but on the paperwork too (computers do make mistakes sometimes).
This is very important because if it's wrong then you could be refused a claim.
Computers do mess up sometimes but it's very hard to prove it wasn't you (unless you have a printout of all input pages) and even then you are still meant to check the paperwork.

Push back on him and ask him where he got is information.
Bloke down the pub? TV quick? Read it on the internet? (where anyone can put anything).

zinz

He's admitted he has no factual grounds... he's just assuming it could be the case because they seem to use any excuse to push up your premiums.

I'm confident he can fill in a quote correctly in the event, but we only have a few days to look one up now and I'm worried he'll start saying that he daren't get any other quotes. That really would cost us money!

iamana1ias

It won't affect premiums, but if you accept a quote being less than honest (ie omitting points or claims) and go on to claim then many insurers will check the forensics on the quoting system

(I know because I used to do it )

whatmichaelsays

Sounds to me like somebody was trying to keep a claim quiet. Why else would be be worried about insurers sharing information?

Clive_Woody

zinz wrote: »

I'm worried he'll start saying that he daren't get any other quotes. That really would cost us money!

It sounds a bit like he is getting loan applications and insurance quotes muddled up. If you apply for lots of loans (and get turned down) in a short space of time this will look bad on your credit file and will potentially cost you more as mainstream lenders refuse to lend you money and have to look elsewhere.

I've never heard of it being an issue with getting lots of insurance quotes in a short space of time. In fact the article on this very website about getting cheap insurance quotes suggests that you do get lots of quotes to save money. I would suggest you show the article on here to your OH.