Car vandalised - Am I really having to pay for excess?

jacobsdaduk

toniq wrote: »

Of course I knew the excess when I took out the policy, with the excess I have my fully comp, no claims protected with top level breakdown works out at £42 a month, where I have never claimed in over 10 years of driving it is a very affordable policy, My main issue here was the police refusing to investigate so the insurance leaving me trapped in having to pay, if the police had investigated they might have found something to identify the pratt that done this.

The police simply aren't going to investigate this. It would be like finding a needle in a heystack. Even if there was CCTV in the area it's likely that they wouldn't be able to see who it was.

If they did find the culprit, do you think they are ever going to pay you anything? If you're lucky you might get 50p a week from them until it's paid. This is going to sound harsh but your damaged car isn't worth the resources of the police who really do have better things to be doing.

Lirin

A car a year or so ago belonging to a family nearby was vandalised. They've since moved on.

I saw it on the Friday morning when I woke, so called the police and reported it- didn't know who owned it then. They told me two officers would be out shortly. Noted two large rocks beside it when I came out for work. My car was beside it. Still there in the evening when I came home. Called the police again, and was told it would be the next week before anyone was out. That's fine- told the girl I was removing the two large rocks sitting beside it, and they'd be in my yard if needed- took a couple of shots on my phone. Was told I shouldn't have done that- I'm not leaving two rocks sitting for the next drunk twit on a Friday night to get the bright idea to do my car as well.....

Still have the rocks.

Police won't come out unless it is a major incident or injured parties are involved. I believe you can report it over the phone and get a crime reference number that way.

toniq

Have spoken at length to Co-operative who totally agree they misinformed me of the amount of excess payable, they will deduct the £75 from the garage bill next week, So will pay £175.

Many thanks for help, still not totally happy with this all but glad it's not as steep as originally thought.

We our going to get quotes to have a drive put in after our holiday so the car wont be left on the main road anymore and hope that might stop the risk of a repeat incident.........fingers crossed!

Again thanks for all the advice.

Toni

Occams_Razor_2

I don't understand?

are you objecting to the vehicle excess on your policy as a matter of personal principle?

if you claim, you have to pay an excess - that's the way it works. if someone else is involved you might be able to claim it back from them, but the point of an excess is lower premiums.

can't follow where you think the injustice is? beyond the basic fact that damage to your car is a crappy thing to have happen

Lum

jacobsdaduk wrote: »

You knew the excess amount when you bought the policy. Bad luck. No way out of it. Get a policy with a smaller excess next time.

But the insurance are trying to split this into two separate claims (windscreen and rest of the car) for one single incident, thus charging two lots of excess.

toniq wrote: »

My main issue here was the police refusing to investigate so the insurance leaving me trapped in having to pay, if the police had investigated they might have found something to identify the pratt that done this.

Even if the police did investigate, they would have very little chance of catching them, and even if they did catch them, there would be very little chance of them ever actually paying up, so it'd still count against you just as much as it does now.

toniq

Occam/s Razor of course I have no issue with paying the excess, I fully realise with all our insurances what the excess is, this just came to more than expected, The double excess is one of my main gripes, which thankfully they have now resolved.

And yep I know the police don't deal with crimes of this nature, There were footprints and handprints on the car from where the vandal had clambered all over the bonnet, but it still riles me I have payed our hard earned money for someone elses stupid mindless vandalism.

jacobsdaduk

toniq wrote: »

Occam/s Razor of course I have no issue with paying the excess, I fully realise with all our insurances what the excess is, this just came to more than expected, The double excess is one of my main gripes, which thankfully they have now resolved.

And yep I know the police don't deal with crimes of this nature, There were footprints and handprints on the car from where the vandal had clambered all over the bonnet, but it still riles me I have payed our hard earned money for someone elses stupid mindless vandalism.

It's very annoying and bad luck. You're probably going to be paying for it for the next few year as your premium will likely go up at renewal.

toniq

Will it really increase? I thought as they stated I have no claims protected if I had 2 claims within 3 years then I would lose No claims and then see an increase.
Am i getting that wrong? I hope not as it will be another thing to wind me up from this mess.

vaio

NCB is a discount off your base premium.

Protected NCB means you still get the same discount but because of the claim it’s pretty much guaranteed that your base premium will increase.

As always, shop around at renewal time, renewal prices are rarely the best deal.

You’ll also be surprised to hear that parking on a drive is often more expensive than parking on a road as far as insurance premiums are concerned

Yorkie1

Have a look at the Motor Insurers Bureau website. There are two types of claims you can make under the MIB scheme; one is where the driver is untraced (as opposed to traced but uninsured). There are lots of hoops to go through but you may well be able to get your losses back - worth a try if you have the energy.