Advice on insurance increases after non-fault accident?

malkie76

Any help greatly appreciated.

Short version - had my car damaged while parked in a public car park. Nothing massive, but required a new rear bumper and a little cosmetic work - probably around £500. Other driver left insurance details (nice!) so I went via my company to get the damage repaired with the intent of them claiming costs back from the other insurer.

Do I expect my insurance premium to go up next year because I was involved in a non-fault accident ? (I can imagine my insurance company saying that I'm more likely to be involved in another accident based on stats hence a greater risk to insure).

Do those sort of statistics exist, and do they hold true ? Could I theoretically ask my insurance company to provide me with those statistics either through data protection act, or freedom of information act ?

I'd rather not pay additional insurance unless its based on genuine facts. I'm not entirely comfortable with a hike in insurance following one non-fault car park scratch in 20years of insured driving.

lisyloo

Do I expect my insurance premium to go up next year because I was involved in a non-fault accident ?

Probably although not all insurers add a loading.
If you want to see for yourself, do some quotes with zero claims, then edit and add 1 claim and see the difference.

I can imagine my insurance company saying that I'm more likely to be involved in another accident based on stats hence a greater risk to insure

That's my understanding yes, for a lot of companies (not all).

Do those sort of statistics exist, and do they hold true ? Could I theoretically ask my insurance company to provide me with those statistics either through data protection act, or freedom of information act ?

I don't think you can demand any company proves or reveals it's pricing strategy to you.
If you think it's breaches any laws you can complain or sue them but the burden of proof would be on you.

I'd rather not pay additional insurance unless its based on genuine facts. I'm not entirely comfortable with a hike in insurance following one non-fault car park scratch in 20years of insured driving.

Why don't you hold the other driver responsible for this?
Why don't you send their insurer the bill? (have you signed anything regarding "full & final settlement).

Quentin

lisyloo wrote: »

Why don't you hold the other driver responsible for this?
Why don't you send their insurer the bill?.

Sending the bill to the TP insurer isn't a "cure" for the OP's concern. (And simply sending in a bill isn't the way to go about claiming off the third party insurer!)

It makes no difference who pays the bill!

If you have an incident (fault or non fault) then your own insurer needs to be informed, and this change to your profile can cause a premium loading.

lisyloo

And simply sending in a bill isn't the way to go about claiming off the third party insurer!

Can you explain that in more detail please.
I'm pretty sure you've advised people in the past to send their uninsured losses by letter direct to the TP insurer.

Quentin

lisyloo wrote: »

Can you explain that in more detail please.
I'm pretty sure you've advised people in the past to send their uninsured losses by letter direct to the TP insurer.

You weren't advising on how to claim uninsured losses, but suggesting sending in the bill for repairs.

You first need to get the TP insurer to agree to accept liability!

Then if you want to handle the repairs yourself (rather than let the insurer deal with it if they offer to) you need to submit a quote, and offer them the opportunity to insoect the damage.

Once all has been agreed, then you either get the repair done, pay for it and submit the receipt to the TP insurer (or maybe get a proforma invoice from the garage for payment prior to the job being done if you can get all parties to agree to that).

lisyloo

but suggesting sending in the bill for repairs.

No mention of repairs.
I am suggesting claiming the hike in premium off the third party insurer as an uninsured loss.
There are several methods to do this but if there are no injuries or other losses then the simplest way is to send in the claim (no-win no fee solicitors won't get involved for very small amounts).

Quentin

lisyloo wrote: »

No mention of repairs.
I am suggesting claiming the hike in premium off the third party insurer as an uninsured loss.
There are several methods to do this.....

There are no methods whereby you can get your insurance premium considered an uninsured loss!

Unless you know better, of course!

lisyloo

Unless you know better, of course!

ok, shall we agree that there are different opinions on this, but there is one poster on here who claims to have done it (and I believe he's credible).
My understanding is that the legal situation is that you are entitled to be put back into the same financial situation had the accident not occured.
Perhaps one of those where we have to agree to disagree on, but I would certainly spend a stamp on it.

Quentin

lisyloo wrote: »

there is one poster on here who claims to have done it.........

Out of all of us who have had non fault accidents and are savvy enough to want it back!!!

The one example we have had seems to have been a spot of luck where he got paid out (the issue never went to court), but I see despite your authoritative suggestion:

lisyloo wrote:

There are several methods to do this.....

You aren't able to tell us about them!!!

lisyloo

You aren't able to tell us about them!!!

Yes sure.
There are 3 methods that I am aware of to claim back uinsured losses.

1) DIY - Go direct to the TP insurer e.g. write a letter.
2) Legal insurance if you've paid for it.
3) No-win no-fee solicitors (who won't take on small cases).

I only didn't mention it as I know you know the methods already.

Quentin

You know that the question relates to your advice on how to get back insurance premium increases following a non fault claim. (And not how to reclaim uninsured losses!)

lisyloo wrote:

I am suggesting claiming the hike in premium off the third party insurer as an uninsured loss.
There are several methods to do this but if there are no injuries or other losses then the simplest way is to send in the claim (no-win no fee solicitors won't get involved for very small amounts).

On this topic you say there are different opinions on whether this can be done or not. On MSE, only one member has reported once being successful some time ago. This was a spot of luck for the member.

No-one else has had any success, and the "qualified" opinions have all advised that this doesn't come under the heading of "uninsured loss".