How can this be fair?

mariat

I have just got some quotes for renewing my car insurance. I phoned one to enquire about adding breakdown recovery, and the agent told me that the online price for the insurance was incorrect because I hadn't mentioned a claim I made in 2008. TBH I had totally forgotten about it, but it was for when I hit a deer and wrote off my previous car. I didn't receive a penny as the car was old and worth less than the policy excess, and therefore my NCD wasn't affected. Plus they had towed it away so I was unable to sell it as scrap to recoup some money. But now, this 'Claim' has pushed up my premium by over £60. How can this be right? It seems totally unfair to me.

Hooloovoo

You totally forgot hitting a deer and writing off a car? :rotfl::rotfl:

Yes it's right and yes it's fair. All incidents will be taken into account and your premium adjusted whether they were your fault or not, and whether you made a claim or not. That's just how it is.

Sounds to me like you did make a claim if the insurance company paid for your car to be towed.

Gra76

I'd forget a windscreen claim maybe....but writting off a car seems a bit difficult to forget. If you put a claim in for it you should have mentioned it. It seems entirely fair to me that you were charged the extra £60 as having written off a car in the past you represent a higher risk. £60 more doesn't really seem worth being worried over, I thought they'd add on more than that for a write-off to be honest.

mariat

Yes, I did genuinely forget. I know you can't get away with intentionally not telling them about previous claims. So a deer running out of the woods and giving me no time to react makes me more of a risk? Do me a favor! And I managed to get the car home, they didn't need to tow the car from the accident site.

You think £60 is not worth worrying about? I hope you never find yourself in a posistion where you have to worry about it.

Hooloovoo

mariat wrote: »

Yes, I did genuinely forget. I know you can't get away with intentionally not telling them about previous claims. So a deer running out of the woods and giving me no time to react makes me more of a risk? Do me a favor!

Like it or not that is how insurance works.

If there is no one else to claim from then the accident is deemed your fault. Did you manage to get the deer's details?

If "the woods" were so close to the road that something could jump out immediately into the road without you seeing it, then you should have been driving more slowly.

And I managed to get the car home, they didn't need to tow the car from the accident site.

The only way your insurance would have taken your car is if you made a claim. Did you make it clear to them that since the value was less than your excess that you would not be proceeding with a claim? Then the car would have remained on your driveway until you arranged to sell it for scrap. Your insurance would still likely load your premium on the next renewal, even though you had not made a claim.

Even if you have an accident that is not your fault and the third party pays entirely for all the repairs, some insurers will still load your premium.

You think £60 is not worth worrying about? I hope you never find yourself in a posistion where you have to worry about it.

Yes. It's not worth worrying about. If £60 is going to break the bank then how are you going to pay for all of the other car related expenses. It costs that much just for one tank and fuel these days.

You haven't got much choice in any case, have you? Do a new search on the comparison sites including all your driving history. Pick the cheapest that gives you the cover you require.

dunstonh

The FOS generally considers minor claims as forgettable after 3 or 4 years. (i.e. you remember the claim but you may not remember the date). It would be hard to persuade anyone that you forgot a major claim that involved the write off of a ccar.

You are lucky they are just putting the premium up and not voiding the policy and all the hassle that goes with that. Its only £60 as well. Lucky escape if you ask me.

Hooloovoo

vaio wrote: »

Yep, because it now shows that you drive on roads where you are likely to encounter a suicidal deer and so more of a risk.

And not only that, but drives too fast on those sorts of roads to the extent that they do not have time to react should something jump out in front of them.

vaio

mariat wrote: »

......So a deer running out of the woods and giving me no time to react makes me more of a risk? Do me a favor! And I managed to get the car home, they didn't need to tow the car from the accident site.........

Yep, because it now shows that you drive on roads where you are likely to encounter a suicidal deer and so more of a risk.

It should be a sticky at the top of the forum. "Where insurance companies are concerned you need to blend in with the herd/flock, drawing attention to your self by phone them up to ask is something covered or getting them involved to dispose of a write off car when you aren't going to get a pay out etc is foolish and the equivalent to sticking your head above the parapet. You will get noticed and being noticed will invariably end up costing you money." (with apologies for multiple metaphors)

Best advice....shop around but don't even think about keeping the deer incident secret as it is on the CUE database and you will get found out with possibly far worse consequences than a £60 loading

Gra76

So a deer running out of the woods and giving me no time to react makes me more of a risk? Do me a favor!

If the accident was registered as your fault then I'll take a shot in the dark and say yes it does. I'm pretty sure the deer didn't have insurance so the likelyhood is that it will be registered as a claim where you were at fault but the only way would be to check with the insurers you were with in 2008.

You think £60 is not worth worrying about? I hope you never find yourself in a posistion where you have to worry about it.

Me too. Thanks for the concern.

Just as a point of interest have you been with the same insurer since 2008 when you wrote the car off, and if not am I correct in thinking you've declared the written off car to your subsequent insurers as you no doubt will have done?

Pro-tip: When moving insurers (usually every year) I call them and get a list of all the claims and dates they have on record just to be sure I fill-in my next insurers with all the details they need. Might be an idea to do this in future so you don't 'forget' about an accident where a car was written off.

Hooloovoo

vaio wrote: »

drawing attention to your self by phone them up to ask is something covered or getting them involved to dispose of a write off car when you aren't going to get a pay out etc is foolish

Indeed. The best course of action in this case would have been to have just scrapped the car and kept schtum about the deer!

No one else was involved or knew anything about it and the car was worthless so there was no real need to contact the insurer and deliberately put up your premiums*.

* With the exception of the legal requirement to inform your insurers of any incidents. But in the OP scenario I'd have just taken the risk and not said anything based on the fact that no one else was involved and the car was drivable.

thenudeone

If only we could buy hindsight!