No Fault Claim sends car insurance through the roof???

tammcc

Hey everyone. I have been looking at buying a second car as I currently have a company car, but want something a bit more fun to drive.

I was looking around at insurance quotes on all the usual comparasson sites as you do.

In Sept last year another driver drove into the back of me (in my company car) at a set of lights and there was not a massive amount of damage, but the other driver admitted liability and the whole thing was sorted by his insurer...awesome

So I thought nothing of it as it was all claimed, settled, admitted..

But I started getting some crazy quotes for hundereds of pounds more than I was anticipating...so I decided to re-run the quotes on the comparasson sites EXCLUDING the accident details, and unbelievably it droped in some instances by almost £300????? I cannot believe that insurance companies can rip customers off like this...A guy ran into me, nothing I could do, yet my insurer wants an extra £300?? surely there must be some legal way around this...there must be millions of people effected by this all over the UK. Insurance companies are a rip off at the best of times....But I've been driving 10 years now, never had an claim on my policy or had any penalty points...shocking!

Has anyone else encoutered this and found a work around...?

keith1950

Hi, right or wrong the insurance industry works on statistical risk and if you have an accident ,whether it is your fault or not, you are considered to be more statistically at risk of having another accident.

On this second car , are you starting from scratch with zero NCD ??

Quentin

tammcc wrote: »

......I decided to re-run the quotes on the comparasson sites EXCLUDING the accident details......

If you want to play with your profile to find the cheapest quote, then do it anonymously. (You agree that the info privided for a quote is the truth, and nowadays they spot (and flag) when you supply conflicting information.

dunstonh

so I decided to re-run the quotes on the comparasson sites EXCLUDING the accident detail

That wont help you either. Many of the providers will now have that flagged up on their fraud detectors and that will push the price up as well.

I cannot believe that insurance companies can rip customers off like this

It is not a rip off. It is a risk premium based on that statistical information that indicates that people who have an accident are more likely to have another one in the near future. You are now in a pot of people who have an non-fault accident. That pot will suffer more claims than in the near future than the pot of people that havent had a non-fault accident. That is why you pay more.

tammcc

Hey guys, Thanks for the advice.

Once again I did not realise that they were recording every quote and possibly cross referencing them.

I understand that insurance is a risk based market and that statistics are the only factor they can base premiums on.

But surely, is there no governing body that this can go to for further discussion. Insurance companies already make large profits and its no supprise if they can Legally increase premiums for SAFE drivers who have never claimed on THEIR policy.

Keith 1950, Yes I need to start from Scratch unfortunately as 2 years has elapsed since having my own policy

vaio

tammcc wrote: »

........Keith 1950, Yes I need to start from Scratch unfortunately as 2 years has elapsed since having my own policy

Most companies will take 2 year old NCB, there are a few that will take 3 year old.

Failing that, a decent broker will be able to get you an introductory discount based on your own NCB/company car driving record

dunstonh

But surely, is there no governing body that this can go to for further discussion.

No The FOS deals with consumer complaints but will not get involve with commercial decisions.

Insurance companies already make large profits

You do realise that car insurance is largely loss making and relies on cross subsidy/cross sales. Plus, the insurance industry as a whole is not that profitable in most areas and has seen massive declines in company numbers over the years. Certain bits can be very profitable but other bits not. They also have to cater for periods when it is a hard market and soft market.

its no supprise if they can Legally increase premiums for SAFE drivers who have never claimed on THEIR policy.

You are no longer viewed as the safe as you were though. Normally the increase in premium is quite small (and some dont even have an increase). A cherry picking insurer will penalise more heavily. They are entitled to do so if you no longer fall in their target market.

You appear to be focusing on your current provider and those who had larger increases due to the claim. It isnt worth focusing on those who cherry pick as you are not in their target market for the time being. Look at those who are not pricing you as much for the claim.

strawberries1

Permit me to piggy back on this.
I plan on buying a car soon and have been using an insurance comparison site to check insurance on different cars and also changing my info so I can see the effect of different info. When I am finally ready to buy insurance (which should be within the month) will it be higher because of my previous checks? I didnt change my ID.

McKneff

Not all companies up the premium though.

ive had 2 no fault accidents in the past couple of years andmy premiums werent affected whilst with the Coop and Aegis.

DevCoder

strawberries1 wrote: »

Permit me to piggy back on this.
I plan on buying a car soon and have been using an insurance comparison site to check insurance on different cars and also changing my info so I can see the effect of different info. When I am finally ready to buy insurance (which should be within the month) will it be higher because of my previous checks? I didnt change my ID.

They could argue that you were picking different options to get the cheapest deal and therefore were omitting certain details.

So yes it could push the price up and you would have to defend your actions by proving your final selection is factually correct (and event hen they might choose just not to have your business).