Don't EVER notify your car insurance of an 'incident' if you don;t intend to claim!!!

iamyelling

I have read these posts with a great deal of interest, I have had mixed experience of insurance companies. Some good, some poor but the same is said about Sandwiches but I do not stop eating them for lunch!

Insurance cos do like to know what happens in terms of claims mainly so they can improve their view of risk in terms of areas and people.

Whilst I fully agree with the view that it is better to disclose any incidents and avoid a situation were an insurance co not paying out if for example of a total loss all incidents should be taken into the context and fairness be applied but life very much like insurance cos ARE NOT fair and they exist to make a profit.

I would also question posters Raskazz statement "No insurer can artifically load a premium as the customer is perfectly free to withdraw their business" So if all insurance companies raised their premiums this would be.........

raskazz

iamyelling wrote: »

I would also question posters Raskazz statement "No insurer can artifically load a premium as the customer is perfectly free to withdraw their business" So if all insurance companies raised their premiums this would be.........

I don't understand this. Can you clarify?

The point I made that you quoted was in the context of another poster claiming that insurers load premiums for non-fault claims over and above the increase in risk, which is plainly wrong. This would be an 'artificial' loading.

If all insurers increased premiums because of rising claims costs in the sector, that would not be an 'artificial' loading. And again, motor insurance is a very competitive market and there is no collusion between insurers to fix prices.

BenL

LouBlue wrote: »

Mmm, I am worried now.

Had a car accident 2 months ago, it was the other driver's fault but there were no witnesses. My car is only worth about £600 so it wasn't worth claiming for me. By the time I pay my excess and the work being done, it just wouldn't be worth it and I would lose my no claims. He said he wasn't claiming either. So I did nothing.

LouBlue, you should be able to get your car repaired for nothing or at least get your excess back afterwards if you are asked to pay it up front.

If its not your fault you don't pay.

raskazz

BenL wrote: »

LouBlue, you should be able to get your car repaired for nothing or at least get your excess back afterwards if you are asked to pay it up front.

If its not your fault you don't pay.

But if liability is disputed by the third party, the excess will be payable inititally if the repairs are carried out by one's own insurer. To reclaim the excess you would have to prove the other party to be at fault - which is not necessarily going to be easy in the absence of independent witnesses.

LouBlue

raskazz wrote: »

But if liability is disputed by the third party, the excess will be payable inititally if the repairs are carried out by one's own insurer. To reclaim the excess you would have to prove the other party to be at fault - which is not necessarily going to be easy in the absence of independent witnesses.

Thanks for both the replies folks.

Thats what I think. It was completely his fault but there were no witnesses. Thats why I did not claim. I have been assured by Privilege, who I am insured with, that I won't have to pay anything if he claims, whether he wins or not, as I am not claiming and I have Protected No Claims. But I still reckon they will sting me when my renewal comes up.

shelly

LouBlue wrote: »

But I still reckon they will sting me when my renewal comes up.

Shop around. I put in a fault claim last year (only me involved) and when our renewal came it was a little higher than the previous year. I shopped around and got a quote for cheaper than we paid the year before even though I'd put in a claim. I called up our then current insurer and asked them if they wanted to match it. They did. So they had tried to load the premium a little but when asked to match a cheaper quote they did.

We have just renewed again this week and paid even less this year than last year. It just keeps getting cheaper Shame the same can't be said for the running costs of the car :rolleyes:

LouBlue

shelly wrote: »

Shop around. I put in a fault claim last year (only me involved) and when our renewal came it was a little higher than the previous year. I shopped around and got a quote for cheaper than we paid the year before even though I'd put in a claim. I called up our then current insurer and asked them if they wanted to match it. They did. So they had tried to load the premium a little but when asked to match a cheaper quote they did.

We have just renewed again this week and paid even less this year than last year. It just keeps getting cheaper Shame the same can't be said for the running costs of the car :rolleyes:

Funnily enough, I was just about to shop around when I got the call from the other person's insurance company! Now I have to wait til this gets sorted out, annoying. You don't have to wait til renewal do you, to leave? Though perhaps each company's policy is different.

shelly

LouBlue wrote: »

Funnily enough, I was just about to shop around when I got the call from the other person's insurance company! Now I have to wait til this gets sorted out, annoying. You don't have to wait til renewal do you, to leave? Though perhaps each company's policy is different.

You can terminate a policy any time but you will most likely incur charges to do so. Also you will lose the NCB for that year.

fimonkey

"Again, this is plain wrong and belies a lack of understanding of basic business reality. Insurance is a (very) competitive market. No insurer can artifically load a premium as the customer is perfectly free to withdraw their business. Thus the premium rates are structured to assess risk as accurately as possible, not to overestimate it"

Agree, No one insurer can ARTIFICIALLY load a premium BUT collectively they can load premiums based on 'statistics' and as far as car insurance goes it is not possible to withdraw your business as insurance is a legal requirement. Before you come back with "take your business elsewhere" when I DID take my business elsewhere I still had to pay an increased premium as ALL insurance companies feed into a central database, which is a good idea in principal to prevent fraud, but a bad idea when it's used to their own advantage, ie when they decide that a NOTIFICATION is really a CLAIM so they can increase premiums based on that.

"I'm not sure what relevance a change of address has to the issue of non-fault claims either. "

I think it's been said here that people have been charged extra by changing their address, even through their risk has not increased (similar street/similar profil etc etc) I certainly in the past had to pay an increase in the middle of my policy to change my address to a house 3 doors away!!


"Again, you are either ignorant of or disingenuously choose to ignore, the realities of a competitive market. Your prejudice against insurers is overriding logic. I mean, why would an insurer want to command the highest premiums? "

Insurance companiyes have a duty to shareholders (fair enough, as do a lot of businesses), it is in their interest to make money wherever possible (while of course maintaining competetiveness), how better to do this than hit wee Joe Bloggs in the pocket now and then. After all they can't get away with ripping off commercial isurance as the cannot fight against the bigger financial directors and legal depts of the bigger commercial interest they insure. They may not make much money frmo wee Joe Bloggs, but they certainly are not on his side.

" If you wish to continue encouraging users to commit fraud then you can feel free to do so. I thought that encouraging such activity was against board rules. It is also nothing to do with 'using it against' anyone, only calculating the risk through a standard underwriting process."

OK I take your point and if I could I would change the title of my thread to read "This is what happened to me when I was HONEST with my insurance company" and then I would let others make their own decision. I do not intend for anyone to commit fraud, but I do intend that people are informed of the consequences of their actions

"Do you not think that someone who prangs their car but does not claim is a higher risk than someone with exactly the same details who has not had a bump? If not, why not?"

Someone who prangs their car is in a different league to someone who innocently parks their car adn comes out the next day to find it pranged..... answer your own question please but with the latter scenario. Is someone who parks their car in a normal well lit street, who then has part of a garage roof fall on their car from a windy evening, and is then honest with their insurance company but decides not to claim (cos the damage isn't great and they decide to save the insurance company money and themselves hassle of form filling)... are they higher risk than the person who was parked ni front of them, same street, same night, but though luck alone did not have part of a garage roof fall on their car?

Thank you for your answers so far, interesting discussion

SO sorry for the rubbish formatiing by the way, something going on with my internet conenction (or this site) today,

LouBlue

shelly wrote: »

You can terminate a policy any time but you will most likely incur charges to do so. Also you will lose the NCB for that year.

Thanks. When this claim is over, I will give them a ring and see what charges I may incur.