Should I inform my car insurance company?

Katgoddess

I have an old banger for a car. It's insured for £500 TPFT with an excess of £150 for fire and theft.

Someone tried to steal my car on Sunday, while it was parked on my drive. :mad: They gained access by forcing the door open. They then tried to hotwire (or whatever they do) my car which means the underside of my steering wheel is knackered. When they couldn't get the car started they ramsacked it, and pulled everything out of the boot onto the front seats.

I've been told by the OH + BIL that it isn't worth claiming on the insurance because it will cost about £150 to fix it anyway, and my insurance premiums will go up. I have been driving for 2.5 years and have nearly 2 years no claims bonus.

Do I need to inform my insurers anyway? I'm sure you have to do this for accidents?

Police haven't got back to me yet with the crime reference number. :rolleyes:

John_3:16

If your not claiming and the car is being scrapped then I would think there is no point. I don't think you have to. Even if it is not scrapped I don't think you have to eg. there is no claim.

shelly

Katgoddess wrote: »

Do I need to inform my insurers anyway? I'm sure you have to do this for accidents?

Police haven't got back to me yet with the crime reference number. :rolleyes:

Alot of people on here will say that as per insurers terms and conditions you HAVE to inform them even if you don't want to make a claim, which is true.
Personally I wouldn't bother. I've read stories on here that after people have informed insurers it gets marked as a claim and they have hassle getting it put back to a non claim. In the meantime their premiums go up and NCB is frozen which is ok mid policy but if it happens at renewal time and you want to change co's it can be alot of trouble.

Your OH and BIL say it won't cost much to fix, weigh that against paying the excess, losing your NCB and possible premium rises at renewal.

As I said, I wouldn't bother but there will be lots of people who would.

raskazz

shelly wrote: »

Personally I wouldn't bother. I've read stories on here that after people have informed insurers it gets marked as a claim and they have hassle getting it put back to a non claim. In the meantime their premiums go up and NCB is frozen which is ok mid policy but if it happens at renewal time and you want to change co's it can be alot of trouble.

Your OH and BIL say it won't cost much to fix, weigh that against paying the excess, losing your NCB and possible premium rises at renewal.

As I said, I wouldn't bother but there will be lots of people who would.

You do have to inform them. It would be very foolish not to.

Ignore the above post.

As no other party was involved it will definitely not affect your NCD as long as you do not actually claim from your insurers. All you have to do is call your insurer, advise them that you are notifying them of an attempted theft which you will be covering privately and not claiming from them.

Oh and edited to add that this:

John_3:16 wrote: »

If your not claiming and the car is being scrapped then I would think there is no point. I don't think you have to. Even if it is not scrapped I don't think you have to eg. there is no claim.

Is totally inaccurate. You have a duty to inform present and potential insurers of all claims, accidents, losses, fires, thefts whether fault or non-fault, whether claimed from an insurer or settled privately.

If an insurer ever catches you withholding information regarding this, they will quite happy void your policy. You will then struggle to get insurance at a decent price anywhere ever again.

jem16

raskazz wrote: »

As no other party was involved it will definitely not affect your NCD as long as you do not actually claim from your insurers. All you have to do is call your insurer, advise them that you are notifying them of an attempted theft which you will be covering privately and not claiming from them.

As many have found out to their cost, your NCB will not be affected but you will probably find your premium has jumped up anyway.

raskazz

jem16 wrote: »

As many have found out to their cost, your NCB will not be affected but you will probably find your premium has jumped up anyway.

Not necessarily. If the OP earns another year of NCD at the next renewal then there is no reason to think that her premium will be higher than it was last year.

Of course, if you compare the premium that would be offered by the insurer if they did not know of the incident to the premium offered once they are aware of the incident the latter will be higher - and quite rightly so.

jem16

raskazz wrote: »

Not necessarily. If the OP earns another year of NCD at the next renewal then there is no reason to think that her premium will be higher than it was last year.

Of course, if you compare the premium that would be offered by the insurer if they did not know of the incident to the premium offered once they are aware of the incident the latter will be higher - and quite rightly so.

So whether you actually claim or do not claim you are penalised anyway.

I'm not saying it is right or wrong but I can see why many do not inform their insurance company when it is a small amount (less than their excess).

1jim

I think you are supposed to let your insurance company know, saying that if you have not told the police about the attempted theft I wouldnt let the insurance company know as it wont be on record anywhere
I say this because my car was broken into a few years ago, the stereo was taken, I told the insurance company and whilst my NCB remained intact they did try and put up the premiums at renewal time.... I know they did this because they had already sent me one renewal form and after notification they sent me anotherone that was over £100 more even though I didnt claim for the loss as I replaced it myself. Interstingly though when I got quotes from other companies they didnt care about it.

shudder

The incident is still a material fact in the calculation of the risk.

Insurers would use the demographics to work out the rating structure for the area across all their motor policies as well as having a direct factor into the calculation of your premium.

raskazz

jem16 wrote: »

So whether you actually claim or do not claim you are penalised anyway.

Insurance is based on risk and whether or not they claim for this particular incident, the original poster is clearly at a higher risk of theft than the insurer would assume if they did not know of the latest incident.

raskazz

1jim wrote: »

I think you are supposed to let your insurance company know, saying that if you have not told the police about the attempted theft I wouldnt let the insurance company know as it wont be on record anywhere

Until you are involved in an incident. It would go something like this:

The engineers notice the repairs.

The insurers investigate and ask you why they were required.

You let slip that someone tried to steal your car.

The insurers check their records and note that you did not disclose it.

The insurers void your policy.

etc

So many people follow this foolhardy route to save a few pounds a year. It is simply not worth it.