Insurance Renewal - Non fault claim, why does this increase price?!

InsideInsurance

hanfrangipane wrote: »

It's so frustrating! I see what you're saying, but I don't live at that postcode anymore either, I've moved over 100 miles away!

Just seems ridiculous - completely not my fault and in £120 worse off!

This is in part the consequence of not having to complete 5,000 questions each time you want a quote. People dont like answering questions and the more questions an insurer asks the more people that drop off the quote part way through so insurers shorten their questions to ensure people get to the end. Obviously the less questions you ask the more general/ average the premium has to be.

If we take F1F93's example of the identical twins that live together where the only difference is one has had 4 non-fault claims. If they then moved address should those 4 claims count against that person or not?

Well it depends, did all the accidents happen in the same car park when the car was parked or did they all happen at traffic lights as a rear end shunt? If it is the carpark does the other twin also park there? If so, is it just bad luck that one's been hit 4 times but the other never or is it a case that the one of them is bad at parking and the fact they are always half over the line mean they are more likely to be hit by someone trying to squeeze into the space they've left?

Negligence/ fault is a bit of a blunt tool, you can not be at fault for an accident but your driving style/ how you park etc can all contribute to the likelihood of an accident. If you drive fast and slam your brakes on at traffic lights you are simply more likely to have a rear end shunt than if you drive slower and brake gently - in both cases though it'd be a non-fault accident.

When an insurer deals with a non-fault accident they can only recover their outlay and allocated expenses. In reality there is a lot of unallocated expenses, claims staff, office costs etc, that they have to carry and cannot recover. Similarly with our twins and their dodgy car parking, so far all 4 TPs have been honest and left their details, whos to say the 5th one wont be a hit and run or an uninsured driver and so that next claim, thats more likely to happen, is a fault one?


All that said, most insurers dont load for 1 non-fault claim or the loading is a tiny proportion. Its when you start having multiple claims that it starts making a material difference.

hanfrangipane

Thanks for all the responses.

My insurance quote has gone up from £440 to £560 after putting this in - I wouldn't say that's an immaterial increase, over 25%!

I totally understand the logic behind what you're all saying, obviously that's how it all works, but it still seems very unfair.

I should have just asked the police to pay for a repair! It wouldn't have cost that much, even if I'd paid it myself, looking at the quote increases I would have been better off as obviously I'll have to declare this for 3-5 years on quotes now!

I was parked well, fully in my parking space outside our flat. The police were responding to an emergency and made a rather hasty 3 point turn in the road and reversed into my car. Completely not my fault at all.

Appreciate it's a ranty post, just feels like I have waited ages for my premiums to come down once I've gone over 25, I've never caused an accident myself, I drive carefully and finally my premiums dropped inder the £500 mark, for it to shoot up again for something I didn't do!

InsideInsurance

Have you shopped around or just looked at your current insurers?

25% is certainly material, a number of my former clients (which include major private motor brands) put no loading for 1 non-fault claim assuming history is otherwise clean. Of cause some people are "unlucky" and the people that are the cheapest for them otherwise are one of the few that do load heavily for claims so will see more of an impact.

You could attempt to recover the extra insurance as an uninsured loss from the police. For this year it shouldnt be too hard as you can do screen shots and it shows the actual difference. For next year onwards you are on much weaker ground as no one can fully predict pricing going forward

egyptiancotton

InsideInsurance wrote: »

You could attempt to recover the extra insurance as an uninsured loss from the police. For this year it shouldnt be too hard as you can do screen shots and it shows the actual difference. For next year onwards you are on much weaker ground as no one can fully predict pricing going forward

I had a non-fault accident back in 2012. I was stationary at red lights at a pedestrian crossing when a car ploughed into the back of mine - the driver had turned around in her seat to attend to her children sitting in the back. No argument as to whose fault it was.

I took screenshots of the difference in insurance quotes and tried to claim it back. Not a chance because unfortunately insurance prices change all the time and it wasn't classed as rock-solid stable evidence to prove the difference in price over time

InsideInsurance

lloydyyy wrote: »

I took screenshots of the difference in insurance quotes and tried to claim it back. Not a chance because unfortunately insurance prices change all the time and it wasn't classed as rock-solid stable evidence to prove the difference in price over time

Insurance prices do change all the time hence claiming for future years is very difficult.

Claiming for the renewal after it happens, assuming the claim is still ongoing at the time, has better prospects of success because you can show the absolute values for that year and evidence that you went on to have to buy it at the higher value.

hanfrangipane

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Have you shopped around or just looked at your current insurers?

25% is certainly material, a number of my former clients (which include major private motor brands) put no loading for 1 non-fault claim assuming history is otherwise clean. Of cause some people are "unlucky" and the people that are the cheapest for them otherwise are one of the few that do load heavily for claims so will see more of an impact.

You could attempt to recover the extra insurance as an uninsured loss from the police. For this year it shouldnt be too hard as you can do screen shots and it shows the actual difference. For next year onwards you are on much weaker ground as no one can fully predict pricing going forward

Yes - have used all comparison sites and have gone directly to the couple that aren't on the sites

Looks like I just have to suck it up to be honest - I will try contacting the police and see if I can claim it back from them.

My history is otherwise clean, licence for 8 years, over 25, 5 years NCB. Obviously there will be older people with a lot more history for me but that's still pretty good for my age. unfortunately this one claim does seem to be having an impact. The cheapest quotes pre and post claim disclosure are still with the same companies so they must be the ones that load (tesco, axa, swiftcover for example)

GGGGG_3

hanfrangipane wrote: »

How come the victim in instances like this get penalised?! It's ridiculous!

I had a similar thing happen to me last year when someone reversed into my (legally, normally, and very orange!)parked car. Completely not my fault, and yet I have to pay extra on my insurance because of it

hanfrangipane wrote: »

Grrrrrrr!

Yep, that's pretty much what I said! :mad:

thenudeone

You can try to reclaim the increase in premium (and future premiums) from the insurer of the driver responsible for the accident, because the extra cost is a direct and foreseeable result of the accident. Certain posters have reported success in doing so, but expect a fight.

property.advert

Some companies don't load, others do. Direct Line for instance do not.

Some clown hit our car, eventually settling before court but part of the claim was not only diminution but also for prospective future increased costs.

Not really viable as consequential loss but if verifiable, as ours was, then can form part of claim. Of course, the bloody insurers will try and deny it could but their lawyer agreed and paid up the Friday before we went to court.