Vehicle insurance increased from £100 to £900 after reporting non-fault incident

Kara_C

Hello,

I was hoping that someone could provide some advice on an incident I had in 2014 in which I witnessed another person’s vehicle door hit onto the side of my vehicle while stationary, resulting in a large dent. The owner of the other vehicle denied any responsibility even though it was clear that he was at fault and promptly left the scene. I reported this incident immediately to my vehicle insurance provider – Diamond Insurance UK, but after reporting this incident to them they were unable to procure any compensation from the other person’s insurance. Subsequently I paid for all damages to my vehicle out of my own expense and informed Diamond Insurance that there was no need to pursue this any further, since it was obvious they would not be able to procure any compensation for the damage. I stress that the incident was at no fault of mine and I made this very clear to Diamond Insurance at the time of reporting it to them.

It was not until recently that my son bought a new vehicle and tried to add me on his insurance as a named driver that I realised the incident had been added to my insurance record by Diamond Insurance and caused the price of my insurance as a named driver on my son’s vehicle to increase considerably from approximately £100 to £900. In addition, when purchasing individual insurance for my own vehicle I found that as a result of this ‘claim’, my insurance premium also greatly increases when I try to purchase from any other insurance provider aside from Diamond Insurance. I was not made aware by Diamond Insurance that this incident would be recorded as a claim since they did not manage to procure any compensation, or that it would cause my insurance premium to increase by such a significant amount.

On contacting Diamond Insurance regarding this, their response was as follows:

Thank you for your e-mail, received on the 09/05/16. As a Quality Executive for Diamond, I would like to respond to your concerns.

I understand you are unhappy the premiums for both policies you are named on have increased, following your involvement in a non-fault incident. I also note you would like us to remove this from our records. I am sorry to hear you feel this way, as it is not our aim to upset our customers. I have checked our records and would like to explain what has happened.

Firstly, The Claims and Underwriting Exchange (CUE) is a central database of motor, home and personal injury/industrial illness incidents reported to insurance companies, which may or may not give rise to a claim. CUE was established in 1994 to help keep down premiums for honest policyholders by preventing multiple claims, fraud and the misrepresentation of claims histories.

I listened to the call when your Husband told us of the incident, and cannot agree he was not made aware of our procedure to record all incidents you tell us about. Taking this into account we are unable to remove any incidents from this database.

Whilst I appreciate you did not claim for the incident, it is something we consider when calculating a premium. I agree this seems unfair, but I would like to explain why we rate this way.

Looking at our past claims results, we have found customers involved in a non-fault incident often go on to make a fault claim in future. There are many possible reasons for this, the most likely suggesting a higher than average exposure to everyday driving risks. Examples could include driving in rush hour or on typically dangerous stretches of road or parking on busy roads. The higher your exposure, the more likely you may be to claim.

Alternatively, you may live in an area that suffers frequent bouts of vandalism or the type of car you drive may be more prone to malicious damage or theft. Although you may not have made a fault-claim, our statistics suggest the likelihood of you doing so increases.

These are all non-fault incidents but will add to the risk we are undertaking in insuring your car. Unfortunately, this sometimes results in an increase to your premium, or any associated risk you may be a named driver. We calculate the prices we charge using statistics and try to ensure our rates are fair and reasonable for all customers.

Our choice to rate on non-fault claims and incidents is a business decision we have made and we have no plans to change this in the future. Although you still may not be happy with our rating strategy, I hope I have explained our reasons for pricing policies the way we do.

I am sorry you have found it necessary to complain, as we take customer satisfaction seriously. While I realise you may remain disappointed, I hope I have explained the reasons for our actions.

At Diamond we aim to work with our customers to resolve all complaints fairly. While I hope my response answers your concerns, I understand you may have further queries or more information you would like us to consider. You are still welcome to contact me on 0800 118 1695, or e-mail me at quality@diamond.co.uk. Should you remain dissatisfied, you have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge but you must do so within six months of the date of this letter.

Yours sincerely

Lewis Beecher
Quality Executive

As this was at no fault of mine, it is outrageous that I seem to be penalised for a non-fault incident. I am extremely frustrated about this but completely helpless as Diamond Insurance seems to be throwing legal terms at me which I have little understanding of. While I understand that drivers who have been involved in accidents are deemed to be at a higher risk of making a fault claim in the future, I do not believe at all that having my car hit by another vehicle’s door while stationary increases my risk of being involved in an accident at any point in the future!

If anyone could provide any advice on this at all or what I can do to have this ‘claim’ for a non-fault incident removed from my insurance record I would be very grateful, as my insurance contract with Diamond Insurance is coming to an end and after this incident I do not wish to purchase from them again.

Many thanks!
Kara

dannyrst

As it says in the email. People who are in a none fault accident often go on to have an at fault claim.

The numbers don't lie.

Retrogamer

Diamond have done exactly what any other insurance company would do.

Insurance companies normally ask if you have been involved in any claims or accidents. This didn't result in a claim but it was a non fault accident and insurance companies have a duty to keep the CUE database information accurate and correct.

No matter who you complain to i don't think there's any chance of having the accident removed from there

dannyrst

Retrogamer wrote: »

Diamond have done exactly what any other insurance company would do.

Insurance companies normally ask if you have been involved in any claims or accidents. This didn't result in a claim but it was a non fault accident and insurance companies have a duty to keep the CUE database information accurate and correct.

No matter who you complain to i don't think there's any chance of having the accident removed from there

I suppose the OP could conduct some research of their own into whether people who have none fault claims go on to have at fault claims. If the OP can prove this isn't the case, they could complain that all insurers are discriminating against people involved in none fault claims?

GingerBob_3

dannyrst wrote: »

As it says in the email. People who are in a none fault accident often go on to have an at fault claim.

The numbers don't lie.

Well we don't know that, because we never see them.

s_b

Basically unless you have to claim for a non fault accident it clearly is best not to
Iwouldnt even claim for a windscreen these days anymore
what can you do?
suck it up and tell all your friends to be aware of small print
still scandalous of course but welcome to the new world order
you will obey
off now to have my chip put in my arm so the authorities can track my every movement

GingerBob_3

Retrogamer wrote: »

Diamond have done exactly what any other insurance company would do.

Insurance companies normally ask if you have been involved in any claims or accidents. This didn't result in a claim but it was a non fault accident and insurance companies have a duty to keep the CUE database information accurate and correct.

No matter who you complain to i don't think there's any chance of having the accident removed from there

I don't think they have a legal obligation here, but correct me if I'm wrong.


CUE is another of the UK's Big Brother databases which essentially works against the interests of the general public at large. It's stated intention is maybe quite laudable - to tackle insurance fraud. But of course it's used for much more than that; scope creep has set in. The case under discussion here is a classic example.

Car_54

s_b wrote: »

Basically unless you have to claim for a non fault accident it clearly is best not to
Iwouldnt even claim for a windscreen these days anymore
what can you do?
suck it up and tell all your friends to be aware of small print
still scandalous of course but welcome to the new world order
you will obey
off now to have my chip put in my arm so the authorities can track my every movement

Is that in addition to the one on your shoulder?

Quentin

Kara_C wrote: »

If anyone could provide any advice on this at all or what I can do to have this ‘claim’ for a non-fault incident removed from my insurance record I would be very grateful, as my insurance contract with Diamond Insurance is coming to an end and after this incident I do not wish to purchase from them again.

Many thanks!
Kara

It hasn't been registered as a "claim".


It has correctly been registered as an incident/loss that you experienced. You cannot remove this - it is a fact that it happened and was reported.


When you apply for insurance they usually ask you to tell them about claims and losses you have been involved with


Make sure you answer all questions truthfully, as now this incident is on your record and will come back and bite should the insurer check you out (often only done in the event of a claim, meaning any discrepancy may allow them to void your policy and reject a claim)

GingerBob_3

Moral of the story, NEVER contact an insurance company unless you absolutely have to. For example, if a third party is naming you, or if the repair costs of not doing so are prohibitively large.


I maintain an index of scumbag pond life filth organisations. Right at the bottom, even below TV Licensing and the DVLA, is the insurance industry.

alleycat`

My initial thought is that you don't go on your sons insurance and it won't increase at all?

Is there a serious / pressing reason you need to be on that vehicle and if you keep said £800 can it be better put to use on Taxis or Public Transport (and save money?)

Your insurance has gone up but you've not stated by how much?

How much has it actually impacted your policy on renewal and how does that compare to other similar policies when meerkat (or equivalent) price comparison?

Is it hugely different?

In real terms life is like this.

I don't insure my wife on my car as she's a relatively inexperienced driver (in the UK) and the costs associated make it prohibitive.

I'm named on her policy as it helps reduce her premiums. I wouldn't be if the reverse was true as i've only a small need to ever drive it anyway.