No claim, No fault Premium Hike.

caveat_emptor

Read in the paper recently that insurers are hiking premiums even if the driver was involved in an accident and has made no claim or has no-fault claim accepted.
Well my Direct Line premium has just doubled after informing them, about a year ago, that my car had slight rear end damage for which the other driver paid for repair and recently a pending claim for which liability has not yet been established.
So it's true insurers seem hell bent on getting more premium out of drivers whether they are liable for an accident or not

[Deleted User]

It's not a new development. It's based on risk.

rudekid48

It's the latest one that is your issue. If liability has yet to be decided then it will be rated as a fault claim and your NCB will be stepped back. If liability goes in your favour then expect the premium to come back down again...

teddysmum

As has been mentioned elsewhere, some companies raise the premium of anyone experiencing a no fault accident, some do not penalise at all and some allow a number of such incidents before penalty.


As above, some say it's based on risk, with statistics showing that someone having a no fault accident is more likely to have a fault one at a later date.


I had such an accident a few months ago and the Saga insurance on the car (I am second driver) went up by a few £s, after my husband complained about a proposed 25% increase. (We could have gone elsewhere, on principle, but the quote was still very good).


As above, I'd say the increase may be partly due to policy but mainly because of the uncertain outcome of the pending claim.

caveat_emptor

teddysmum wrote: »

As above, some say it's based on risk, with statistics showing that someone having a no fault accident is more likely to have a fault one at a later date.

Source of stats please.
Interestingly the insurers, unlike the judicial system, assume guilt until innocence is proved and even then the driver is screwed.

teddysmum

caveat_emptor wrote: »

Source of stats please.
Interestingly the insurers, unlike the judicial system, assume guilt until innocence is proved and even then the driver is screwed.

I am not saying that there are stats. I am saying that insurance companies claim that their actions are justified by their stats.


Of course they won't disclose their figures, as stats are so easy to manipulate. (eg The media claimed huge differences in numbers voting for or against Brexit. However, they had bar charts which gave a false impression as the scale did not begin at zero. Had they shown the whole bar for each vote, the difference would have been seen as miniscule, compared to the population involved.)

agrinnall

caveat_emptor wrote: »

Source of stats please.
Interestingly the insurers, unlike the judicial system, assume guilt until innocence is proved and even then the driver is screwed.

The source is the insurance industry's own customer and claims databases. I presume you are not an actuary so there's no chance of you ever seeing them. The basis for charges will be included in your policy, if you don't like what the policy says choose another provider (although good luck finding one that doesn't work the same way).

caveat_emptor

teddysmum wrote: »

I am not saying that there are stats. I am saying that insurance companies claim that their actions are justified by their stats.)

Well they would say wouldn't they. Without revealing the stats the statement is meaningless.
Would have thought a more meaningful stat is that in 50 years driving I've never had a my-fault claim.

caveat_emptor

agrinnall wrote: »

The source is the insurance industry's own customer and claims databases. I presume you are not an actuary so there's no chance of you ever seeing them. The basis for charges will be included in your policy, if you don't like what the policy says choose another provider (although good luck finding one that doesn't work the same way).

Thanks for that, but my renewal notice doesn't give reason for the increase it just gives the usual personal data and car details. I've asked DL to justify the increase (still waiting) and like you say I'm going to find it difficult to find an alternative until the outcome of this claim is settled..

forgotmyname

They dont giove you a total breakdown of the price, the premium is... you pay it or go elsewhere.

Insurance prices often make zero sense. If i add my accident prone sister to my claim free policy my premium reduces slightly. Where is the sense in that?

You have had an incident so are now an increased risk. Whether its a claim free one or not the extra risk is there.

TSx

Insurance works on generalisations - unfortunately, your 50 years claim free driving is inevitably going to subsidise someone who has had accidents, particularly since the industry doesn't care about driving history that is more than nine years old.

Someone who has a non-fault accident is more likely to have a further incident in the future - nothing to do with it being your fault, it might be that you park in a car park where access is restricted, or people in your area drive like idiots. Insurers analyse these statistics across tens (or hundreds) of thousands of policies, and if they didn't show an increase, you wouldn't find companies doing it.

The UK car insurance market is one of the most competitive and technically advanced in the world - if you can't find a cheaper premium, then it is likely that everyone is assessing your risk in a similar way. They wouldn't just hike their prices without justification as you'd just go elsewhere.