Car insurance, are they the biggest fraudsters

force_ten

peter_the_piper wrote: »

I suspect that they may charge me £400 but I doubt the windscreen company get that. I work on the maxim, Insurers never lose out.

why you you go to your insurance company for a replacement windscreen that you are paying for?

surely that is like going to the bakers shop to buy a pound of sausages

if your screen is broken and you are claiming on your insurance then you go through your insurer, surely if you are paying for the repair you would go direct to the windscreen supplier to cut out the middle man

motorguy

boatman wrote: »

Who owns the claim management companies, I would suggest the insurance companies.

Any evidence of this?

boatman wrote: »

The insurance companies make the money in increased premiums.

Frankly that's plain daft. The insurance companies inflate the price of a claim on the off chance they get the renewal business next year and can "make it back" over time???

boatman wrote: »

Many of the repair businesses are 'recommended' by the insurance companies, I don't suppose they get on that list from goodness of the insurance companies heart.

They get on that list be committing to a certain hourly rate (usually at a discount) and a certain standard of work.

boatman wrote: »

As far as car hire goes there are daily rates they are supposed to agree to, but in many cases the hire company will take the person hiring to court for the difference between what the insurance company pay and the final bill.

Really? Evidence of that please.

boatman wrote: »

The agreement is based on the fact that the person needing it does not have the money to hand to hire one themselves, but they hide this small fact..

Evidence of this please.

motorguy

dannyrst wrote: »

Because the policy price increases...

And the person - under no obligation to stay with that insurance company - shops around and goes elsewhere where its cheaper?

motorguy

peter_the_piper wrote: »

As I understand it the repair companies charges are way more than the average repairer and its no stretch of the imagination to think the extra is paid to the insurance co.
Example.
Windscreen for my old Volvo was about £400 from the insurers and £100 from a local company.

Plain daft.


The insurance company has to commit to a certain standard of work - usually involving brand new parts, not putting fillers in to panels, ensuring the work meets the manufacturers rust proofing standards, etc.


Go to Joe Local for a repair to a door and he'll charge you £150 for a touch of fillers in a panel that hes hammered out and blowing a bit of paint over it. Big difference to what an insurance quality job will be - a brand new panel from the manufacturer.

motorguy

peter_the_piper wrote: »

I suspect that they may charge me £400 but I doubt the windscreen company get that. I work on the maxim, Insurers never lose out.

If its a repair how are insurance company charging you the £400?

force_ten

Originally Posted by peter_the_piper View Post
I suspect that they may charge me £400 but I doubt the windscreen company get that. I work on the maxim, Insurers never lose out.

motorguy wrote: »

If its a repair how are insurance company charging you the £400?

it made no sense to me either and the whole contribution seems a little bit confused

Car_54

The OP and some of the others above seem to have expert knowledge of the highly complex economics of the UK motor insurance market.

I'm astonished that with their talents they aren't making millions somewhere, rather than contributing to a penny-pinching forum in the middle of the working day.

On second thoughts, it might be because they're wrong.

Tothepoint.

boatman wrote: »

There are lots of stories of 'crash for cash', claiming it is costing millions, I'm sure it is, but equally so is the way insurance companies deal with vehicle repairs after an accident.
From my experience the insurance companies, the repair companies, the car hire companies and the legal teams are are all in bed together to hike the price of every claim. After all it's in their interest as it maximises profit, and it's all paid for by us motorists.
Provided they all play along and no one steps out of line, it's a nice earner worth millions.
Anyone else have the same experience?

So you insure your car, crash, make a claim and your insurance pays out.

Where's the fraud?

boatman

motorguy wrote: »

Any evidence of this?

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/mar/28/car-insurance-and-credit-hire-agencies

"CHCs emerged in the 1980s and pay insurers and brokers large referral fees to manage no-fault claims. Their profits are made from arranging repairs and replacement cars at often greatly inflated cost, then demanding the money from the third-party insurer."

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/what-is-credit-hire/

The whole arrangement is based on hiring a car to someone who accepts they don't have the money right now, they give you the hire car and claim the money from the insurance later. They may in fact have the money and would be quite happy to sort a hire car out themselves, but these agreements are almost forced on people the day after the accident, even if the accident damaged car is perfectly driveable.

boatman

motorguy wrote: »

Any evidence of this?

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2010/feb/06/beware-claims-management-companies

"Many claims companies auction details of customers and their claims to specialist solicitors, earning up to £750 for each case that comes their way. The individuals involved are unaware of this and will not even have a say over which lawyer takes on their case."

Is it not entirely possible that insurance companies are paid to give accident details to claim companies?

When you phone an insurance company to report an accident, they will re-direct your call to 'their' claims handler, do you think they do this for free?