Car Insurance Renewal ???

Zub-TypeR

Ok,
Brief History;
1st November car insurance is due for renewal...
I have been with Elephant for the last 7 years and also have a second car with them.
In October lastyear my car was hit by a police car while it was parked, with no-one inside. After a 6 month battle with original repairers and subsequent move to an alternative body shop my car was retuned to near perfect condition.
Reason for post;
My insurance renewal has arrived today only to find that it has gone up from what I paid last year... I called Elephant and asked what was going on, only to be told that because I had made a claim (Even though it was nothing to do with me), I was a higher risk and was more likely to claim in the future...
I cannot understand and think it is very unfair that I am being penalised for something which was completely out of my control.
Has anyone else has this type of thing happen and is it legal?
Any help appreciated...
Thank,
Z

jem16

Unfortunately perfectly legal and all insurance companies do it.

In the case of a no-fault claim your no-claims bonus is not affected but it doesn't stop the renewal premium going up for the reason they gave you.

Shop around and see if they are still the cheapest. Just remember that you must put down the claim for any quotes.

fletcher1985

how come you didnt claim on the police cars insurance? not sure if i read it wrong but why would you have claimed on yours? a friend had just bought a new car and it got hit at the weekend by someone who had stolen a car and shes having big trouble with sorting hers out.

raskazz

Zub-TypeR wrote: »

I cannot understand and think it is very unfair that I am being penalised for something which was completely out of my control.
Has anyone else has this type of thing happen and is it legal?

Firstly, non-fault claims will impact on premiums. This is because insurers' claims statistics show that drivers who are involved in non-fault incidents are actually on average more likely to submit a fault claim in the future.

In terms of being 'unfair', I don't think that is the case - unlucky, certainly, but not unfair. Many factors outside your control affect the risk - for example your gender.

It is totally legal. Insurers can set whatever premium they think is appropriate to cover the risk.

Also remember that a proportion of the change in premium may well be down to inflation and market movements that are unrelated to your own circumstances.