Car insurance hike up by £1800 after a minor accident! fair?!

Arklight

[quote=[Deleted User];74407763]They don't aim to compete on price, so what would be the point in being on a comparison site? If you see their adverts, they're concentrating on the quality of their products. They must doing something right, since the group currently insure about one car in six in the UK.


I should make clear that I have no connection with DL. Quite the reverse - I'm a shareholder in a competitor.[/QUOTE]

I might just have been unlucky but the few times I've called them for a quote they've been useless and rather rude.

I phoned them once for contents insurance on a perfectly decent flat I was renting as my home in London to be told by the man on the phone to "go to Endsleigh or something for student's insurance, we only insure homes."

I did attempt again when their online system didn't have my new house number (that I owned, yay I am a real person Direct Line) in it whereas every other company in the entire country does. I was told I would have to send them a letter and copies of utility bills and they would consider adding it if it was decided I wasn't attempting to defraud them.

Did a dummy quote using the house next door and it was still 50% more than elsewhere for less cover.

Do one Direct Line.

neilmcl

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

I read it as the OP's husband has already paid his renewal of whatever + £1,800 which is ridiculous if they've actually paid that.

If they have paid it then complaining after the fact is even worse.

Quite a hike agreed but the OP's husband only had a single year of NCD which he would've then lost following the claim. Therefore he was starting again at scratch so you can see why there's a fair hike in premiums.

OP, it's irrelevant as to the value of the claim, although £1K for a new bumper and associated costs doesn't sound unreasonable, it has little bearing to your increase in premium. What does, as explained, is your other half's lack of NCD and now claims history. As others have said shop around in future.

DoaM

OP - are you still within 14 days of the new policy starting? If yes then you may be able to cancel the policy (for a full refund minus admin charges) and then go elsewhere.

almillar

I've shopped around before

You need to do it every year, quite simply.

marjolijn

Hello everyone OP here,


Thanks for all your replies and for explaining.


Truth be told, I got a bit upset at some of your replies where I am assumed to be some kind of idiot without common sense, where in truth I am just a bit off my game being a very busy working mum (children are fantastic, but they are very time and energy consuming!)


OK, yes, I was pretty stupid having this accident and I can see now that £1100 is reasonable. I didn't realise that it's not normal for insurers to keep you posted on any claims and keeping you posted on how much this will impact on your insurance premium. I'm still baffled that they didn't despite promising they would, but I'll just forget about that now. I know I wouldn't have been able to change anything, it just would have been nice to be kept informed.



I thought my pictures WOULD make a difference, in case the other party was going to claim that I went X speed and totaled their car and/or going to claim for whiplash or other medical problems. Not everybody is honest so I just wanted my insurer to have the full picture. I didn't think that made me look naive, but prepared.



After speaking to my husband about this, it appears that we have renewed at this new rate which I am also furious about (with husband)! My husband bought a new truck a few months ago (nothing to do with accident, unfortunately his nissan navara was recalled) and when he rang to change car details on his insurance they told him the new price to which he exclaimed that it was quite a lot! They told him it was a combination of a newer vehicle, no no claim discount and this claim. My husband hadn't realised it had gone up by that much and didn't check what his previous payments were against the new ones . He also falsely thought he had no choice but to insure with them in order to insure the new truck to drive it home. He didn't realise that he could shop around and change within 14 days. He only found out it had gone up by £1800 today when he found out!


We will now be shopping around to find a cheaper insurance and I think I might change mine too!


Also, I DO shop around every year and still have found Direct Line cheaper every year. If not I have phoned them up to leave and they've changed my premium every time. This time I will probably find it cheaper as they have obviously decided we are high risk, which I am gutted about, from one little incident and also seeing as I have been a customer for many years. I guess that doesn't count for anything anymore these days.


I may be a new member of the forum and the first time I have posted, but I have read and taken advice from these posts for many years. I'm surprised at some of the poster's judgey comments....

Luckily some of you are great and have posted honest answers without judging, so thank you to those :T

Mercdriver

It's not as clear cut as you suggested in your OP then. A new car can be a substantial increase when you add in the other factors. I'm confused why you didn't mention a change of vehicle in the original post. It is a factor.

marjolijn

Mercdriver wrote: »

It's not as clear cut as you suggested in your OP then. A new car can be a substantial increase when you add in the other factors. I'm confused why you didn't mention a change of vehicle in the original post. It is a factor.

Because when I spoke to my husband on the phone, it is what he said.


It wasn't until later that I spoke to him in person, he explained it in more detail.
As it happens, the newer car was a £500 difference, so £1800 minus that is still a huge hike!

Mercdriver

marjolijn wrote: »

Because when I spoke to my husband on the phone, it is what he said.


It wasn't until later that I spoke to him in person, he explained it in more detail.
As it happens, the newer car was a £500 difference, so £1800 minus that is still a huge hike!

It is substantial, but with a limited driving record, it was pretty likely to be fairly high.

Your husband bought a new truck because of a fairly routine recall? That's an odd and an expensive decision, and not just on the insurance front.

Stoke

Hop on Compare the market. Shopping around is the best thing about insurance. If someone wants to charge you £1800, that's fine, because this company only want £500. T'ra.

marjolijn

Mercdriver wrote: »

It is substantial, but with a limited driving record, it was pretty likely to be fairly high.

Your husband bought a new truck because of a fairly routine recall? That's an odd and an expensive decision, and not just on the insurance front.

no no no, not new, newer it's a 2011 plate which is newer than his 2006 Navara. He doesn't have a limited driving record as had insurance for 10 years with his previous company, but that was in the company's name, not his personal insurance. Even so, when he first got the navarra it wasn't that bad. in fact I'll look it up.


First year January 2016 - Jan 2017 £969
Renewal in Jan 2017 - Jan 2018 £991


He's got the paperwork for when he added the new truck so I can't compare those amounts. edited to add the new preium is now £2723