Hit and run on my car but my insurance increases!

ScottG97

Hi there,

I’m wondering if any of you can shed some light on this situation.

Not too long ago my car was parked at a local shopping centre where someone done a good bit of damage to the front right of my cars bumper. Being that it was at a shopping centre there was a lot of CCTV around so thought I’d get the police involved to find the culprit (I had asked the shopping centre to assist before this but they wouldn’t show anything unless the police got involved).

After contacting the police they had told me that since they were involved I had to notify my insurance, which I did but I mentioned that unless they found the person I did not intend to go through insurance to get the damaged fixed. 2 months down the line the police had finished their investigation and found that no CCTV had been looking over my car so there was no way of catching anyone.

With this being the case I decided to go ahead and get the bumper fixed out of my own pocket and stay well clear of insurance to avoid any increase, for reference I have 8 years driving experience and 8 years no claims discount. It cost me just over £400 to fix the damage and I thought that was all until I went to renew my insurance.

This is when I noticed my premiums had went up by around £200 for the year, they were classing it as a “non fault no claim” but it still goes down as a claim on my record when I haven’t claimed for anything, they have literally done nothing to assist. I continued shopping around and noticed all insurers had increased me premiums by around the same. Surely this cannot be right? Do I really need to mention this to insurers in the future when I didn’t use them to assist and wasn’t even in the vehicle?

If you need anymore info please just ask. Cheers!

DanDare999

ScottG97 said:

Hi there,

I’m wondering if any of you can shed some light on this situation.

Not too long ago my car was parked at a local shopping centre where someone done a good bit of damage to the front right of my cars bumper. Being that it was at a shopping centre there was a lot of CCTV around so thought I’d get the police involved to find the culprit (I had asked the shopping centre to assist before this but they wouldn’t show anything unless the police got involved).

After contacting the police they had told me that since they were involved I had to notify my insurance, which I did but I mentioned that unless they found the person I did not intend to go through insurance to get the damaged fixed. 2 months down the line the police had finished their investigation and found that no CCTV had been looking over my car so there was no way of catching anyone.

With this being the case I decided to go ahead and get the bumper fixed out of my own pocket and stay well clear of insurance to avoid any increase, for reference I have 8 years driving experience and 8 years no claims discount. It cost me just over £400 to fix the damage and I thought that was all until I went to renew my insurance.

This is when I noticed my premiums had went up by around £200 for the year, they were classing it as a “non fault no claim” but it still goes down as a claim on my record when I haven’t claimed for anything, they have literally done nothing to assist. I continued shopping around and noticed all insurers had increased me premiums by around the same. Surely this cannot be right? Do I really need to mention this to insurers in the future when I didn’t use them to assist and wasn’t even in the vehicle?

If you need anymore info please just ask. Cheers!

Yes, it's an accident your vehicle was involved in and they have it on record. 

For the record there is no need to inform an insurance company because the police are investigating.

sheramber

Your policy will probably state you have to notify your insurance company of any incident- regardless of whether you are claiming from them or not.

facade

ScottG97 said:

This is when I noticed my premiums had went up by around £200 for the year, they were classing it as a “non fault no claim” but it still goes down as a claim on my record when I haven’t claimed for anything, they have literally done nothing to assist. I continued shopping around and noticed all insurers had increased me premiums by around the same. Surely this cannot be right? Do I really need to mention this to insurers in the future when I didn’t use them to assist and wasn’t even in the vehicle?

Because your car was involved in an incident, your risk profile has changed, and insurance is more expensive to reflect the perceived greater risk.

Insurers are very good at maths, and have 92 years of statistics to analyse, the analysis has shown that some one your age, living in your area, driving your sort of car is more likely to have an expensive claim once they have a minor incident whilst parked.

Unfair? yes, from your point of view, but that is how insurance works.

Yes you have to mention it as they ask about "any accidents, claims or losses suffered in the past XX years".

(They already know as it is on record, but if you don't tell them, they can cancel your policy- you have to wonder why they don't simply check when you take out the policy.....)

[Deleted User]

Shop around for insurance, you can probably get a lower price.

Unless you can find out who did it you are stuffed I'm afraid.

Flight3287462

Insurance in general has gone up related to rise in car and parts prices coupled with supply chain issues.

Imagine a car off the road for a couple of months because the parts aren't available and the added costs of hire cars etc.

Herzlos

[Deleted User] said:

Shop around for insurance, you can probably get a lower price.

Unless you can find out who did it you are stuffed I'm afraid.

Even if the other party was found and paid up, the insurance premium will still increase because they are a higher statistical risk

ScottG97

Thanks everyone! Much appreciated

photome

DanDare999 said:

ScottG97 said:

Hi there,

I’m wondering if any of you can shed some light on this situation.

Not too long ago my car was parked at a local shopping centre where someone done a good bit of damage to the front right of my cars bumper. Being that it was at a shopping centre there was a lot of CCTV around so thought I’d get the police involved to find the culprit (I had asked the shopping centre to assist before this but they wouldn’t show anything unless the police got involved).

After contacting the police they had told me that since they were involved I had to notify my insurance, which I did but I mentioned that unless they found the person I did not intend to go through insurance to get the damaged fixed. 2 months down the line the police had finished their investigation and found that no CCTV had been looking over my car so there was no way of catching anyone.

With this being the case I decided to go ahead and get the bumper fixed out of my own pocket and stay well clear of insurance to avoid any increase, for reference I have 8 years driving experience and 8 years no claims discount. It cost me just over £400 to fix the damage and I thought that was all until I went to renew my insurance.

This is when I noticed my premiums had went up by around £200 for the year, they were classing it as a “non fault no claim” but it still goes down as a claim on my record when I haven’t claimed for anything, they have literally done nothing to assist. I continued shopping around and noticed all insurers had increased me premiums by around the same. Surely this cannot be right? Do I really need to mention this to insurers in the future when I didn’t use them to assist and wasn’t even in the vehicle?

If you need anymore info please just ask. Cheers!

Yes, it's an accident your vehicle was involved in and they have it on record. 

For the record there is no need to inform an insurance company because the police are investigating.

If the police had found the culprit a few months down the line and the OP had then informed their insurer ,they would have taken a dim view of the fact the OP had not informed them sooner

[Deleted User]

Herzlos said:

[Deleted User] said:

Shop around for insurance, you can probably get a lower price.

Unless you can find out who did it you are stuffed I'm afraid.

Even if the other party was found and paid up, the insurance premium will still increase because they are a higher statistical risk

Yeah but you can claim the increase back off the TP.

Car_54

[Deleted User] said:

Herzlos said:

[Deleted User] said:

Shop around for insurance, you can probably get a lower price.

Unless you can find out who did it you are stuffed I'm afraid.

Even if the other party was found and paid up, the insurance premium will still increase because they are a higher statistical risk

Yeah but you can claim the increase back off the TP.

Any evidence for that?