Car insurance increased costs even though a no fault claim

cheeky51

Could anyone explain why the cost of an insurance quote increased when I said I'd had an accident even though it was the other driver's fault & her insurance company accepted liability & paid my claim? It seems mad to me!

Car_54

Insurers will tell you that statistics show that someone involved in a non-fault accident is more likely (than average) to have another accident, and that this MAY be reflected in premiums.

However, in your case you say a "quote" has increased. Does that mean you failed to declare the accident when you first requested the quote? If so, that may have had a bigger effect than the accident itself.

Nobbie1967

A couple of examples for you,

1) My car was struck while parked. I claim from the other party’s insurer, but my insurance goes up because the insurer now knows there is more chance of my car being hit while parked than they had assumed and in future the person may not stop and leave their details leaving my insurer to pay for the damage.

2) Most crashes consist of one person making a mistake and a second person not managing to avoid the mistake. I.e. Someone pulls out of a junction without looking, the second person doesn’t notice early enough and can’t stop. Many crashes are avoided because the second person reacts in time and takes evasive action (and toots their horn angrily). If you are the second person who fails to avoid the mistake of the first person, you won’t be liable for the damage, but your insurance company can infer that your failure to avoid the crash may mean you are more of a risk of causing a crash in future due to inattention, lack of foresight.

I crashed recently when someone pulled out in front of me. Being honest, I should probably have anticipated this and slowed down somewhat, but I didn’t. In my case an increase in premium would be a fair reflection of risk.  Insurers can only work on averages from the data they hold rather than analyse every accident in detail, so sometimes it will be unfair on the individual. 

[Deleted User]

You can add the additional cost to your claim. However, you are obliged to minimise your costs, i.e. use a comparison site to get the best possible deal.

Grey_Critic

Back in 2017 I had an accident.and broke my collar bone. I had just renewed my annual travel policy.  Being honest I infomed my insurer as per T&Cs - I was not making a claim. They then required an additional premium of £26 - Why I asked - well you might break it again. Don't think so but insurers do have a rather twisted view about life.

DullGreyGuy

cheeky51 said:

Could anyone explain why the cost of an insurance quote increased when I said I'd had an accident even though it was the other driver's fault & her insurance company accepted liability & paid my claim? It seems mad to me!

Because mass market insurance is based on statistical analysis of fairly basic data. That data shows that on average the customer that has made a couple of non-fault claims has a higher total cost -v- someone with no claims at all

If you want to rationalise it....

1) Your insurer was only able to recover allocated costs... the call centre agents you called each time, the office they sit in, the computer they use are all unallocated costs which they cannot recover 

2) Some drivers go too fast and break too hard... the person that goes into the back of them is liable but not everyone gives true details

3) Some car parks are really badly designed and accidents are common. You park there daily and luckily the person that clipped your car left their details but next time they may not.

4) How have you worked out this statistic? Insurers are very aware of fraud, if your quote for A and then quote for B you will often find an increased premium because its impossible A and B are true so they load because of the likely fraud occurring.

lordmountararat

It is a no claim bonus, not a no blame bonus.