Car Insurance after Pothole Damage

StunningPeter

I’m at my wits end.

About 6 weeks ago I hit a pothole doing less than 30 mph in a residential area on a dark and damp January evening.  I thought nothing of it until a couple of days later I noticed one of my front tyres had deflated.  I didn’t know at the time if there was any substantial damage to my car but as I was going to be driving up to Yorkshire a couple of days later (from Essex) I contacted my insurers for advise on what the procedure would be if I needed to claim.

They said I had £350 excess so I left it at that until I had more information.  As it happens there was a small ‘pinhole’ in the tyre and as the tyre was of a certain age I thought I might as well get a new one.

Imagine my shock when I received my renewal proposal and found my premium has rocketed because of my pothole ‘incident’.

To prove this incident is the reason for the large increase I’ve checked with comparison websites twice with identical details except once with and once without a no fault ‘incident’.

The respective results were (approx.) £1,000 and £550!!

I ‘googled’ no fault incidents and apparently insurers may raise premiums due to increased risk.  With the state of the roads now I don’t think this is at all fair; it’s almost impossible to miss every pothole - I know I’m not the only one.  So not only do I have to pay for any repairs, I also have this ‘incident’ on my record for the next 5 years - costing me, who knows how much overall.

I don’t know what to do; my insurance is due on 16th April.

Any advice please?

mebu60

Have you contacted your insurers to check there isn't an open potential claim still recorded on your file as they are unaware that you have dealt with the matter yourself? 

DullGreyGuy

StunningPeter said:

I’m at my wits end.

About 6 weeks ago I hit a pothole doing less than 30 mph in a residential area on a dark and damp January evening.  I thought nothing of it until a couple of days later I noticed one of my front tyres had deflated.  I didn’t know at the time if there was any substantial damage to my car but as I was going to be driving up to Yorkshire a couple of days later (from Essex) I contacted my insurers for advise on what the procedure would be if I needed to claim.

They said I had £350 excess so I left it at that until I had more information.  As it happens there was a small ‘pinhole’ in the tyre and as the tyre was of a certain age I thought I might as well get a new one.

Imagine my shock when I received my renewal proposal and found my premium has rocketed because of my pothole ‘incident’.

To prove this incident is the reason for the large increase I’ve checked with comparison websites twice with identical details except once with and once without a no fault ‘incident’.

The respective results were (approx.) £1,000 and £550!!

I ‘googled’ no fault incidents and apparently insurers may raise premiums due to increased risk.  With the state of the roads now I don’t think this is at all fair; it’s almost impossible to miss every pothole - I know I’m not the only one.  So not only do I have to pay for any repairs, I also have this ‘incident’ on my record for the next 5 years - costing me, who knows how much overall.

I don’t know what to do; my insurance is due on 16th April.

Any advice please?

Unfortunately you've demonstrated that in dark conditions you are unable to see/avoid static objects that can cause damage to your vehicle. Your insurers are entitled to factor that in when pricing your future premiums. 

Insurers are very sensitive to people gaming the system, if you used identical details and change things that cannot legitimately be different (eg wether or not you've had an incident) some insurers will skew prices or refuse to quote as you are appearing to be comfortable contemplating fraud etc. Comparison sites are not the best route for this either as the cheapest quote with no claims could be from a company thats only targeting claims free people and actually the second quote barely moves at all but you claim the big swing as an increase in price. 

Unfortunately most people "forget" to mention minor incidents that they repair at their own cost (which by definition makes them fault accidents) and so those that do take the brunt. 

Ultimately, make sure your insurers dont have an open claim. Assuming they dont, select the best blend of price and cover from the prices you've seen making sure to check the couple of insurers that dont directly quote on aggregators. 

StunningPeter

mebu60 said:

Have you contacted your insurers to check there isn't an open potential claim still recorded on your file as they are unaware that you have dealt with the matter yourself? 

There is no 'open potential claim' on my records.  This has been recorded as - Accident (Non-Fault).  Thing is, I only contacted them for advice in the first place.  I don't even know if the slight damage to the tyre was caused by the pothole or just an unfortunate coincidence - impossible to tell.

StunningPeter

DullGreyGuy said:

StunningPeter said:

I’m at my wits end.

About 6 weeks ago I hit a pothole doing less than 30 mph in a residential area on a dark and damp January evening.  I thought nothing of it until a couple of days later I noticed one of my front tyres had deflated.  I didn’t know at the time if there was any substantial damage to my car but as I was going to be driving up to Yorkshire a couple of days later (from Essex) I contacted my insurers for advise on what the procedure would be if I needed to claim.

They said I had £350 excess so I left it at that until I had more information.  As it happens there was a small ‘pinhole’ in the tyre and as the tyre was of a certain age I thought I might as well get a new one.

Imagine my shock when I received my renewal proposal and found my premium has rocketed because of my pothole ‘incident’.

To prove this incident is the reason for the large increase I’ve checked with comparison websites twice with identical details except once with and once without a no fault ‘incident’.

The respective results were (approx.) £1,000 and £550!!

I ‘googled’ no fault incidents and apparently insurers may raise premiums due to increased risk.  With the state of the roads now I don’t think this is at all fair; it’s almost impossible to miss every pothole - I know I’m not the only one.  So not only do I have to pay for any repairs, I also have this ‘incident’ on my record for the next 5 years - costing me, who knows how much overall.

I don’t know what to do; my insurance is due on 16th April.

Any advice please?

Unfortunately you've demonstrated that in dark conditions you are unable to see/avoid static objects that can cause damage to your vehicle. Your insurers are entitled to factor that in when pricing your future premiums. 

Insurers are very sensitive to people gaming the system, if you used identical details and change things that cannot legitimately be different (eg wether or not you've had an incident) some insurers will skew prices or refuse to quote as you are appearing to be comfortable contemplating fraud etc. Comparison sites are not the best route for this either as the cheapest quote with no claims could be from a company thats only targeting claims free people and actually the second quote barely moves at all but you claim the big swing as an increase in price. 

Unfortunately most people "forget" to mention minor incidents that they repair at their own cost (which by definition makes them fault accidents) and so those that do take the brunt. 

Ultimately, make sure your insurers dont have an open claim. Assuming they dont, select the best blend of price and cover from the prices you've seen making sure to check the couple of insurers that dont directly quote on aggregators. 

Thanks for your response.
I agree, I couldn't see a pothole that was full of water on a dark evening.  And I know I'm not the only one, I was just asking my insurance company for advice if there turned out to be damage to my car.  As I said to a previous reply, I don't even know if the slight damage to the tyre was caused by the pothole or just an unfortunate coincidence - impossible to tell.
Also, I'm not contemplating a  fraudulent application.  I was just trying to prove that it was this 'incident' that had caused such an increase in premium.
I did make sure to compare the quotes from the same companies (i.e. I've looked at identical policies (in this case from Swinton 'Essentials')).
Looking at social media and listening to many others, there are countless 'incidents' of hitting potholes every day.  Many have claimed against the highway authority - but I haven't heard of any of them having greatly increased premiums because of it.
This all seems very unfair to me, particularly as there is no proof that this 'incident' even caused any damage - I haven't had a claim in over 20 years - and I'm not claiming now.