Car insurance quote after a claim

Zak7860

Hi everyone would be grateful for some insight .
At end of April my son was in a car accident he was hit from behind while he was stationary .
The other driver and his insurance company admitted liability and his car was repaired .
now his renewal quote has come through and it is nearly 4 times what he paid last year.
even after using comparison website for a cheaper quote it is still double when I input the details of the accident.
this is very unfair as it was not his fault.
yet what is even more unfair is the car insurance comparison websites ask if in the last 5 years if you have been in a accident ( 5 years ! ) does this mean for the next 5 years he will be paying the higher premium for his car insurance ?

Why 5 years ?

Who decided this and why is it 5 years ?

( Martin if you are reading this you need to investigate this I’m sure I’m not the only one questions this 5 years ) 

Zak7860

Hi everyone would be grateful for some insight .
At end of April my son was in a car accident he was hit from behind while he was stationary .
The other driver and his insurance company admitted liability and his car was repaired .
now his renewal quote has come through and it is nearly 4 times what he paid last year.
even after using comparison website for a cheaper quote it is still double when I input the details of the accident.
this is very unfair as it was not his fault.
yet what is even more unfair is the car insurance comparison websites ask if in the last 5 years if you have been in a accident ( 5 years ! ) does this mean for the next 5 years he will be paying the higher premium for his car insurance ?

Why 5 years ?

Who decided this and why is it 5 years ?

( Martin if you are reading this you need to investigate this I’m sure I’m not the only one questions this 5 years ) 

Ayr_Rage

DUPLICATE POST

Other post here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6550462/car-insurance-quote-after-a-claim#latest

Ayr_Rage

That's the way it works.

Also, doing multiple quotes with different "facts" can trigger algorithms that may get you blocked by some companies.

sheramber

Why not 5?

Could have been 7 or 10.

5 years is what they have decided is relevant.

Aretnap

Generally the impact on his premium will decrease over time - it will be biggest in the year after the claim, and much smaller four and a half years later. 

Not all insurers ask for five years of claims history, it varies from insurer to insurer. From memory Direct Line and Admiral only ask if you've had an accident in the last three years - there are probably others that do as well. Comparison sites will ask about any accidents in the last five years as they have to cater for all the insurers on their panel - the insurers who are only interested in 3 years history will just ignore any claims more than 3 years old that the comparison site tells them about when setting premiums.

With convictions (as opposed to claims) the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act sets a hard limit of 5 years for disclosure - beyond that most motoring convictions become "spent" and you have a legal right not to declare them. Were it not for the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act there would be no reason why insurers could not ask you to declare convictions forever. It doesn't apply to claims or accidents as such, but I rather suspect that the fact that no insurer asks for more than 5 years of claims history is to align with the limit for convictions. (Also it gets complicated if a conviction and an accident/claim arise it off the same incident - in that case "circumstances ancillary to a spent conviction" ARE covered by the ROA so arguably the accident would not have to be declared).

BarelySentientAI

Zak7860 said:

this is very unfair as it was not his fault.

It is completely fair.

People who have had an accident, regardless of fault, are statistically more likely to have another than people who have never had an accident.

Insurance prices work on statistics unless you're doing a special bespoke deal with the underwriter (which is extremely expensive).

Martyn_H

Statistics might say one thing. I'd wager most people would regard it as unfair.

BarelySentientAI

Martyn_H said:

Statistics might say one thing. I'd wager most people would regard it as unfair.

What most people might think is irrelevant.

Even with the new Customer Duty rules that have gone too far already.

DullGreyGuy

Zak7860 said:

Hi everyone would be grateful for some insight .
At end of April my son was in a car accident he was hit from behind while he was stationary .
The other driver and his insurance company admitted liability and his car was repaired .
now his renewal quote has come through and it is nearly 4 times what he paid last year.
even after using comparison website for a cheaper quote it is still double when I input the details of the accident.
this is very unfair as it was not his fault.
yet what is even more unfair is the car insurance comparison websites ask if in the last 5 years if you have been in a accident ( 5 years ! ) does this mean for the next 5 years he will be paying the higher premium for his car insurance ?

Why 5 years ?

Who decided this and why is it 5 years ?

( Martin if you are reading this you need to investigate this I’m sure I’m not the only one questions this 5 years ) 

Actuaries/statisticians ultimately do the pricing for insurance. For things like Private Car insurance companies have millions of policies over long periods of time so have enough data to do reasonably reliable analysis of how individual risk factors impact the claims experience over time and how statistically relevant the apparent results are. 

There is then an element of dynamic tension between the commercial/sales managers who want the fewest possible questions asked and the actuaries that want as much data as is humanly possible. There can also be an element of pragmatic questions asked as actuaries are not always known as being the most practical people.

Never personally seen the analysis itself but have seen the loading tables that they result in an exponential decay pattern so starts out high, reduces quickly and by year 4/5 its nearly flat/more or less null. There have been some insurers that ask about the last 3 years. 

Would ask how you are seeing the two prices, with and without a claim? If you are playing on aggregators then the difference could be counter fraud measures as there is no legitimate circumstances where you maybe have had a loss or maybe haven't had a loss. 

ThorOdinson

You need to claim the increase from the other person's insurance company.