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insurance companies don’t ask if you have Immobiliser or Dashcams

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  • Car_54
    Car_54 Posts: 8,815 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Car_54 said:
    Ayr_Rage said:
    Just done 3 online quotes and every one asked about an alarm and/or immobiliser and who fitted the items.

    None aske about dashcams.
    Confused.com does ask about dash cams, or at least one of the aggregators does. Aggregators are different though, consumers are willing to put up with longer questionnaires because they get back 50 different quotes potentially -v- when dealing directly with an insurer.

    Hoenir said:
    Dashcam installation isn't going to stop you having an accident or making a claim for damage to your vehicle or somebody elses property. . 

    As noted before however this is double edged sword as sometimes it proves your PH was at fault whereas it may have gone 50/50 without video evidence.
    But would 50/50 be an improvement? It's still an at-fault claim.

    For the consumer the difference is that they can recover 50% of their uninsured losses from the third party insurer, eg half their excess or compensation for whiplash etc.
    Good point. Thanks.
  • Alanp
    Alanp Posts: 762 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 500 Posts Name Dropper
    35har1old said:
    Ayr_Rage said:
    Just done 3 online quotes and every one asked about an alarm and/or immobiliser and who fitted the items.

    None asked about dashcams.
    If the dashcam is hard wired it could fall into the category has the car been modified 
    You beat me to it, perhaps they could declare it a modification and not pay out in the event of a claim, a strange paradox where, you fit a dashcam to prove what happened if it’s not your fault, but might be penalised for not declaring a modification…
  • DullGreyGuy
    DullGreyGuy Posts: 18,330 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    Car_54 said:
    Car_54 said:
    Ayr_Rage said:
    Just done 3 online quotes and every one asked about an alarm and/or immobiliser and who fitted the items.

    None aske about dashcams.
    Confused.com does ask about dash cams, or at least one of the aggregators does. Aggregators are different though, consumers are willing to put up with longer questionnaires because they get back 50 different quotes potentially -v- when dealing directly with an insurer.

    Hoenir said:
    Dashcam installation isn't going to stop you having an accident or making a claim for damage to your vehicle or somebody elses property. . 

    As noted before however this is double edged sword as sometimes it proves your PH was at fault whereas it may have gone 50/50 without video evidence.
    But would 50/50 be an improvement? It's still an at-fault claim.

    For the consumer the difference is that they can recover 50% of their uninsured losses from the third party insurer, eg half their excess or compensation for whiplash etc.
    Good point. Thanks.
    In this case however we are really talking about pricing, given we are talking about questions asked at quote stage and so the difference in costs to the insurer is more important. 
  • gplinge
    gplinge Posts: 29 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    35har1old said:
    Ayr_Rage said:
    Just done 3 online quotes and every one asked about an alarm and/or immobiliser and who fitted the items.

    None asked about dashcams.
    If the dashcam is hard wired it could fall into the category has the car been modified 
    I asked my insurer when I was planning to get on insured - they said it made no difference
  • Herzlos
    Herzlos Posts: 15,783 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    facade said:
    Be careful what you wish for with dashcams. They are highly stealable, so the risk of your car being broken into increases, and if you said you have a dashcam the insurer will get all huffy & puffy should you not have footage of your accident available.
    Given how cheap most of them are now, and how they may be recording all the the time it's a bit risky looking to check, are they really that stealable?

    I understand that the high end ones will presumably fetch a good price in the pub, but it's a lot of hassle/risk for a £10 from ebay unit.

  • caprikid1
    caprikid1 Posts: 2,432 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Having seen enough cars being rammed by Dashcam users for likes and views I can imagine insurance companies don't always see them as positive.
  • Nasqueron
    Nasqueron Posts: 10,620 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Hoenir said:
    Dashcam installation isn't going to stop you having an accident or making a claim for damage to your vehicle or somebody elses property. . 
    They help also on the roundabout stye collisions where they often go 50/50 without evidence even when it's something weird like they try and go all the way around in the left lane without indicating or cut across from a straight ahead only lane

    Sam Vimes' Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness: 

    People are rich because they spend less money. A poor man buys $10 boots that last a season or two before he's walking in wet shoes and has to buy another pair. A rich man buys $50 boots that are made better and give him 10 years of dry feet. The poor man has spent $100 over those 10 years and still has wet feet.

  • facade
    facade Posts: 7,559 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Herzlos said:
    facade said:
    Be careful what you wish for with dashcams. They are highly stealable, so the risk of your car being broken into increases, and if you said you have a dashcam the insurer will get all huffy & puffy should you not have footage of your accident available.
    Given how cheap most of them are now, and how they may be recording all the the time it's a bit risky looking to check, are they really that stealable?

    I understand that the high end ones will presumably fetch a good price in the pub, but it's a lot of hassle/risk for a £10 from ebay unit.


    You won't believe how hard a thief (usually an addict of some sort tbh) will work for pennies. Anyone less desperate would just get a paper round for less work, no risk and more money!

    They also don't care if they cause £1000 worth of damage trying to steal a £10 item.
    I want to go back to The Olden Days, when every single thing that I can think of was better.....

    (except air quality and Medical Science ;))
  • DullGreyGuy
    DullGreyGuy Posts: 18,330 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    facade said:
    Herzlos said:
    facade said:
    Be careful what you wish for with dashcams. They are highly stealable, so the risk of your car being broken into increases, and if you said you have a dashcam the insurer will get all huffy & puffy should you not have footage of your accident available.
    Given how cheap most of them are now, and how they may be recording all the the time it's a bit risky looking to check, are they really that stealable?

    I understand that the high end ones will presumably fetch a good price in the pub, but it's a lot of hassle/risk for a £10 from ebay unit.


    You won't believe how hard a thief (usually an addict of some sort tbh) will work for pennies. Anyone less desperate would just get a paper round for less work, no risk and more money!
    It's not really hard work though is it... make sure you've got your hoodie on, smash the side window, grab it, leg it. As you say, if it's properly mounted/wired in you just pull it hard enough and it will give. Nasqueron said:
    Hoenir said:
    Dashcam installation isn't going to stop you having an accident or making a claim for damage to your vehicle or somebody elses property. . 
    They help also on the roundabout stye collisions where they often go 50/50 without evidence even when it's something weird like they try and go all the way around in the left lane without indicating or cut across from a straight ahead only lane
    They can help and hinder... your customer tells you the third party cut the corner/drifted into their lane and caused the collision. The witness then shares their dashcam and it shows your policyholder actually drifted wide and went into the third party lane. The 50/50 has now turned into 100% your customers fault
  • UncleZen
    UncleZen Posts: 851 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    As mentioned, some insurers class a hardwired daschcam as a modification and could refuse to insure you in an accident. If its plugged into the cigarette lighter, it's not a modification.
    I'm with rac, they don't mind if its hardwired as long as you tell them. Direct line didn't care at all. In both cases I had a web chat with the call centre and captured the evidence that they said this, just in case.
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