Car insurance increase after accident

Thumper1963

Hi,

We had an accident at the end of Nov and our car was written off. When we changed vehicle we paid over £300 for the remaining

6 month of the policy. I understand that there was going to be an increase whilst the liability was being established, even though

we were confident it was not our fault.

Now that it has been agreed we are not at fault we seemingly are unable to get any of the money back from the increased premium.

We are out of pocket through no fault of ours and our insurance company pockets the extra money. They seemingly are the only ones that came out of it better off.

The exact same thing happened to us on a different car a couple of years ago. Is this just some kind of loophole that car insurance companies use. It feels unfair to me and bordering on a scam. Am i missing something or do we have rights in getting our money back?

QrizB

I think you've got the wrong end of the stick.

Thumper1963 said:

We had an accident at the end of Nov and our car was written off. When we changed vehicle we paid over £300 for the remaining 6 month of the policy.

You had an annual policy which you were paying monthly on a finance deal. The £300 was the remaining payments for the policy; you were clearing that loan.

Thumper1963 said:

I understand that there was going to be an increase whilst the liability was being established, even though we were confident it was not our fault.

This is not an increase, it's money you already owed.

Thumper1963 said:

Now that it has been agreed we are not at fault we seemingly are unable to get any of the money back from the increased premium.

The policy paid out for your write-off. There is nothing to refund.

Thumper1963 said:

We are out of pocket through no fault of ours ...

You are not out of pocket, you've simply settled your outstanding loan.

Thumper1963 said:

Am i missing something or do we have rights in getting our money back?

You're missing that the charge for an annual policy is exactly that; the charge for the policy. This isn't some sort of pay-monthly-as-you-go deal; those are somewhat more expensive over 12 months than an annual policy would be.

facade

Was it as QrizB says, and you were on a monthly repayment policy that was only half way through so you had to pay the outstanding premium plus an admin fee and an extra premium to account for the replacement car being newer/faster/more stealable/more crashable/harder to source parts for etc.,

Or did you pay the whole premium up front 6 months before, and then swap vehicle and they billed you £300 for the "admin fee" to make the change and an increased premium for the new car for the last 6 months?

I believe that they effectively re-evaluate your risk and pro rata a new policy  at the time that you change vehicle, so some of the increase may be because you had an unresolved claim (counted as "at fault"), some may be because that insurer now charges a lot more for all policies, and some may be because the new car is more expensive to insure than the old one. (newer/faster/more stealable/more crashable/harder to source parts for etc.)

You may be entitled to a refund of any extra you were charged solely because of the unresolved claim, but it won't be the whole £300

Nasqueron

I'd also add to the above, even if an accident is deemed no fault, your premiums can still rise because the statistics say if you were in an accident, you're more likely to be in another one e.g. you park somewhere people crash into cars or you drive on roads where there are bad drivers etc.

born_again

Thumper1963 said:

Hi,

We had an accident at the end of Nov and our car was written off. When we changed vehicle we paid over £300 for the remaining

6 month of the policy. I understand that there was going to be an increase whilst the liability was being established, even though

we were confident it was not our fault.

Now that it has been agreed we are not at fault we seemingly are unable to get any of the money back from the increased premium.

We are out of pocket through no fault of ours and our insurance company pockets the extra money. They seemingly are the only ones that came out of it better off.

The exact same thing happened to us on a different car a couple of years ago. Is this just some kind of loophole that car insurance companies use. It feels unfair to me and bordering on a scam. Am i missing something or do we have rights in getting our money back?

So how much did the insurance company pay you for the write off?
Compared to how much you paid for the policy?

matt_drummer

born_again said:

Thumper1963 said:

Hi,

We had an accident at the end of Nov and our car was written off. When we changed vehicle we paid over £300 for the remaining

6 month of the policy. I understand that there was going to be an increase whilst the liability was being established, even though

we were confident it was not our fault.

Now that it has been agreed we are not at fault we seemingly are unable to get any of the money back from the increased premium.

We are out of pocket through no fault of ours and our insurance company pockets the extra money. They seemingly are the only ones that came out of it better off.

The exact same thing happened to us on a different car a couple of years ago. Is this just some kind of loophole that car insurance companies use. It feels unfair to me and bordering on a scam. Am i missing something or do we have rights in getting our money back?

So how much did the insurance company pay you for the write off?
Compared to how much you paid for the policy?

Presumably the insurer of the at fault party paid for the OP's car?

The OP's insurer didn't pay, so in this respect, the OP is not wrong.

Mildly_Miffed

matt_drummer said:

born_again said:

So how much did the insurance company pay you for the write off?
Compared to how much you paid for the policy?

Presumably the insurer of the at fault party paid for the OP's car?

The OP's insurer didn't pay, so in this respect, the OP is not wrong.

If the OP claimed from their own policy while liability was disputed, as it appears they did, then the OP's own insurer most certainly DID pay for the OP's car. 

Behind the scenes, they then settled that debt with the other insurer once liability was agreed.

As for the £300 payment - I'm unclear from the post what this is for.

If it's for settling the remainder of the policy, then as has already been explained, that's perfectly normal. Many insurers will end the policy on a write-off, and if a monthly finance product was involved, that debt is due immediately.

If it's for increased premiums in the future, then as has already also been explained, that's also perfectly normal. People with a past claim (even not-at-fault) are a higher risk than those without.

MyRealNameToo

matt_drummer said:

born_again said:

Thumper1963 said:

Hi,

We had an accident at the end of Nov and our car was written off. When we changed vehicle we paid over £300 for the remaining

6 month of the policy. I understand that there was going to be an increase whilst the liability was being established, even though

we were confident it was not our fault.

Now that it has been agreed we are not at fault we seemingly are unable to get any of the money back from the increased premium.

We are out of pocket through no fault of ours and our insurance company pockets the extra money. They seemingly are the only ones that came out of it better off.

The exact same thing happened to us on a different car a couple of years ago. Is this just some kind of loophole that car insurance companies use. It feels unfair to me and bordering on a scam. Am i missing something or do we have rights in getting our money back?

So how much did the insurance company pay you for the write off?
Compared to how much you paid for the policy?

Presumably the insurer of the at fault party paid for the OP's car?

The OP's insurer didn't pay, so in this respect, the OP is not wrong.

No, the OP's insurer paid for it, they will recover that from the third party insurers along with any allocated claims expenses but ultimately are still out of pocket for the unallocated claims expenses like the staff in the claims team, the office that houses them, the software they use etc.

sheslookinhot

MyRealNameToo said:

matt_drummer said:

born_again said:

Thumper1963 said:

Hi,

We had an accident at the end of Nov and our car was written off. When we changed vehicle we paid over £300 for the remaining

6 month of the policy. I understand that there was going to be an increase whilst the liability was being established, even though

we were confident it was not our fault.

Now that it has been agreed we are not at fault we seemingly are unable to get any of the money back from the increased premium.

We are out of pocket through no fault of ours and our insurance company pockets the extra money. They seemingly are the only ones that came out of it better off.

The exact same thing happened to us on a different car a couple of years ago. Is this just some kind of loophole that car insurance companies use. It feels unfair to me and bordering on a scam. Am i missing something or do we have rights in getting our money back?

So how much did the insurance company pay you for the write off?
Compared to how much you paid for the policy?

Presumably the insurer of the at fault party paid for the OP's car?

The OP's insurer didn't pay, so in this respect, the OP is not wrong.

No, the OP's insurer paid for it, they will recover that from the third party insurers along with any allocated claims expenses but ultimately are still out of pocket for the unallocated claims expenses like the staff in the claims team, the office that houses them, the software they use etc.

These are no “unallocated claims expenses”. They are operating costs of the business which are necessary to partake in the insurance industry. They will be already included in monthly premiums that all who take out a policy pay.

QrizB

sheslookinhot said:

They will be already included in monthly premiums that all who take out a policy pay.

The policy costs that the OP is complaining about having paid? Those policy costs?

Thumper1963

Hi, thanks for all the replies. Sorry, i wasn't clear in my original post. The £300 extra was purely the extra amount for changing the car. That was in addition to the premium already paid for in full for the year. It wasnt a massive upgrade, so i assumed the extra amount was due to the accident fault being proven.