Admiral Insurance issues- advice on a Claim with pedestrian incident
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jfarre
Posts: 2 Newbie
Hello Moneysavers!
I am looking for some advice regarding a situation I had with Admiral.
About a year ago I was involved in an incident where a pedestrian crossed the road without looking if there were any cars coming, and I didn't manage to avoid him in time. Luckily, by the time he was hit, I had slowed down significantly and he didn't suffer any significant damage, just some light bruising. I had a dashcam installed which showed that I was not speeding, and that the pedestrian was hidden behind a street light post so was not visible until he started crossing.
I contacted Admiral later that day to inform them of what had happened, and stating clearly that I did not wish to make a claim, just to report the incident.
What happened next is that Admiral put a placeholder claim in my file for £70k+ damage and I lost my No claim bonus. They said they did that just in case the pedestrian decided to put a claim. A year later, after they reviewed the dashcam footage and did some investigation, they decided to return my No Claim Bonus, as the other party never presented a claim and witnesses in the scene had also confirmed in the police report that it was the pedestrians fault.
However, my file is still showing a claim for £70k+ in damages that never happened, as neither the pedestrian or I did a claim. As you can imagine, the year I was without any No Claim Bonus, my insurance went up a significant amount (almost doubled in price), and even now that I had my No Claim Bonus returned, it is still up significantly.
So, my questions are:
- Should I be offered some kind of refund for the year I was without No Claim Bonus, as nobody made a claim?
- Should Admiral remove this claim from my file as no one has put one and it is causing my premium to go up?
- Has anyone been in a similar situation and could give some advice from their experience?
I checked other quotes to change insurer, but the problem is that because this is in my file, no matter where I go they see this big claim.
Thank you.
P.S. I can't recommend Dashcams enough, this is the only time I have needed it, but just for this it has proved the best investment ever, as if not I would have been probably blamed by the pedestrian. I fully recommend everyone to have one, as "theoretically" it should also help bring your insurance down slightly.
I am looking for some advice regarding a situation I had with Admiral.
About a year ago I was involved in an incident where a pedestrian crossed the road without looking if there were any cars coming, and I didn't manage to avoid him in time. Luckily, by the time he was hit, I had slowed down significantly and he didn't suffer any significant damage, just some light bruising. I had a dashcam installed which showed that I was not speeding, and that the pedestrian was hidden behind a street light post so was not visible until he started crossing.
I contacted Admiral later that day to inform them of what had happened, and stating clearly that I did not wish to make a claim, just to report the incident.
What happened next is that Admiral put a placeholder claim in my file for £70k+ damage and I lost my No claim bonus. They said they did that just in case the pedestrian decided to put a claim. A year later, after they reviewed the dashcam footage and did some investigation, they decided to return my No Claim Bonus, as the other party never presented a claim and witnesses in the scene had also confirmed in the police report that it was the pedestrians fault.
However, my file is still showing a claim for £70k+ in damages that never happened, as neither the pedestrian or I did a claim. As you can imagine, the year I was without any No Claim Bonus, my insurance went up a significant amount (almost doubled in price), and even now that I had my No Claim Bonus returned, it is still up significantly.
So, my questions are:
- Should I be offered some kind of refund for the year I was without No Claim Bonus, as nobody made a claim?
- Should Admiral remove this claim from my file as no one has put one and it is causing my premium to go up?
- Has anyone been in a similar situation and could give some advice from their experience?
I checked other quotes to change insurer, but the problem is that because this is in my file, no matter where I go they see this big claim.
Thank you.
P.S. I can't recommend Dashcams enough, this is the only time I have needed it, but just for this it has proved the best investment ever, as if not I would have been probably blamed by the pedestrian. I fully recommend everyone to have one, as "theoretically" it should also help bring your insurance down slightly.
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Comments
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You do have to disclose this incident to other insurers as part of your history, and it will remain on your record. Insurers normally ask for any incidents over the previous 4/5 years
But ask admiral for a refund of part of the premium for the year they witheld your NCD as it was subsequently reinstated
(The pedestrian has 3 years to instigate a claim for injury)0 -
You do have to disclose this incident to other insurers as part of your history, and it will remain on your record. Insurers normally ask for any incidents over the previous 4/5 years
But ask admiral for a refund of part of the premium for the year they witheld your NCD as it was subsequently reinstated
(The pedestrian has 3 years to instigate a claim for injury)
Thanks for the quick reply Quentin.
I understand that it needs to show the fact there was an accident, I just don't understand why they need to show that cost next to it when in reality cost is nothing as no one has made a claim. Shouldn't they add the cost to it once someone makes a claim?
Surely it must make a difference on the premium if you state you had an incident involving a value of £1k or one with a value of £70k.0 -
I would call around.
I have had an accident a few years ago (just myself involved), a recent £100 claim and being on my phone police fine. Overseas but applicable. I was getting quotes in the thousands (£3-8k) and after spending four hours on the phone I managed to get the quote to £1200.0 -
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The cost of your incident to your insurer was nil wasn't it?
That's what you should state when making applications to other insurers.
If the claim is still classed as open with a reserve then this figure should be quoted.
Depends on the question asked really, if it asks for amount paid, it's £0, if it asks for claim value, it's still open with a £70,000 reserve.0 -
Part of the reason Admiral are reserving £70k for the claim is this is how Insurers stay solvent.
They have in effect ring fenced £70k on their balance book in case they have to pay. By doing this an Insurer can ensure the chances of them going bankrupt are minimised.
It is a standard practice throughout the industry.
An Insurer named Independent went bankrupt in the 90's as they were purposely resrving much lower amounts for their reserves in the hope they would be low. But mainly so they could boost their figures (The reserve amounts for the claims impact their profit and loss) and in the process boost their share price and dividend0
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