Caught out by insurer - help?
Discussion
andyc11 said:
The average cost on a premium is around 10% for one claim. If you have protected NCD, you won't lose any NCD but will be hit with the 10%.
If you don't have protected NCD, you'll lose the NCD based on whatever scale your insurer uses, as well as the 10% increase for the claim itself. That's when it gets pricey.
Really? You think losing 2 years NCD is more expensive than the potential base premium increase. Hmmmmm. If you don't have protected NCD, you'll lose the NCD based on whatever scale your insurer uses, as well as the 10% increase for the claim itself. That's when it gets pricey.
Soov535 said:
You could be in a tricky position.
How long ago was the accident?
He won't be. His insurer will pay, they'd pay if it was 5 years 11 months and 29 days ago, irrespective of what it says in the T&Cs about notification timeframes. How long ago was the accident?
Soov535 said:
Very much this.
You should have told them. They will be paying but don't expect them to welcome you with open arms any more !
Insurers aren't that picky. Most struggle to link up their underwriting and claims databases, let alone make a judgment on late notifications. I believe it would be good if they could and they could be a lot better at risk profiling too. You should have told them. They will be paying but don't expect them to welcome you with open arms any more !
LoonR1 said:
Soov535 said:
You could be in a tricky position.
How long ago was the accident?
He won't be. His insurer will pay, they'd pay if it was 5 years 11 months and 29 days ago, irrespective of what it says in the T&Cs about notification timeframes. How long ago was the accident?
Soov535 said:
Very much this.
You should have told them. They will be paying but don't expect them to welcome you with open arms any more !
Insurers aren't that picky. Most struggle to link up their underwriting and claims databases, let alone make a judgment on late notifications. I believe it would be good if they could and they could be a lot better at risk profiling too. You should have told them. They will be paying but don't expect them to welcome you with open arms any more !
Soov535 said:
Loon - if he's outside of the notification period might they try to reclaim from him?
No, not a chance. This is one of my big gripes about the way insurance is run and I'm determined to make some changes in time. If you do the right thing and inform your insurer early on about a claim, then your reward is a loss of part of your NCD (unless protected), a hike in premiums and a bit of hassle.
However, if you do the wrong thing by the insurer, then you might get away with it, at least for a time. You won't lose any of your NCD, amd if you switch insurers between accident and them finding out then you never will lose any NCD and you probably won't suffer that big first year hike in premiums either.
It's arse about face. I want to see excesses being reduced to £0 for notification within n hours of an accident, irrespective of fault as a reward for the right behaviour.
TankRizzo said:
What's the rough cost for repairing a bit of Armco? Is it comparable to what the Nurburgring charges?
Not really. You need lane closures, which you may need 2 of, one for each direction, if it's in the centre. Bear in mind that needs 2 TM vehicles at least, crew of probably 4, working overnight. Then you have to actually fix the barrier, again at night, which is a separate crew. This is a dirty, dangerous and anti-social job, so not minimum wage.Then they have had to track you down, deal with insurance and so on, and I expect you will get to pay for that too.
It's building up pretty quickly, and the HA are of the view that the taxpayer shouldn't pick up any of the tab.
TooMany2cvs said:
Did you expect the armco pixies would rock up in the middle of the night and magically mend (for free, of course) the barrier you trashed?
Nope - but as i said - i was in a state of shock, and was in the back of an ambulance before i had time to survey any damage. I genuinely assumed there wasn't any damage to the barrier.covboy said:
How did you think the damage to your car happened ?
I scraped down the barrier btw - not directly into it. Damage to my car was not horrendous - big scrapes across many panels = expensive to repair. Thought the barrier would have been fine - they are pretty sturdy. desolate said:
Or you could settle the claim yourself. Just do the maths.
Cheers - this would be done direct with HA? I have already paid HA for recovery and storage charges - they did not mention barrier repair.I would have happily pay this direct had they contacted me. I'm assuming their policy is to claim straight form insurer. But i did not know there was damaged suffered. Didn't really fancy hanging about the central reservation for too long really.
TankRizzo said:
What's the rough cost for repairing a bit of Armco? Is it comparable to what the Nurburgring charges?
Hope not! Im sure i'll be able to tell you shortly enough...andyc11 said:
It's no biggy, just advise them that as you didn't claim you weren't aware of the need to declare it, but now understand that it's ANY accident or claim you've been involved in that you need to declare. Chances are will see about a 10% hike in premium regardless of whether you protected your bonus or not.
Not claiming on a policy after an accident does not mean you've not had the accident - this is what the insurers want to know.
Cheers Andy for the helpful response. If i only come away with a 10% increase i'll be surprised - fingers crossed. Not claiming on a policy after an accident does not mean you've not had the accident - this is what the insurers want to know.
Soov535 said:
You could be in a tricky position.
How long ago was the accident?
How long ago was the accident?
Early Jan
ging84 said:
I would own up, say you were not aware of any 3rd party damage so did not report it.
You could of course deny it, as although hato might have checked video and identified your car, that doesn't mean you were driving.
I could have been someone else legally driving your car with their own insurance, or even you driving on business covered by an employers policy.
The problem with this is if you were to push that angle, you might find yourself looking at a hit and run charge.
Yeah i'll be doing the former. Don't much fancy the latter. You could of course deny it, as although hato might have checked video and identified your car, that doesn't mean you were driving.
I could have been someone else legally driving your car with their own insurance, or even you driving on business covered by an employers policy.
The problem with this is if you were to push that angle, you might find yourself looking at a hit and run charge.
LoonR1 said:
If you do the right thing and inform your insurer early on about a claim, then your reward is a loss of part of your NCD (unless protected), a hike in premiums and a bit of hassle.
Exactly. Had i come forward and reported, my premiums would have gone up massively, as even though there was no "claim" - i needed to add that i have been in an accident to my insurance for the next 5 years. This would have added a large amount.So i decided that - as there was only my car involved - it would be worthwhile paying all costs privately. In hindsight they should have been informed regardless of whether i claimed or not...
Would have obviously come out of this alot better if i had put in a claim as i have now paid all recovery + storage + wrote off my car at a loss in the hopes of not affecting insurance.
trowelhead said:
TooMany2cvs said:
Did you expect the armco pixies would rock up in the middle of the night and magically mend (for free, of course) the barrier you trashed?
Nope - but as i said - i was in a state of shock, and was in the back of an ambulance before i had time to survey any damage. I genuinely assumed there wasn't any damage to the barrier.trowelhead said:
I scraped down the barrier btw - not directly into it. Damage to my car was not horrendous - big scrapes across many panels = expensive to repair. Thought the barrier would have been fine - they are pretty sturdy.
Those barriers did their job.Just like the panels in modern cars, they are designed to have destruction points in order to perform correctly.
IIRC what happens if you hit the barrier at an angle like that, they are designed to deform so that the horizontal barrier can 'ping' off the bolts that hold it to the vertical posts.
The effect is that the barrier just ends up like a very long elastic band, so it pings you back into the road.
The downside to that is if that system is damaged, even from what looks like a minor incident, the barrier will not perform the same way. Of course the outcome of a crash in terms of safety where a car is kept in the carriageway as oppose to going through a barrier into oncoming traffic are very different.
The cost would like be a few grand and up. The reason I know this was a friend was in a similar position, where he went over a diesel spill and span into a barrier. He drove home, a bit shaken, only to find the police at his house holding up his back numberplate which remained at the scene...
I'd own up and tell the truth. You'll pay more on your insurance. However, if you lie and get found out, and end up with an insurance policy getting cancelled through lying, then say goodbye to using the internet for getting the cheapest car insurance quote.
kapiteinlangzaam said:
desolate said:
OP - Why didn't you just buy Third Party Only Insurance?
Fully comp is often cheaper than TPFT or TP only.It certainly was the last time I had a UK registered car (and by a big margin too).
Thanks.
IanA2 said:
Could one of our resident Insurance Gurus explain why Comp Ins is now charged pretty much the same as TPF&T. Many moons ago there was a pretty significant price differential which, as I understand it, is no longer the case.
Thanks.
The biggest cost of any claim for an insurer is the third party element. Your damage to your behicle is a factored in fixed maximum costs, whereas the TP can theoretically be an infinite cost. The later an I surer knows about a claim, the less it can do to mitigate and control the TP costs. With FC insurance you have an incentive to ring the surer so that they can fix your car am da s such are aware of the claim and the potential TP claims. Whereas with TPFT or TPO policies you have no reason to ring your insurer, as your damage is not covered on your policy. Thanks.
LoonR1 said:
IanA2 said:
Could one of our resident Insurance Gurus explain why Comp Ins is now charged pretty much the same as TPF&T. Many moons ago there was a pretty significant price differential which, as I understand it, is no longer the case.
Thanks.
The biggest cost of any claim for an insurer is the third party element. Your damage to your vehicle is a factored in fixed maximum costs, whereas the TP can theoretically be an infinite cost. The later an Insurer knows about a claim, the less it can do to mitigate and control the TP costs. With FC insurance you have an incentive to ring the Insurer so that they can fix your car and as such are aware of the claim and the potential TP claims. Whereas with TPFT or TPO policies you have no reason to ring your insurer, as your damage is not covered on your policy. Thanks.
andygo said:
Well as the insurance company are involved now, why don't you try and claim for your expenses you have already paid to the HA plus the cost of your car? They will no doubt tell you to go away, but no doubt there will be an expert along soon to advise...
Car has already been sold to co part for scrap so can't claim as far as I'm aware. May be able to claim for HA costs...IanA2 said:
Thanks, that makes sense. But why did it used to be cheaper? Underwriters getting smarter in human factors analysis?
Third party claims were limited to sensible damage and injury was only when people really suffered, plus car hire was sensible too. Now a simple rear end tap is a potential £30,000 claim. Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff