Car Burning Insurance

[Jayho]

Hi Guys,

Just a quick Q.

A car on the same street as me was set on fire a couple of weeks ago, but i generally live in a very good postcode for insurance...

Just wondering, because of the car fire would that possibly increase my premium when i renew?

[Fastra]

Jayho said:

Hi Guys,

Just a quick Q.

A car on the same street as me was set on fire a couple of weeks ago, but i generally live in a very good postcode for insurance...

Just wondering, because of the car fire would that possibly increase my premium when i renew?

Why - you regretting it now??

[Jayho]

Fastra said:

Jayho said:

Hi Guys,

Just a quick Q.

A car on the same street as me was set on fire a couple of weeks ago, but i generally live in a very good postcode for insurance...

Just wondering, because of the car fire would that possibly increase my premium when i renew?

Why - you regretting it now??

lol no it wasn't me being a fire starter! I noticed it in the morning when i went to work, also saw that the car parked next to it had a lot of the body work melted...

Just wondering how much it can affect my insurance.

[stormrider2]

I doubt one incident will change your insurance, it'd be classed by frequency and severity of crimes etc surely?

Do you know if the fire was started deliberately?

[Jayho]

No idea, i'm not ruling out that possibility, although we live in a nice postcode, there's still a few dodgers around...

[SiH]

Don't forget it's not quite as simple as 'how many cars were set on fire in this area in the last 12 months' or however your insurance company measure these things. A lot of variables are taken into account, such as the likelihood of people claiming and also the average cost per claim. If you live in a nice area then people may be more likely to claim and if they have a nice car then the cost per claim will also be higher. When I moved from Surrey Quays (where there were quite a few cars stolen or burnt out) to Chelsea my insurance premium actually went up by about 15%. I questioned the insurance company as to why this was the case and they explained the bit about number of claims etc.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that a couple of burnt out cars will reduce your premium but I also wouldn't be too concerned about one or two incidents like this when there are so many other variables to take into account.

Next time get some marshmallows and have a cook-out, the burning plastic gives the marshmallow a certain spicyness!

[bazking69]

I wouldn't rule it out. Insurers use any factor to bump a premium and make an extra buck.