Why your insurance costs are so high
Discussion
Background - had a no fault incident. Young kid ran into the back of the family bus. Admitted liability immediately. Very straight forward.
3 days later, a hire car arrives. It's not a replacement for the E63 AMG (sadly) but a Volvo V90 estate.
At just shy of £600 / day.
Cue me trying to get someone at the insurer to send an engineer out to inspect my car. That takes a week.
It's a 20-30mph rear end shunt - assessment.... total loss. How is beyond me. I drove the car home.
4 days later they then come back with a daft valuation figure (around £4k below market). I remind them that by law they are required to make me financially whole under a no fault claim and there is just one comparable car on the market (year and spec). One. I provide a link to said car, which is in line with market and just under what I paid 12 months ago. That should make life easy.
Apparently not.
It's another 7-10 days for the engineer to review his assessment. At £600 per day for the hire car. We're nearing the end of week 2 now and nobody seems particularly bothered..,. because it's not their money. Or their car. Or their inconvenience.
Sp if you're wondering why your premiums have gone up 50%, the pervading attitudes above might have something to do with it...
3 days later, a hire car arrives. It's not a replacement for the E63 AMG (sadly) but a Volvo V90 estate.
At just shy of £600 / day.
Cue me trying to get someone at the insurer to send an engineer out to inspect my car. That takes a week.
It's a 20-30mph rear end shunt - assessment.... total loss. How is beyond me. I drove the car home.
4 days later they then come back with a daft valuation figure (around £4k below market). I remind them that by law they are required to make me financially whole under a no fault claim and there is just one comparable car on the market (year and spec). One. I provide a link to said car, which is in line with market and just under what I paid 12 months ago. That should make life easy.
Apparently not.
It's another 7-10 days for the engineer to review his assessment. At £600 per day for the hire car. We're nearing the end of week 2 now and nobody seems particularly bothered..,. because it's not their money. Or their car. Or their inconvenience.
Sp if you're wondering why your premiums have gone up 50%, the pervading attitudes above might have something to do with it...
There is another reason (in addition to all of the above).
I had a no fault claim in September where my car was also written off - a 'biggy' on the A1M.
Despite us both being fine (though attended to by air ambulance paramedics on the hard shoulder) I had a firm of lawyers on the phone the very next day encouraging me to make a claim for personal injuries - I explained we were absolutely fine and his response was - well you never know and you have 3 years to initiate a claim. It was a clear attempt to encourage a spurious claim in my view.
I had a no fault claim in September where my car was also written off - a 'biggy' on the A1M.
Despite us both being fine (though attended to by air ambulance paramedics on the hard shoulder) I had a firm of lawyers on the phone the very next day encouraging me to make a claim for personal injuries - I explained we were absolutely fine and his response was - well you never know and you have 3 years to initiate a claim. It was a clear attempt to encourage a spurious claim in my view.
Cactussed said:
Background - had a no fault incident. Young kid ran into the back of the family bus. Admitted liability immediately. Very straight forward.
3 days later, a hire car arrives. It's not a replacement for the E63 AMG (sadly) but a Volvo V90 estate.
At just shy of £600 / day.
Cue me trying to get someone at the insurer to send an engineer out to inspect my car. That takes a week.
It's a 20-30mph rear end shunt - assessment.... total loss. How is beyond me. I drove the car home.
4 days later they then come back with a daft valuation figure (around £4k below market). I remind them that by law they are required to make me financially whole under a no fault claim and there is just one comparable car on the market (year and spec). One. I provide a link to said car, which is in line with market and just under what I paid 12 months ago. That should make life easy.
Apparently not.
It's another 7-10 days for the engineer to review his assessment. At £600 per day for the hire car. We're nearing the end of week 2 now and nobody seems particularly bothered..,. because it's not their money. Or their car. Or their inconvenience.
Sp if you're wondering why your premiums have gone up 50%, the pervading attitudes above might have something to do with it...
Been saying this for a long time3 days later, a hire car arrives. It's not a replacement for the E63 AMG (sadly) but a Volvo V90 estate.
At just shy of £600 / day.
Cue me trying to get someone at the insurer to send an engineer out to inspect my car. That takes a week.
It's a 20-30mph rear end shunt - assessment.... total loss. How is beyond me. I drove the car home.
4 days later they then come back with a daft valuation figure (around £4k below market). I remind them that by law they are required to make me financially whole under a no fault claim and there is just one comparable car on the market (year and spec). One. I provide a link to said car, which is in line with market and just under what I paid 12 months ago. That should make life easy.
Apparently not.
It's another 7-10 days for the engineer to review his assessment. At £600 per day for the hire car. We're nearing the end of week 2 now and nobody seems particularly bothered..,. because it's not their money. Or their car. Or their inconvenience.
Sp if you're wondering why your premiums have gone up 50%, the pervading attitudes above might have something to do with it...
12 months ago had a small battery area fire on a2011 535d Touring - completely immaculate condition
I always carry a fire extinguisher in all of our cars so it was put out very quickly, no paint damage, no trim damage, needed a new battery junction box (available within 24 hours from BMW) and battery - car still started and ran, no warning lights, all a bit bizzare
Naively I called the insurer - within 24 hours there was a brand new Arteon Shooting Brake delivered, despite me saying something like a Corsa would be more than sufficient
No inspection carried out, heard nothing for 2 weeks then advised it was a total loss
Offer was laughable, refused (initially) to look at the many adverts of similar cars (some younger, some older, some lower mileage, some higher mileage etc)
Said if I was not happy with offer I could go through their complaint process and then the ombudsman - no way was I waiting that long so advised I would see them in court.
Within 24 hours engineer on the phone saying they had made a "mistake" with their offer and came up with something within £500 of what I was expecting - accepted their offer
Their hire car sat outside my house for a further 10 days after they had paid out (therefore ending the hire car period), my car took a further 3 weeks to be collected
Car could easily have been put back on the road for a few hundred quid but they were simply not interested
Andy665 said:
Been saying this for a long time
12 months ago had a small battery area fire on a2011 535d Touring - completely immaculate condition
I always carry a fire extinguisher in all of our cars so it was put out very quickly, no paint damage, no trim damage, needed a new battery junction box (available within 24 hours from BMW) and battery - car still started and ran, no warning lights, all a bit bizzare
Naively I called the insurer - within 24 hours there was a brand new Arteon Shooting Brake delivered, despite me saying something like a Corsa would be more than sufficient
No inspection carried out, heard nothing for 2 weeks then advised it was a total loss
Offer was laughable, refused (initially) to look at the many adverts of similar cars (some younger, some older, some lower mileage, some higher mileage etc)
Said if I was not happy with offer I could go through their complaint process and then the ombudsman - no way was I waiting that long so advised I would see them in court.
Within 24 hours engineer on the phone saying they had made a "mistake" with their offer and came up with something within £500 of what I was expecting - accepted their offer
Their hire car sat outside my house for a further 10 days after they had paid out (therefore ending the hire car period), my car took a further 3 weeks to be collected
Car could easily have been put back on the road for a few hundred quid but they were simply not interested
I expect that is going to reflect my upcoming experience... Its criminal really. 12 months ago had a small battery area fire on a2011 535d Touring - completely immaculate condition
I always carry a fire extinguisher in all of our cars so it was put out very quickly, no paint damage, no trim damage, needed a new battery junction box (available within 24 hours from BMW) and battery - car still started and ran, no warning lights, all a bit bizzare
Naively I called the insurer - within 24 hours there was a brand new Arteon Shooting Brake delivered, despite me saying something like a Corsa would be more than sufficient
No inspection carried out, heard nothing for 2 weeks then advised it was a total loss
Offer was laughable, refused (initially) to look at the many adverts of similar cars (some younger, some older, some lower mileage, some higher mileage etc)
Said if I was not happy with offer I could go through their complaint process and then the ombudsman - no way was I waiting that long so advised I would see them in court.
Within 24 hours engineer on the phone saying they had made a "mistake" with their offer and came up with something within £500 of what I was expecting - accepted their offer
Their hire car sat outside my house for a further 10 days after they had paid out (therefore ending the hire car period), my car took a further 3 weeks to be collected
Car could easily have been put back on the road for a few hundred quid but they were simply not interested
kambites said:
It's odd isn't it. Insurance is such a competitive market, with customers trying to shave off every penny, that it really makes no sense that the insurers are willing to pay £600 a day for a hum-drum hire car which should be a tenth of that.
The insurers are in cahoots with the repair shops that inflate repair values, and with the rental companies.The naval themed one's approved insurer bumped the price of the repair on my car up to just below 60% of its market value, to replace a rear door skin after an idiot van driver decided lanes don't apply to him on roundabouts and stoved the offside rear on my car.
The bodyshop is in the same group as the insurer, and has some common company officers.
It is in their best financial interests to bump UP the cost of repairs beyond market rates so that they can claw money out of other insurers. Same trick with inflated prices for car hire.
Just reinsured my family car today, last year, as a new to me vehicle, with no NCB it was £200, this year, using a NCB of over 9 years, from the old car I've now sold £245. (I kept the old car on the road and insured until I decided which I wanted to keep so had to start afresh last year).
Some years ago (probably 12), someone backed into the back of my parked Porsche GT3 and shunted it into the barriers in front. The damage appeared fairly superficial, but I rang the insurers who advised me not to drive it in case one of the radiators was damage, so I abandoned the car and got a lift home. The same day, I had a call from the insurers to advise that they couldn’t get a like for like car, so offered me either a Vantage V8, a 911 convertible, so I plumped for the Vantage, which arrived the next day.
Long story short, I had the Vantage for several months, while the GT3 was repaired. Total cost for the claim was over £45k, largely made up of the hire cost.
Long story short, I had the Vantage for several months, while the GT3 was repaired. Total cost for the claim was over £45k, largely made up of the hire cost.
Had my renewal email last week, to tell me it has gone up from £330 to £380 (no changes other than another year NCB).
Then I told them I needed to add an SP30 in August and it went up to £557
Had a look around the comparison sites, and the cheapest premiums were from companies I've never heard of...with poor ratings...but even then they were asking £1000+
Just waiting for the renewal on the other car to come through in January to see if there's a further increase on the 30% extra from last year (was £350 for 2021/22 and £465 for 2022/23) - with zero changes other than extra year NCB.
Then I told them I needed to add an SP30 in August and it went up to £557
Had a look around the comparison sites, and the cheapest premiums were from companies I've never heard of...with poor ratings...but even then they were asking £1000+
Just waiting for the renewal on the other car to come through in January to see if there's a further increase on the 30% extra from last year (was £350 for 2021/22 and £465 for 2022/23) - with zero changes other than extra year NCB.
OP - If your no-fault claim is being handled by an accident management company, it's possible that this is a tactic to maximise their profit.
They will bill the at-fault party's insurance the extortionate fee for the courtesy car.
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/c...
They will bill the at-fault party's insurance the extortionate fee for the courtesy car.
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/c...
anonymous said:
[redacted]
It’ll be listed on the rental agreement. And then when you see the final invoice at the end it tells you the full breakdown. Whether that’s actually what they paid is another matter!Someone drove into my wife last year resulting in mostly superficial damage. But a new wheel, two tyres, a bumper and a suspension arm came to £43,000. The hire car made up about £10,000 of that. The case is still ongoing fourteen months later with the other driver claiming she drove into him by pulling out of a side road (she did nothing of the sort!). Fortunately it’s all on CCTV but it seems like blatant lying doesn’t get you in any trouble at all in court.
The whole system is a disgrace.
I got out of the industry over a decade ago and it was bad then.
Some of the hire costs alone for 'luxury' credit hire, repair and storage were astronomical.
Surprisingly, you'd get the odd person clued up on the s
t show and refuse credit repair/hire on non-fault claims. Good folk, I guess.
We've been led into it unfortunately. Can only blame our collective selves.
Some of the hire costs alone for 'luxury' credit hire, repair and storage were astronomical.
Surprisingly, you'd get the odd person clued up on the s
t show and refuse credit repair/hire on non-fault claims. Good folk, I guess.We've been led into it unfortunately. Can only blame our collective selves.
The fact people are happy to facilitate this rip off boggles my mind.
When I had a non-fault claim I phoned the other insurers and got put in an enterprise rental car for £24 a day. Guess it got me a 'lesser' car, but I'd rather that than let some make a ridiculous fortune off my misfortune.
When I had a non-fault claim I phoned the other insurers and got put in an enterprise rental car for £24 a day. Guess it got me a 'lesser' car, but I'd rather that than let some make a ridiculous fortune off my misfortune.
Had a no fault accident last month, got T boned.
Driver admitted liability, his insurer contacted me within 24 hours offering me a hire car, I declined it, did not need it.
Been left countless messages by an accident handling business, declined every call and handled it all myself without issue at all.
I'm not letting people make money for no good reason
Driver admitted liability, his insurer contacted me within 24 hours offering me a hire car, I declined it, did not need it.
Been left countless messages by an accident handling business, declined every call and handled it all myself without issue at all.
I'm not letting people make money for no good reason
We were rear-ended on the M6 about a year ago. Young guy behind simply driving too closely and not paying enough attention, traffic ahead came to an abrupt halt and the end result was the chap ramming his Golf into our Volvo boot.
Despite his car being written off, our Volvo held up well, only requiring a new bumper, crash bar and a repainted tailgate. However it took almost two months for the bodyshop to get it booked in and repaired. Throughout the whole process it we kept being asked if we wanted a hire car; the answer was a flat no. A) we have a spare car anyway and B) I didn't want the cost of a hire car inflating the claim and the Volvo being declared a financial loss.
It then took, despite clear dashcam evidence of the crash and the at-fault third party insurance trying to contest the claim, 10 months for it to finally be settled. For a simple non-fault rear end claim.
It shouldn't be that hard, the glacial pace of progress felt much like solicitors dragging their heels when trying to buy a house. 9-5 paper pushers who just don't care, useless cretins. I avoid using insurance companies wherever possible, they are nobody's friend.
Despite his car being written off, our Volvo held up well, only requiring a new bumper, crash bar and a repainted tailgate. However it took almost two months for the bodyshop to get it booked in and repaired. Throughout the whole process it we kept being asked if we wanted a hire car; the answer was a flat no. A) we have a spare car anyway and B) I didn't want the cost of a hire car inflating the claim and the Volvo being declared a financial loss.
It then took, despite clear dashcam evidence of the crash and the at-fault third party insurance trying to contest the claim, 10 months for it to finally be settled. For a simple non-fault rear end claim.
It shouldn't be that hard, the glacial pace of progress felt much like solicitors dragging their heels when trying to buy a house. 9-5 paper pushers who just don't care, useless cretins. I avoid using insurance companies wherever possible, they are nobody's friend.
I was sweating (sort of…) as both renewals were looming however current insurer wanted £361 (up from £220) and weren’t remotely interested in reassessing until I found the same cover for £188. So they offered to do it for £280 instead. So, insured elsewhere for £188.
Cool story etc etc…
Cool story etc etc…
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