Car insurance/company car

[24valve]

I wonder if someone can advise.

I drive a 2018 mercedes company car (bought by the company, not leased), and last week on the M4, something flew up and smashed the panoramic sunroof and apparently did damage to the metal bits of the roof.

Its been taken to Mercedes in swindon (as that was nearest at the time of the incident) and they have analysed it and sent the quote to the company insurers (in this case Allianz).

All good so far, and I understand the quote comes in a 9k and we are waiting for insurance approval etc.

No one else was involved with the incident - no one is harmed, just a damaged car (with no reason other that a flailing stone or rock or something having caused the damage

However, I was talking to a colleague a moment ago, and he's made me worried that even though its a company car and company insurance (its not my company...I'm just an employee), it goes on a record for your own insurance and therefore when I come to renew any insurance on my own cars (one of which I'll be doing in august) its likely that my own insurance will increase because of this.

That doesnt seem very fair to me. I can understand it if it was my fault - perhaps driving badly, or fallen asleep and caused damage, but thats not the case and no-one is to blame.

Does he have his facts correct?

Cheers

24valve.

[Muzzer79]

When you renew your own insurance, you will be asked if you have been in an incident or accident in the last 12 months.

You will need to respond that you have, in a non-fault claim.

Your own insurance may therefore go up as a result - the algorithms work that, statistically, you are a higher risk.

Sucks, but it's the same for everyone. It's no different to any other non-fault claim - you are penalised as a result.

[mmm-five]

It sucks, but it's what happens.

Unless you're already in a high-risk group then it may not make a lot of difference to your premium. I had a £15k fault claim and mine went up £50 (on a £700 policy). You won't know how much until you revise your renewal quote.

Don't know how much of that was due to the claim or how much was due to the normal annual price increases merry-go-round (and gradually-increasing IPT), but a quick call and it was back down to the old price.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Muzzer79 said:

When you renew your own insurance, you will be asked if you have been in an incident or accident in the last 12 months.

Or five years!

My girlfriend was stationary at a roundabout. Third party drives into the rear of her car.

She is a (very) occasional driver of my car. I informed my insurers, and three were fine, but Allianz wanted £50 extra for my Suzuki SX4.

I've had to report the incident for 5 years.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

And..as for any muppet who suggests you don't declare it.

Is it worth risking saving a few quid (and that's all it is) to mortgaging the rest of your life if it goes wrong?

[24valve]

Hi All

thanks for all the replies - very interesting, and whilst nothing seems particularly fair, I think it would be better to declare what has happened as I am known as unlucky alf, so knowing my luck at the moment it would come back and bite me.

As it happens though, I just did some comparison quotes and declared my 6 points and this accident and my renewal quote doesnt appear to have gone up at all, and I've been able to make some further savings with breakdown etc, so its not as bad as I thought.

renewal on my 03 L322 4.4v8 is just shy of 340 quid fully comp with all that, so I'm not too upset.

Cheers again.

[rayny]

Muzzer79 said:

...

You will need to respond that you have, in a non-fault claim.

...:

I disagree -

It will have to go down as a fault claim, because the insurer will not be able to recover their outlay.

[24valve]

rayny said:

Muzzer79 said:

...

You will need to respond that you have, in a non-fault claim.

...:

I disagree -

It will have to go down as a fault claim, because the insurer will not be able to recover their outlay.

But surely they have, in the thousands of pounds we spend with the insurer over the years?

and just because the "incident" occurs and that there is no-one to blame, that shouldnt automatically mean its mine?

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

24valve said:

rayny said:

Muzzer79 said:

...

You will need to respond that you have, in a non-fault claim.

...:

I disagree -

It will have to go down as a fault claim, because the insurer will not be able to recover their outlay.

But surely they have, in the thousands of pounds we spend with the insurer over the years?

and just because the "incident" occurs and that there is no-one to blame, that shouldnt automatically mean its mine?

You don't say fault or non fault. Just tell them what happened.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

24valve said:

However, I was talking to a colleague a moment ago, and he's made me worried that even though its a company car and company insurance (its not my company...I'm just an employee), it goes on a record for your own insurance

He's wrong about that. He's talking about the CUE database, which logs all motor insurance claims, but it doesn't extend to fleet policies. So there will be no record of it on the database. You still need to declare it though.

And yes, it's a fault claim. For insurance purposes, there's non fault (100% recovery from a third party) of fault (less than 100% recovery from a third party).

[Steve57]

Sadly it goes down as a fault claim, only because they haven't claimed the loss from someone else.
I had a similar in 2016 ( yep still have to declare it) driving along a dual carriageway when mr TT decides to come past me at a rate of knots and hits the central reservation shooting debris across all three lanes and i have no option but to hope i don't collect him through the dust/debris. windscreen cracked and the front of my 6 month old Audi is peppered with chips/oil and dust. obviously stopped made sure all ok, before police arrive and take details etc. swap driver details with the police as both occupants are now being checked over in an ambulance and got on my way again.
£3k repair cost for complete front respray, new grille and windscreen but my insurance company didn't get anywhere chasing the third party for recovery ( i'm wondering if insured with the same company) i tried all sorts to get this looked into but got nowhere.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

24valve said:

However, I was talking to a colleague a moment ago, and he's made me worried that even though its a company car and company insurance (its not my company...I'm just an employee), it goes on a record for your own insurance and therefore when I come to renew any insurance on my own cars (one of which I'll be doing in august) its likely that my own insurance will increase because of this.

That doesnt seem very fair to me.

Insurance isn't fair, and nor should it be. Is it fair that someone with cancer can't buy life insurance, or if they can, has to pay miles over the odds. And can't go on holiday because they cannot afford the travel insurance? If it fair that young drivers pay a fortune for car insurance, and some pay much more than others because their parents chose to locate the family home in a city instead of somewhere rural?

It's got nothing to do with fairness, just risk and stats. If the stats ever show Leos have more claims than Virgos, then Leos will pay more.