No fault accident and insurance

[david_s]

I have just renewed my wife's insurance on her Fiat Coupe and been charged an extra £50.00 for a no fault accident. The insurance company recovered all of their costs from the other drivers insurance but, apparently having someone drive into the back of your car whilst stationary at traffic lights makes you a higher risk driver! I can cancel the policy within 14 days and get a full refund, so if I can find cheaper I can have 2 weeks free insurance and then take my (her) business elsewhere.

Barstewards.

[planetdave]

It is a bit of a tt but statistically a non-fault claim points to you being a higher risk.

Effectively there are two kinds of accident.

type 1 - cow falls out of the sky and spanks your shiny. File under act of god.

type 2 - where you are viciously assaulted by another vehicle.

Acts of god are completely unavoidable

But coping with the antics of other drivers is a skill. eg you can always park in a quieter spot to minimise dings. Might be bloody inconvenient for you but there you go. Another eg - other party misses the give way at a crossroad and steams across a main road. A defensive driver may be further out to increase reaction time/visibility and might be going a jot slower to minimise stopping distance and avoid the plank whereas yer average driver goes blithely on their way taking pot luck as to whether blind matey tts you or not.

This story was brought to you be the letter 14457892 and the number you. Thank you for your attention.


And oh yes - insurers are barstewards

[david_s]

God knows I am the last one to defend my wife's driving, but stationary behind other cars at traffic lights gives little scope for defensive driving!

[dick dastardly]

Bunch of arse mate.

See my thread on it the other day:
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=206391

[planetdave]

david_s said:

God knows I am the last one to defend my wife's driving, but stationary behind other cars at traffic lights gives little scope for defensive driving!

But if she were psychic she could have been somewhere else. Now you know what to put as your profession at next renewal

[david_s]

If the original claim is intended to put you in the same position as you were before the accident perhaps you should be able to add an amount for increased premiums in years to come?

[mybrainhurts]

david_s said:

I have just renewed my wife's insurance on her Fiat Coupe and been charged an extra £50.00 for a no fault accident.

Are you sure this isn't a £50 PREMIUM for a separate policy covering your uninsured losses in case of a non-fault claim?

These are for claims managers and are quite useful for claiming a hire car and your excess from the other party.

My insurer offered such cover last week....

Only problem with that is that loads of claims managers offer the same service, free of charge... You just contact them after an accident and they get to work if they believe you were not at fault. They get their fees from the other party and by way of commission from the repairers.

DO NOT pay a premium for it....

[anniesdad]

mybrainhurts said:

You just contact them after an accident and they get to work if they believe you were not at fault. They get their fees from the other party and by way of commission from the repairers.

Ahem....sounds like my company actually!



By the way is it exactly £50.00 extra? To the penny? If so it does sound like non-fault LEI/hire car cover etc. If it's a premium load it will be a percentage, which is likely to be a figure including a few pennies.

>> Edited by anniesdad on Friday 16th September 16:49

[alloypearltam]

I used a non fault accident company recently called Helphire. They charged me £10 to take on the claim and gave me a like for like car. Actually they gave me a £40K Mercedes, which was rather nice.

I have to say it was completely hassle free.

[anniesdad]

alloypearltam said:

I used a non fault accident company recently called Helphire. They charged me £10 to take on the claim and gave me a like for like car. Actually they gave me a £40K Mercedes, which was rather nice. I have to say it was completely hassle free.

The £10.00 is a customer liability policy, so if the claim goes a bit pear, they don't come back to you to pay the hire charges. Instead one of Helphire's group of companies hands the hire charges over to Helphire instead of the at fault insurers.

[sparkythecat]

Hang on I'm getting a bit concerned here.

I was in stationary traffic in the car park of an open air market a few weeks ago and some dozy twonk chuffed up the back of me 5 series at little more than walking pace. She apologised and we exchanged names and addresses. 3 days later I get a letter from her insurers admitting liability and inviting me to have my car repaired at their expense. I take into my preferred bodyshop, get a quote and fax it to her insurers. They approve it, and sort me out a hire car while mines in the bodyshop. They do a good job and everyone's happy. I have not as yet mentioned the incident to my insurers.

So, am I right in understanding that at renewal time I have to tell my insurers of this incident and they will load my premium?

[david_s]

sparkythecat said:

Hang on I'm getting a bit concerned here. I was in stationary traffic in the car park of an open air market a few weeks ago and some dozy twonk chuffed up the back of me 5 series at little more than walking pace. She apologised and we exchanged names and addresses. 3 days later I get a letter from her insurers admitting liability and inviting me to have my car repaired at their expense. I take into my preferred bodyshop, get a quote and fax it to her insurers. They approve it, and sort me out a hire car while mines in the bodyshop. They do a good job and everyone's happy. I have not as yet mentioned the incident to my insurers. So, am I right in understanding that at renewal time I have to tell my insurers of this incident and they will load my premium?

Yes, if my experience is anything to go by. The increase in premium was due to the no-fault claim. It was not a voluntary payment for claims management, it was an increase in the cost of insurance. The premium went from £274 to £324 (still ridiculously cheap when you think of my wife in a 220 bhp 20 valve turbocharged car...). I asked the question very carefully several times, it is the policy of that group of companies to increase your premium following a no-fault accident even when the accident resulted in no loss to yourself or your insurance company.

[sparkythecat]

I have 3 motor insurance policies. Am I going to get a loading on all 3 or just on the one for the car that was bumped?

[Sheepy]

planetdave said:

And oh yes - insurers are barstewards

Got it in one! I was in a crash many years ago caused by a drunk driver (He hit a stationary queue of cars, I was second from the rear in a company pool car). Despite not suffering any loss (because I was driving under my works insurance), my own insurers increased my premiums because I'd been in an accident. Their response to my query was

quote_me_crappy said:

statistically, having been in one accident, you are more likely to be in another and are thus higher risk

I pointed out

rather_annoyed_sheepy said:

Statistically, having attempted to shaft me, you are unlikely to ever get my business again

Nine years on, and I've still never used them again

Sheepy