17yr old's insurance increase after a claim ?

[Dan_The_Man]

Mates kid was knocked off recently at 10mph, other party admitted responsibility and there were witnesses. Bike was trashed but it's only a £600 125 bike, and if they put a claim in then the next round of premiums (on car & bike) for someone aged 17 will I presume be mental. The other car was hardly marked and the owner is not fussed about repairs so I think everyone is in half a mind to put it down to bad luck and just buy another bike.
Has anyone else had experience of a 17yr old and what the increase in premiums were after a claim should they go that route ?

[trickywoo]

It will be higher but I don’t think crazy especially with a low claim value.

Only way to find out is to get quotes.

[Krikkit]

I'd get the car driver to contribute to the bike and move on, considering you'd have to declare it for 5 years at least.

[Marquezs Stabilisers]

Krikkit said:

I'd get the car driver to contribute to the bike and move on, considering you'd have to declare it for 5 years at least.

Yes, his increase in premiums as it was his fault has to be considered. A grand should do the job to cover a new bike and a new helmet.

[silentbrown]

I'd claim against the other party's insurance.

The incident will be logged on the kids insurance, but his NCD isn't affected, and he's not paying any excess. (And legally, you should disclose the incident to your insurer regardless.)

[Panamax]

Dan_The_Man said:

I think everyone is in half a mind to put it down to bad luck and just buy another bike.

Sounds sensible to me.

[black-k1]

silentbrown said:

I'd claim against the other party's insurance.

The incident will be logged on the kids insurance, but his NCD isn't affected, and he's not paying any excess. (And legally, you should disclose the incident to your insurer regardless.)

My recommendation is definitely don't do this unless pretty much all other options are no-goes. As soon as insurance gets involved, regardless of fault and regardless of cost, premiums for all involved will go up! You may still get NCD but that will be a small discount on a much bigger starting number.

If you can settle amicably with the other driver then that's the way to do it. It sounds like a small contribution towards bike repairs would be reasonable for all involved.

[Dog Star]

I’m 57 and my insurance is cheap, but I wouldn’t be claiming on something under a grand at minimum. The uptick in premiums across six vehicles would really add up .

There are very few underwriters in the motorcycle market and what I have found is that the slightest thing now they will st themselves about - stuff that has zero/negligible effect on car policies. A simple SP30 saw me getting hit with about 20%.

A17 year old: no way I’d claim as fault or not it’ll put it through the roof.

[silentbrown]

At the risk of being "that guy", failure to notify your insurer of an accident allows them to declare the policy void from inception if they find out. And you've got to keep consistently lying to them (and other insurers, on car and bike applications) for the next five years.

I wouldn't be happy telling a 17-year old that it's OK to lie on insurance applications.

Also, if the bike's totalled you're going to have to notify them of a change of vehicle anyway, which may well set some warning lights flashing.

[black-k1]

silentbrown said:

At the risk of being "that guy", failure to notify your insurer of an accident allows them to declare the policy void from inception if they find out. And you've got to keep consistently lying to them (and other insurers, on car and bike applications) for the next five years.

I wouldn't be happy telling a 17-year old that it's OK to lie on insurance applications.

Also, if the bike's totalled you're going to have to notify them of a change of vehicle anyway, which may well set some warning lights flashing.

I understand what you're saying but do you notify them if you scrape the bumper on the wall of the garage? Do you notify them if you nudge the gate post pulling out of a friends drive? Do the insurance company expect you to notify them of such events?

Assuming you don't then it's fair to say that the insurance companies don't get told of every event and it's not considered lying in not telling them in some circumstances. They'd need to show that not telling them was unreasonable.

[silentbrown]

black-k1 said:

I understand what you're saying but do you notify them if you scrape the bumper on the wall of the garage? Do you notify them if you nudge the gate post pulling out of a friends drive? Do the insurance company expect you to notify them of such events?

I'd hope not, but.... Policy wording is usually that you must notify if "YOU or any driver insured to drive any CAR insured on YOUR policy is involved in any incident which could give rise to a claim no matter how trivial the incident".

In the OP's case it's a written-off bike - rather more significant than a scratched bumper - and there's always the risk that the other party tries to claim on their policy after all, or for whiplash, or..., or...

[Dog Star]

silentbrown said:

Also, if the bike's totalled you're going to have to notify them of a change of vehicle anyway, which may well set some warning lights flashing.

Ahahah you really are “that guy”.

A bike like that could be scrapped or changed for any reason. The engine seized.

Just about everyone will have had a trivial incident that’s resulted in a broken light or scraped bumper. Nobody is telling their insurance - and while insurance companies insist on being such rapacious tts about it I don’t blame them.

I can imagine - going by the book - having to tell an insurer about every time I’ve fell off while riding my dirt bike on legal byways (ie roads)

“Any accidents, no matter how trivial, Mister DS?”
“Yes, I fell off 57 times last year. Hurt my thumb”
“OK, that’ll be ninety gazillion pounds, please”.

[black-k1]

silentbrown said:

....

In the OP's case it's a written-off bike - rather more significant than a scratched bumper

...

Cost wise, on some cars, against a £600 bike, I'd argue that!!!

Edited by black-k1 on Thursday 19th June 17:24

[Time4another]

With them being 17 I'd be tempted to take it on the chin. Despite it being their fault, it will still put a slight increase on his premiums and declaring it for the 5yrs.

[Dog Star]

Time4another said:

With them being 17 I'd be tempted to take it on the chin. Despite it being their fault, it will still put a slight increase on his premiums and declaring it for the 5yrs.

“slight”?

If I had time I’d try running this through a premium calculator, 17 year old with and without a claim. I suspect the impact will be horrific.

[Leptons]

silentbrown said:

At the risk of being "that guy", failure to notify your insurer of an accident allows them to declare the policy void from inception if they find out. And you've got to keep consistently lying to them (and other insurers, on car and bike applications) for the next five years.

I wouldn't be happy telling a 17-year old that it's OK to lie on insurance applications.

Also, if the bike's totalled you're going to have to notify them of a change of vehicle anyway, which may well set some warning lights flashing.

Jesus, I bet you’re triple boosted and stayed home too.

fk insurance companies, you think statistically a kid who’s been knocked off once already is going to get knocked off again? I bet he’s hyper aware of other idiots from this point onwards.

I dropped my scooter on some wet leaves when I was 16, avoided them like the plague after that.

[black-k1]

So, I plugged some details into Confused.com to get quotes for an 18year old on a 125 with 1 years NCD in rural Suffolk (where I live) who had just passed their test. I only noted the cheapest quote as (for FC) the next quote was almost £1500 more expensive before I even added a claim.

The results were:

No accidents – no costs
FC - £859.53
TPF&T £607.71

1 accident – no fault £600 cost
FC - £911.84
TPF&T £634,84

[Time4another]

Dog Star said:

slight ?

If I had time I d try running this through a premium calculator, 17 year old with and without a claim. I suspect the impact will be horrific.

black-k1 said:

So, I plugged some details into Confused.com to get quotes for an 18year old on a 125 with 1 years NCD in rural Suffolk (where I live) who had just passed their test. I only noted the cheapest quote as (for FC) the next quote was almost £1500 more expensive before I even added a claim.

The results were:

No accidents no costs
FC - £859.53
TPF&T £607.71

1 accident no fault £600 cost
FC - £911.84
TPF&T £634,84

£50 = slight

[black-k1]

Time4another said:

£50 = slight

Not huge but we need to remember:

1. It'll very likely be more for a bigger bike - who wants to stay on a 125?
2. It'll apply for 5 years
3. There will also be an increase in any car insurance applied for - for 5 years.
4. The quote was obtained for a very low cost rural area and included commuting, but not business use, so no riding from one work site to another.

[Dan_The_Man]

Appreciate all the feedback, having spoken to them and seeing photos of the bike, it seems like they are leaning towards accepting a contribution towards repairs from the car driver (who would have had to pay an excess anyway) and fix it up themselves as a project. Things like fairings, handlebars, indicators etc are available online and they don't mind if some of the parts are second hand from a breakers so I reckon it will work out best that way, keep it simple and affordable. Right or wrong I'm sure plenty of bikers have dropped a bike and fixed it themselves without going through insurance.