Insurance premiums after accident...

Insurance premiums after accident...

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mx5tom

Original Poster:

573 posts

173 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
quotequote all
I had a small crash last week. Pretty minor, sub-20mph, no one hurt, but my fault and a couple of grands worth of damage to the bike (visibly very little damage, but costs add up pretty quickly).

I'm claiming through insurance, which means losing my no claims and obviously having an at fault accident to declare. Not good! I'm naturally expecting my premium to skyrocket when it comes to renewal, but to get an idea I've done a few quotes on comparison sites to get a rough idea of just how much...

fk me.

If the quotes are anything to go by, it's going to jump from £300~ to over £2k. Basically uninsurable. As I said, I was expecting to pay a big chunk more than I did this year, probably a bit over double, but £2k?!

Are there any insurers that specialise in this kind of thing, that also don't show up on comparison sites? Trying to find some outcome to this that doesn't involve selling the bike when it comes to renewal time.

mx5tom

Original Poster:

573 posts

173 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
quotequote all
sc0tt said:
How does £300 make you unable to be insured?
Sorry, thought it was clear. My current premium, prior to the accident, was about £350. After having the accident, the premium (according to comparison sites) is going up to around £2k.

mx5tom

Original Poster:

573 posts

173 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
quotequote all
cbmotorsport said:
My bike insurance is a ticket to legality only. i don't think I'd ever claim off it. Just not worth it.
I'd hoped to treat it the same. But a £2.5k bill to repair my bike, as well as likely another £1k-2k for the van that I hit does (I thought!) make it worth it. Now looking at the increased premiums, if I had that money lying around it would actually make more sense to pay for all repairs and not notify insurers of the accident. That's not really a possibility for me though.

mx5tom

Original Poster:

573 posts

173 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
quotequote all
Unfortunately I've already informed the insurer of the accident, and after playing around with some quotes, it seems it makes more of a difference that I've had an accident rather than the fact that I claimed. So the deed is done in that respect...

The bike is mostly cosmetics, but a damaged radiator needs replacing which is about £600 plus labour, as well as a broken coolant reservoir (it got pushed back into the radiator, double damage). The rest, I think, is just cosmetic. About £1.8k in parts, and another £400-500 for labour.

I'll give Carol Nash a go, thanks. I've always just used comparison sites- as the prices have been really good (until now) I've had no real need to look elsewhere.

mx5tom

Original Poster:

573 posts

173 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
quotequote all
I tried Carol Nash... £3.6k for the year. :|

Don't get me wrong, I'll hold my hand up and say this is my fault, but to go from £300 to that seems crazy!

mx5tom

Original Poster:

573 posts

173 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
quotequote all
So I've had a chat with a few smaller companies, including BeMoto. It makes a bit more sense now. The reason for the *very* high quotes is that for my bike, most insurers insist on having at least 2 years NCD. Without it, they won't quote. That leaves the insurance companies that will quote, but at extortionate prices.

Makes sense, but it's a pretty st situation. Cheapest quote is still with the comparison sites.

mx5tom

Original Poster:

573 posts

173 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
quotequote all
Gavia said:
How many years NCD did you have before the accident? You're likely to only lose 2 years (from the normal max of 5) so you might be doing yourself a disservice with the quotes.

Have a look at your certificate, it should tell you how the NCD years are lost after a claim.
I had two years, so presumably back to 0. (Riding for 3 years, 2 years no claims due to swapping policies mid-term in the past)

mx5tom

Original Poster:

573 posts

173 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
quotequote all
Gavia said:
Yep, you're screwed. What bike have you got?
biggrin seems like it.

Yamaha MT-10. Was very reasonable to insure in the past, not so much now...

mx5tom

Original Poster:

573 posts

173 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
quotequote all
Dog Star said:
I wouldn't claim for 2K worth of damage unless a third party was involved and the claim was going to be made anyway. If you were doing it yourself and there are things that can't be readily seen or can be repaired and not replaced you'd be looking at a lot less than that anyway.
It's an awkward one. It's just under £2k damage to my bike excluding VAT (so, the quote I've given to the insurer), but if I was paying it myself, then add on 20%. Plus, as you say, I could just repair the essentials (about £1k~) to get it running and replace the rest over time (so not necessarily cheaper, but spread out over longer).

If it was just that, then it makes more sense to pay for it myself. But, there is a third party (I hit a van) and although the damage is fairly light, it's still replacing a rear light unit and repairing/replacing 3 panels. I don't have costs for that, but it's not going to be cheap. The driver was fine (it was low speed) but if they decide to start throwing around a whiplash claim, that would obviously screw things up even more. Added to the fact I think it was a company vehicle, I don't think they'd be open to settling it without going through insurance (but maybe I'm wrong on that).