Car insurance doubled after repair

[justace]

My car insurance is Fully Comprehensive and full no claims bonus protected.

 

It was recently damaged by someone unknown who hit the back end while parked, then drove off unseen.

The bumper did its job and took the impact but was cracked beyond repair.

 

The insurance company arranged repairs without any problems.

 

My renewal has just been received which is almost twice last years amount.

When I called to point out my level of cover and that I didn't expect an increase, they said a loading had been applied.

When they said that it was necessary to cover repair costs as there was no third party for them to claim from, I asked about the 10 years plus when I've paid premiums amounting to thousands of pounds without any claim ........ there was no reply.

 

Repair costs were given on renewal letter as £400, I'm not sure if that includes the £100 excess I paid.

It seems they are in a 'can't lose' business. Their risk certainly isn't increased because someone hit my parked car.

 

Does this loading stay in place until they have recovered all costs?

 

Had I known this would happen, I would've had a new bumper fitted by my local garage for around £200 but I thought that was what I was paying insurance for ......... silly me.

[unclebulgaria67]

As you have found, making a claim on your policy, even with no claims discount protection, can cost you. The Insurers will have applied a loading to the gross premium, which will probably stay on there for 3 years, but should reduce at each renewal. After the 3 years, if you stayed with them, they would have claimed the cost of the claim back from YOU.

 

Not all Insurers will increase the premium in these circumstances to the same extent, so it is worth shopping around. I had a claim many years ago with Direct Line and I cannot remember them penalising me this much. But times have changed. Very few motor Insurers, actually make any profit, as the number and value of claims has significantly increased over the last 10 years.

[Mwynci]

I can't offer any advice about the premium figs etc. If you have lost ncb or wanted to retain a free claims history you can ask the insurer if you can reimburse the repair costs, not sure if this will be cheaper than the premium increase over the next couple of years.

[biggeorge]

Tell them where to go and get your insurance somewhere else, cheaper.

Friend of mine had similar experience, Insurance went up by £280 from previous year and this

was without any claims been made.

Shopped around and found cheaper insurance by £350, Insurance company loss for been greedy.

 

George

[buzby]

By going elsewhere you need to admit the previous claim, so it may not be as cost-effective as any notice of a previous claim kicks in the loading mechanism making quotations higher than without.

[biggeorge]

That may be so but could still be cheaper than double what you were paying.

Have you checked any quotes from anywhere else yet even with your claim it could still be lower.

 

Same old story again Banks,Insurance,Credit Cards all taking the p to good customers who have

been good paying customers for years.

 

I was a Halifax customer for over 5 years and not once did they offer me any good services, overdraft

etc and even had the cheek to charge £38 for a £2 failed debit.

New bank account now with overdraft, cheque book card and £5 fees for anything failed.

By the way its a Natwest Bank Account.

 

You never know whats better until you look.

 

George

[justace]

Thanks for all your comments.

 

Not all Insurers will increase the premium in these circumstances to the same extent, so it is worth shopping around. I had a claim many years ago with Direct Line and I cannot remember them penalising me this much. But times have changed. Very few motor Insurers, actually make any profit, as the number and value of claims has significantly increased over the last 10 years.

 

The range of alternative quotes is staggering, varying by £3,000 for a similar level of cover.

Unfortunately, the lowest so far is around renewal quote, so it looks like I'll have to reluctantly accept it.

 

It is particularly annoying that I'm subsidising claims which had nothing to do with me as they've obviously made huge profits on my premiums.

It really should be based on my circumstances and history.

 

The way it is now, I pay for the policy and if any claim is made it's recovered from a third party or me.

At a low average of £400 per year, over 10 years I've paid £4,000, without any outlay by them.

When I'm clearly not to blame, I'd expect a little bit of that back.

Where is their risk?

 

Claims information is shared amongst insurers and not declaring would make any policy void.

They really have it sewn up between them.