Car insurance question

nvingo

Surely he's a lower risk as now the Police know where the thieves hide stolen bikes/or have apprehended them meaning fewer now operate in that area

pratty

Thanks for everyone's input and stories.

I'm just trying look at some quotes now and I'm still finding the wording used by the comaprison sites confusing and difficult. The main issue is the use of the word "claim".

Most initial questions are something like "Tell us about any incident/accidents or claims etc?" Which implies an accident may not involve a claim, but once you begin filling in the details there seems to be an assumption that a claim was made.

Go Compare offered a range of incident descriptions to select from and I was able to select "Incident - no claim", but that doesn't allow me to describe the incident as an accident or say it was my fault, and I am trying to be honest.

Compare The Market asks for "Motor accident or claim?" And everything is fine until it asks "What type of damage?"

The options are "Damaged - amount known", "No Damage", "Unknown", or "Write Off", with ho "help" info for that question.

I could put "Write off" as that's what my insurer wanted to do, but that's not what happened. Or I could put the price I paid for the repair, but if I choose "Damaged - amount known" it asks me to imput "the cost of the claim", but there was no claim. In the help section it says an "indication of the total cost of the incident" but there's no way to give that without also stating a claim was made.

The next question again refers to a claim being made asking "Was this claim made against your insurance policy, yes or no?" The "help" section says to answer yes if "you were the policy holder the claim was being made from". But again I did not make a claim, and answering either way would agree that a claim was made.

It's very frustrating, I want to enter the correct and honest information and avoid any potential insurance cancelation blacklisting, but I don't want to say I've made a claim when I've not.

ChuckMountain

Looking at all the common definitions an insurance claim is where you have asked for financial compensation in line with your insurance policy.

You might have started a claim, however, you have not completed the financial aspects of it, therefore, you do not have a complete claim.  You have an incident involving your bumper bar though and it is a reasonable amount of damage given you considered contacting your insurer.

They won't as anything that requires an interpretation of a text box will not easily allow an automated system to quote.  That choice does seem to have fit what has happened though.

Since you paid for it and not the insurance, then you know the exact damage repair bill.  It has not been written off as you did not accept the insurance view (assuming you stopped it, can doublecheck with them).  Therefore damage - amount known and the amount would be the right approach.

In the case, no claim was not made against your insurance or it was incomplete.  You have notified them in the previous question about the incident and damage.

Yes, it doesn't help some of the choice of wording (whatever happened to the clear English thing).  However, you have described in each case you have an incident and where possible included the cost.

In this case, you have entered the information to the best of your knowledge using their guidance.  If you hadn't put anything then that would be fraudulent and that's where you risk having cancellation.

The other important thing to remember is that these are comparison sites can be a bit generic, so the quote you get from whichever insurer you decide to go for you need to check the wording in relation to the incident and that it is still valid.

Finally don't forget to play them at their own game.  Add another driver particularly, even if they never drive the car it should lower your premium.

pratty

Yeah, with Go Compare I effectively agreed that I made a 'claim' of "no claim", which i find baffling given the supposed need for absolute accuracy.

With adding a driver, wouldn't that depend on their driving record? And couldn't changes to their circumstances effect mine? Even if they didn't have an accident, wouldn't I have to notify the insurer with any relevent changes in their circumstances as well as mine in order for the insurance to stay valid? For example couldn't they refuse to pay out on the technicality that the added driver didn't notify them of a change in job role?   

I have looked up 3rd Party Theft and Fire aswell and they start hundreds cheaper, but the companies look a little 'suspect' with reviews complaining about hidden brokerage fees and poor customer service etc. Having said that every company, even the well known ones, seems to have some reviews saying do not use under any circumstances, so everything seems a bit of a gamble, haha.

ChuckMountain

Yes, but I would have thought that would be fairly obvious.  Preferably add somebody that has a clean licence, no accidents and being driving a while with their own car.  Yes, some circumstances may be notifiable but changing jobs would not necessarily unless they change occupation too or the description changes.

It depends if it saves you £50 or less then it might not be worth doing it but since you are paying a lot and if it saves you a couple of hundred pounds it might be worth doing.

You can add the driver into the comparison site very easily and see.  I would try it out of curiosity if nothing else, you can always remove it again.

Bl4ckGryph0n

Yup common sense doesn’t come into it anymore. Loyalty and “doing the right thing” count for nothing. Lesson learned to next time just make a claim. It’s what you pay for, and it’s what they are setup to do.

Bl4ckGryph0n

You might think that. Or from a different perspective; he uses the bike in an area where thieves operate. The bike is now known to be able to be stolen. And on top of that it has had £2K worth of repairs. I can also see why the insurance company see it as an increased risk.

eastsoutheast

I try and take a broad view of everything that happens and through a fair lense.

As far as i am concerned the insurance company’s behave like crooks. They use significant claims data at postcode level to rate various risk. 1 bike being stolen would not significantly impact this.

No claim being made despite 100% validity to claim for costs should not result in my son being a higher future risk.

I know people who claim for anything on insurance, i have never claimed on house, car or holiday insurance.

I wont rant any more as unfair to the op,

ChuckMountain

But you are not you are taking a biased view because of your treatment by a particular insurer.

If two people came to you for insurance from the same postcode, car\bike and driving experience but one of them had made a claim because of being stolen.  If it was your own money, would you say sure I will charge you both the same, or would you say actually I want more from the one that has had the claim as they have a higher risk whether that be their own fault, incompetence or just plain unlucky?

It does not work like that, he had an incident and grounds for a claim, therefore a higher risk.  You didn't claim because of bad advice, make a complaint.

That's great of you but that's just it is insurance if we all claimed £2,500 on our £1,500 policy the insurer would not be able to payout.  Those that do claim will pay higher premiums and or\be investigated if it is fraudulent.  You don't get any medals for not actually claiming the payout you would have been entitled to...

g8tecrasher

I had a similar issue with home insurance. My wife smashed a fairly new iPhone, rang home insurance to query excess etc. Decided against making claim. When my renewal was due it had gone up massively when I rang to ask about they told me because I’d asked the question about a claim this went against me in their risk assessment