It's a racket, really. A few years ago my neighbour reversed into our car while it was parked on our drive (parallel, adjacent drives) and admitted fault immediately. It needed a new rear door and some panel work done. She offered to pay for it and so I got a quote from our local body shop but it was over £1000 and she had to get it done through the insurance. So as expected, her next premium went up. Using "Approved Repairers" is like giving the motor trade a licence to charge what they like as the insurance is paying.
I had protected No Claims on mine so I expected no problems. However my next renewal, even though I shopped around, went up. When I asked why, the person on the other end of the phone explained as if to a rather dim child that yes, my No Claims Bonus was not affected as it was a no fault accident (I was in bed asleep after a night shift at the time) and would have been the same if it had been my fault with the protected NCB but as there had been a claim, no matter whose fault it was, my premium would go up. My inner version of Google Translate interpreted this as, "Tough Titty, pal, we've got a monopoly, we make up the rules as we go along and we stick together. All you can do is suck it up, soldier". This claim followed me around for the next five years. I even had to declare it on my motorcycle insurance.
I had a second car for a short time but did the decade of of No Claims Bonuses cut any ice? No sir, you have to start from scratch. Together with the bike insurance, my total was over 20 years' worth of No Claims Bonuses but I just had to bend over and take it.
I am old enough to remember when insurance was something you didn't have to think about. It was there, it was cheap enough, you just bought it. Now there are so many terms and conditions, things like a courtesy car, insuring your belongings, do you want legal insurance, do you want to drive other cars etc were once just included but now everything is an optional extra. Third party only, Third party fire and theft, or Comprehensive. That was easy to understand, even for the likes of I.
All these years of being Mr careful, Mr law abiding, seem to count for nothing. I might just as well have enjoyed myself riding and driving like a raving nobber. There. Rant over. I feel soo much better now.
), I went through my insurance even though it'll increase my premium. I ended up going through insurer and manufacturer (Skoda) approved (sometimes the excess is different if you don't so check that) bodyshop. I had used them previously with no issues.
