Insurance advice (rant)

[jonny jeez]

Had a small accident on my motorcycle on Tuesday (no injury but about £3-500 worth of damage). Basically, the bike fell over on the drive. and cracked the front fairings, bent brake levers etc.

I am insured with the same company for my motorbike my car and my wifes car. Its not a group discount thing, they were just the cheapest when the renewall came around.

Anyhow, I rang them today to ask what my Excess is on the bike, its £450 so I told them I'd repair the bike myself to save adjusting my no claims discount.

Then I was told that as I'd had a "non claim incident", my bike, my car and my wife's insurance premiums all need adjusting. Total is around £200 a year.

not claimed from them, not cost them anything. Not had a claim on any vehicle in way over a decade...perhaps 2 decades (I cant actually recall ever making a claim on my car)

Any ideas on how to mitigate this type of activity from insurance firms (short of not informing them when I have even the tiniest of damage to any vehicle.)

I am told that the "indent" will stand on my driving record now and is kept on a central insurance database for all to see.

 

[PK99]

. Its not a group discount thing, they were just the cheapest when the renewal came around.

.

there is a clue!

 

[Kestevan]

"Any ideas on how to mitigate this type of activity from insurance firms (short of not informing them when I have even the tiniest of damage to any vehicle.)"

Pay monthly. If they try this sort of thing, simply tell them they can stick their policy where the sun doesn't shine and find another insurer. You'd be amazed how quickly the "adjustment" disappears.

 

[vernon]

"Any ideas on how to mitigate this type of activity from insurance firms (short of not informing them when I have even the tiniest of damage to any vehicle.)"

Pay monthly. If they try this sort of thing, simply tell them they can stick their policy where the sun doesn't shine and find another insurer. You'd be amazed how quickly the "adjustment" disappears.

I'm not sure that thi solves anythings as there is a sliding scale of charges which is biased heavily in favour of the insurer. Cancelling after six months will still leave the insured in debt to the insurer as typically six months cover costs around 75% of the annualised total including the premium paid for installments.

In addition, if full settlement was not obtained by the insurer there's the potential loss of all no claims bonuses.

 

[pplpilot]

ALL insurance companies are the scum of the earth. There are no exceptions. I really do not know how they sleep at night. I could give my reasons but I don't want to send my BP through the roof... It is just a one way street with the blood sucking f*****g b******s.

 

[asterix]

Yes, it is pretty much impossible to win against an insurance company unless you are a bare-faced crook and a good one, too. They know all the scams and are pretty good scammers themselves.

My home and contents renewal went up by about £100 so I did some shopping around. One of the cheapest quotes was from my existing insurer so I went for it. Then they rang about the original policy which I hadn't renewed and I told them they had given me a much cheaper quote on line. I asked them why their renewal was so much more and they were unable to explain it.

 

[oldfatfool]

"

Pay monthly. If they try this sort of thing, simply tell them they can stick their policy where the sun doesn't shine and find another insurer. You'd be amazed how quickly the "adjustment" disappears.

Not so I am afraid, when you pay monthly you are entering a contract to purchase the insurance so if you cancel you will still be liable for the remainder of the installments less what you would have had returned had you paid in one lump. For instance if you are a 17 year old paying £150 pcm for insurance on a £1000 banger and you total the car in month 2 you could end up owing the insurers money rather than getting a payout!!

As for the op your wifes insurance should only be affected if you are a named driver. Where you on the bike when it fell over? Or did the stand fail or was t knocked by another of your vehicles?

We had a slate land on swmbos new car causing £500 of damage. She rang the insurers to chase the owner of the wharehouse the slate came from, but said she had no interest in claiming from her own insurance. They said no bother and put her onto the legal aid bit of the policy and said there was no need to declare at renewal.

As a rule of thumb though just don't ring the insurance for anything not involving injury / third party that is going to cost YOU less than £1k as you will be stung by 5 years increased renewals and the excess.

 

[MrJamie]

Wow, I can't get my head around how you breaking and fixing part of your vehicle on your own property without anyone else involved has anything to do with them. If you were with separate insurers for each vehicle would they have discovered your "incident" and increased your premiums on the spot?

 

[Dave7]

A mate of mine recently had his car written off. It was parked at work when a 'works van' hit it. Everything was admitted by the 'other party'. What he got was (as expected) less than it cost to replace........AND his insurance went up!!! how blood sucking are they ?

 

[ASC1951]

What he got was (as expected) less than it cost to replace........AND his insurance went up!!! how blood sucking are they ?

He will have insured it for what it was worth. If he wanted to claim for enough to replace it, he should have paid more for a policy that would have covered him for that.
And insurance statistics show that people who claim for an accident that was not their fault are then more likely to claim again.

The real insurance scandals are those tosspots who drive while uninsured, and the surprisingly large number of allegedly honest citizens who think it is perfectly acceptable to 'bulk up' a genuine claim. Our premiums are 20% greater because of dishonest claimants.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

He will have insured it for what it was worth. If he wanted to claim for enough to replace it, he should have paid more for a policy that would have covered him for that.
And insurance statistics show that people who claim for an accident that was not their fault are then more likely to claim again.

The real insurance scandals are those tosspots who drive while uninsured, and the surprisingly large number of allegedly honest citizens who think it is perfectly acceptable to 'bulk up' a genuine claim. Our premiums are 20% greater because of dishonest claimants.

I take it you work for an insurance company, NOBODY & I mean NOBODY other than somebody who works in the industry would even try to attempt to defend the scum suckers.

Alan...

 

[ASC1951]

I take it you work for an insurance company, NOBODY & I mean NOBODY other than somebody who works in the industry would even try to attempt to defend the scum suckers.

I'm afraid you are completely wrong. I have never worked for an insurance company. But I have dealt with many insurance companies and loss adjusters over the years and have found that there are plenty of them who deal with claims promptly and honestly.
Most of the tirades against insurers come from people who buy the cheapest cover they can possibly get - usually online - and then are amazed to discover that the crap end of the market doesn't like paying out on claims.

 

[PK99]

How come insurance is just about the only product that people buy by choosing the lowest price and then expect high quality performance?

Would you buy a bike on the basis of lowest price?
Yes, but only after deciding the level of performance you wanted from the bike and then choosing the shop that sold that bike at the lowest price.
You would most certainly not go into a bike shop and say "Sell me the lowest price legal bike you have". Why? Because you know that it would not perform when you needed it.
Why, then, be surprised if you choose to buy insurance purely on the basis of price and then find the performance is poor?

Eg my house and contents insurance is with Hiscox - far from the cheapest on the market, but we have had a number of claims without any quibble and without a hike in premium - the most recent claim was the equivalent of several years premium. When I had a SMIDSY, they were happy to pay out as soon as i claimed and then chased the drivers insurance company for the money - it id not count as a claim on my insurance record.

You get what you pay for.

 

[jonny jeez]

How come insurance is just about the only product that people buy by choosing the lowest price and then expect high quality performance?

Would you buy a bike on the basis of lowest price?
Yes, but only after deciding the level of performance you wanted from the bike and then choosing the shop that sold that bike at the lowest price.
You would most certainly not go into a bike shop and say "Sell me the lowest price legal bike you have". Why? Because you know that it would not perform when you needed it.
Why, then, be surprised if you choose to buy insurance purely on the basis of price and then find the performance is poor?

Eg my house and contents insurance is with Hiscox - far from the cheapest on the market, but we have had a number of claims without any quibble and without a hike in premium - the most recent claim was the equivalent of several years premium. When I had a SMIDSY, they were happy to pay out as soon as i claimed and then chased the drivers insurance company for the money - it id not count as a claim on my insurance record.

You get what you pay for.

This sounds great but how, in practice, can you really tell a good "honest" company from one that's just expensive because they just don't like your particular demographic.

They all promise the earth in terms of swift payment etc but how do you *know*

Incidentally the firm I chose was the cheapest of the 3 or 4 I got quotes from but I only chose to get quotes from the 3 or 4 largest (and I assumed best) in the market. I tend to ignore the small unknowns as I want to avoid this type of treatment.

Regardless as Mr Jamie says, what business is it of theirs if I clumsily drop my bike whilst navigating the cars on my drive....and then pay to repair it myself. I'm not exactly a menace to the roads who deserves a hike in premiums.

Seems to me that insurance companies are not in the business of offsetting income against payouts to form a profit....the rake back 100% of the payout in premiums

 

[Beebo]

A point to remember is that you only legally need third party cover for a vehicle. If you don't like insurers why pay extra to insure your own property. Take the risk yourself and self insure. With a £450 xs you are already self insuring a sizeable chunk of the risk.

Oh and household contents cover is not a legal requirement, nor is buildings cover, if you don't have a mortgage. Just don't come crying to us if your house burns down.

A good tip for picking a good insurer is to visit a broker. They offer a service, but hey why pay a middle man when You can go direct!