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A whack from behind

Imagine the insult when you discover that if you hit a human being, and its not your fault that:
1. You have to pay the excess
2. Your premium goes up for 3 years
Insurance companies and Casinos have one thing in common, the house ultimately wins
 
Some interesting experiences here.

I've got to say, my experience with Insurance companies have been wholly positive!

Admittedly 12 years ago, I made a claim as my son took the side out of the car against a stone gate post. Damage the full length of the car! I reported it to my insurer and they told me to take it to a bodyshop which was probably one of the best in the area. Expecting the worst at renewal time; they quoted me the same premium - zero increase!! I do have NCB protection.

More up to date, my sister had a similar hit from behind as the OP. Obviously 3rd party fault. She phoned her insurer and said the other driver had admitted liability and passed their insurer details to them. A day later, a hire car was delivered (a much better car than her Juke) and her car was taken away for repair. The repair was done to a high standard and carried a 2 year warranty. The car returned and the hire car taken away. Just the type of 'no hassle' service she wanted. Next premium at renewal was LOWER!! though only a couple of pounds.

It is surprising that others have had such bad experiences.

For me, motor Insurance delivers remarkable value for money, even if your premium goes up 20%. For a few hundred quid a year, you are driving a potentially lethal weapon, indemnified against the most expensive accidents which can involve huge sums depending on the extent of personal injury to the 3rd party. Most also carry support through legal services that is part of the policy!! Compare that with home Insurance. My home Insurance is more that my motor Insurance and I would have thought the risk to the insurer of a motor policy is higher than a buildings / contents policy!!
 
Bluebird911 said:
I've got to say, my experience with Insurance companies have been wholly positive!
<...>
It is surprising that others have had such bad experiences.

For me, motor Insurance delivers remarkable value for money

Totally agree. In 25 years of driving I've had a handful of claims, some my fault, some not. In every instance the Insurance company has been

* Professional
* Swift to respond
* Easy to deal with
* Fair in their decisions
* Reasonable in cost of future premiums

I just don't get where people get these bad opinions of insurers from.
 
Bad opinions from bad experiences.
 
Not having worked in the Insurance industry, but being on the wrong side of them when my 2 week old 800 mile S class was written off in floodwater a few years ago. Their valuation was just over half the price of the car , so I agree with Alex that your car may be written off. 4K for repair & for the 3rd party giving you a new Porsche for a few weeks, that will rack up a few thousand. You paid 22k six months ago, so at a guess the Insurance will probably say it worth say 14k probably much less, so it won't take much to write it off.
I would be finding out from both sides ie your Insurance & 3rd party's Insurance before deciding how to proceed. Be very wary.
 
..........and do not leave your car ANYWHERE where either Insurance company has the ability to snatch it off you. Its been previously done on here without notifying the owner till its been taken.
 
Chicbe & Alex - thanks for the warnings. I'll tread cautiously & not be handing my keys over quickly. In fact I'll be driving it to get the work done when costs are agreed.
 
That's what he did. When he went down a week later to check progress, the car had gone. Garage told him Insurance had changed their mind and written it off then moved it on 2 days earlier to his visit.
 
Alex said:
That's what he did. When he went down a week later to check progress, the car had gone. Garage told him Insurance had changed their mind and written it off then moved it on 2 days earlier to his visit.

That's disgraceful Alex,

You could do us all a service by naming this Insurance company please so that members here avoid the same thing.
 
Weird, because I had an accident in my 996 about 2 years ago, i'd had it for 3 weeks! paid £15k for it. The front end was pretty smashed up, it needed both wings, bumper, bonnet, lights, rads etc etc, the repair bill quote was £14k.

The Insurance assessor rang me up, I explained I'd bought it 3 weeks ago and I'd gone 600 miles to get it as it was well specced and in great nick etc, he agreed that from the pics (he'd not seen the car in person) it looked lovely and would be hard to replace. He said that it was entirely up to me whether I wanted to go ahead with the repair (and the car wouldn't be written off/recorded), or have it written off and take a pay out, his first offer was £17k.

Obviously, I had the car written off and took a pay out. I also asked what would be happening to the car, he told me I could buy it for £4k, which I did and sold it to a mate, he spent £1100 on the parts it needed (second hand and same colour) and fixed it himself, he's been ragging around in it ever since.

So yeah, not really the same experience as others are describing. I'm also surprised to hear of Insurance companies steeling cars from customers, regardless of whether they're damaged or whatever, until they're written off and paid out on by the Insurance they're still the property of the owner surely?

Good luck with it all anyway OP, it's a right PITA to go through.
 
TurboRob said:
Yes, because I did as Alex mentions above - obtained quotes with and without it declared. 20% increase for it declared.

Hopefully you didn't suffer a 20% increase for this and you switched Insurance companies.

FYI always do your quotes online via price comparison websites at least two months before your renewal as it will give you a very different price to a month before, sometimes it doesn't even show a price at all in the month before. As they don't like to offer their "new customer prices" to existing customers, take a screenshot of it and use it as a bartering tool when it comes to renewal.

Works a treat.
 
Bluebird911 said:
Alex said:
That's what he did. When he went down a week later to check progress, the car had gone. Garage told him Insurance had changed their mind and written it off then moved it on 2 days earlier to his visit.

That's disgraceful Alex,

You could do us all a service by naming this Insurance company please so that members here avoid the same thing.

I don't know who it was but it was a member on here posting about the progress on his car. Whilst he was there, another customer came in to check the progress of his and the car had gone. The company told him what had happened and the guy lost it.

Not 100% but the repair was been done at one of the more premium bodyshops like Road and Race.
 
It definitely can go up after a non fault claim. The excuse from the Insurance companies is that if you are involved in one accident regardless of fault, you are more likely to be involved in a 2nd statistically.
 
Alex said:
Bluebird911 said:
Alex said:
That's what he did. When he went down a week later to check progress, the car had gone. Garage told him Insurance had changed their mind and written it off then moved it on 2 days earlier to his visit.

That's disgraceful Alex,

You could do us all a service by naming this Insurance company please so that members here avoid the same thing.

I don't know who it was but it was a member on here posting about the progress on his car. Whilst he was there, another customer came in to check the progress of his and the car had gone. The company told him what had happened and the guy lost it.

Not 100% but the repair was been done at one of the more premium bodyshops like Road and Race.

OK, we don't know who the member was and we don't know the Insurance company, so this is now internet folklore!!

I don't doubt that you read it Alex, but is such and extreme example, it is far from typical and would be surprised if it represents 1% of Insurance claims. On the basis that you are well known for advocating 10% IMS bearing failure is not going to happen to people and they should rest well in their beds at night, you are 10 times less likely to be the victim of an Insurance company whose shoddy practice is to take possession of you car with you consent. Using your logic, it ain't going to happen!!

OP I shouldn't be spooked by these stories, I'm sure it will work out well.
 
chicb said:
Not having worked in the Insurance industry, but being on the wrong side of them when my 2 week old 800 mile S class was written off in floodwater a few years ago. Their valuation was just over half the price of the car , so I agree with Alex that your car may be written off. 4K for repair & for the 3rd party giving you a new Porsche for a few weeks, that will rack up a few thousand. You paid 22k six months ago, so at a guess the Insurance will probably say it worth say 14k probably much less, so it won't take much to write it off.
I would be finding out from both sides ie your Insurance & 3rd party's Insurance before deciding how to proceed. Be very wary.

Hi Chicb, sorry to hear about your loss on your new car. However, it sounds like you had unrealistic expectations from the Insurance company.

It is well known that the Insurance industry will not pay out full price for a write off of a new car. I have a 10 day old X3 M40 on the drive and the selling dealer recommended GAP Insurance to cover that shortfall. Indeed, when I insured the car with my Insurance company, they also offered GAP Insurance to make up any write off shortfall. For the small sum of less than £200, those nice people at BMW will supply me with a new car if it is written off in the next three years.

Regarding your other comment, Standard car Insurance covers 'Market value' and the clause in the Insurance say that if it is uneconomic for repair, they will pay out market value. If your car is a particularly nice example and is more valuable, standard cover is the wrong product. Agreed value Insurance where the higher value of the car is agreed before cover is taken out, so that if the car is written off, the agree value is the basis for the claim. These specialist insurances are often competitive with standard Insurance, so there is no great expense to use them.
 

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