Hi folks - been a while since i've been in here (so long I forgot my logon details).
It is that joyous time of year when the insurance industry lightens my personal wealth by about £500. I found their thoughts on the following a bit odd to say the least.
In Feb a lump of steel fell from a skip onto the bonnet and windscreen of my motor at motorway speed. The skip company who I would love to name and shame for thier disgusting attitiude refused in the first instance to cough up or "buy me of" liability not at issue etc etc.
To make sure i could get the damage repaired one way or the other I contacted my insurers for info, explaining I would continue to pursue the company and if that failed I may need to use my insurance to repair the car.
I successfully squeezed the necessary amounts out of the skip hire company to repair the car - however - my insurers now record that there is an outstanding claim on my record - despite the fact i notified them the claim would not be pursued as it was settled between myself and the company on a without prejudice basis.
The total cost of repairing the car at the dealerships workshop is £700. Taking the wind screen on the insurance (£50 excess) reduces this cost to about £400 - £450.
Those insurers who would provide me with quotes were in the range of £800 - £2200.
Surely an outcome of not-pursued should effectively remove all record of this "accident" from my insurance record?
BTW 13 years of driving accident free, covering an average 30,000 per year currently in a gp 6 Leon TDI(90).
Made me think - how much more difficult would it be to get insured had I mowed down a pedestrian or killed a fellow motorist where the cost to my insurer would have a lot more zeroes after it???
Leon
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You're forgetting the insurance industry's golden first rule: we want your entire premium from you now, before we consider accepting the risk. Then when you come to claim, we will do everything we can to wriggle out of paying or find some excuse to increase your premium at renewal.
I've just had a Smartnav system fitted to my car which I won as a prize. It consists basically of a mobile telephone, a GPS transceiver and a memory card. If you want directions, you call an operatoir and instructions are downloaded to the car. There is no screen or any other obvious sign that the system is fitted. My insurance co count this as a satnav system and have increased my premium by another £25 for just over 7 months of the policy that I still have to run. If the car is stolen it can of course be tracked via the satnav system's GPS device. No wonder the insurance industry has such a bad name!
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I work in the insurance industry - not in motor insurance - and this sort of thing makes my blood boil. The industry has a lousy reputation and it just gets lousier. And the industry cheerfully sends it that way.
Leon: can\'t say it\'ll do any good, but ask a senior manager - not the person in the sweat-shop (sorry, call centre), to explain why your situation is so \'bad\' for the insurer. Tell them the true story of your driving record. Get a decent broker on the case - he/she, if they\'re worth their salt will argue your case.
Ivor E: Your situation too is disgraceful. I take it that if the car gets nicked there\'s no \'satnav\' to nick with it...? Tell them what pink fluffy dice they are, via someone with some clout.
I suspect that in in both cases \"these are the rules\". But they\'re not intelligently applied.
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In a similar vein, some 15 months ago I discovered that the builders of my house had put a nail thru a CH pipe during construction some four years ago. The insurer sent an assessor, then because of the cost of the repair, a loss adjustor.I was correctly advised that because the damage was done before I had the property under cover, I had to make a claim against the builder. One very large file of correspondence later, the builder settled the day before the case was due to be heard in court.
When my insurance was due for renewal, I was informed that the increase in premium was due to an 'outstanding claim'.Unbelievable.
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Fortunately I have not had too many dealings with the insurance industry, however what little contact I have had has given me a very low opinion of them.
A year or two ago I was given a very favourable quote by a telephone insurer. I accepted the quote there and then, and gave them my credit card details. When I actually received the policy (and the credit card receipt) I found they'd charged me considerably more that was verbally quoted over the 'phone (perhaps they'd hoped I wouldn't spot it!).
Anyway, to cut short a very long story (and many long phone conversations) I did actually get the overcharged amount back several months later - but they were very surly and unpleasant about it.
What also annoys me is that despite their high profits the industry is continuing to relocate both call-centre and back-office function to low labour cost countries like India, often with a considerable deterioration in customer service. They certainly don't believe in supporting the UK economy, do they?
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I have just been over to France and my insurance policy is nearly at its end. Anyway I had to pay a few quid for extra continental cover.
My insurance had a few weeks left to run and I had already got a reminder to renew, but I was most amused to find that when I got an online quote for a new customer with my existing insurer my premium was £100 less than they had quoted me. Nice earner for the ins co.
Anyway it seems that their computer system has taken my premium for my green card as my premium for my renewal, and not taken any further monies.
Free insurance for a year! They posted me my cert and schedule of insurance until 2005. I figure that I can act stupid and claim that they sent me a letter saying I had paid in case of a claim and I dont check my statements, and the worst that will happen is that I will have to pay the premium. Ok so its a little bit of a gamble but my car's not worth a fortune and the cert/schedule guarantee that they will pay if there is an accident with a 3rd party.
very interested to hear educated comments as to whether I should own up to this....
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