Morning!
My insurance is up for renewal on the 28th Sept. Last year it was £750 fully comp. I've had three accidents, first was my fault and fixed on my insurance, second wasn't and went entirely through the other bloke's insurance and the third wasn't my fault but is being sorted by my insurance company because there was some doubt intially about whether the other party had the right insurance.
Questions are:
1. As the third accident is still being sorted and it's unlikely that the claim will be resolved by the 28th, can I actually change insurers or do I have to stay with them?
2. As the last two accidents weren't my fault, why do they make my policy increase by up to £500? Should I just not declare them when asking for quotes, as they were non-fault?
Thank you!
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I would not think that you are constrained to your original policy as long as when you are getting your next quote you declare that your present insurance company is claiming from the 3rd party for the damage to your vehicle and make it very clear that it was not your fault and not being viewed as your fault.
Secondly i am surprised that the non fault accidents are raising your policy they should not. I am a 21 year old and male and until my b'day was the insurances worst nightmare as a driver and even then they did not increase the policy at my non fault claim. You MUST however declare them for quotes because if you don't you will invalidate any insurance that you take if the insurance company finds you are lying
best idea for a quote is go to elephant.co.uk and norwich union etc etc online
get quotes from them then phone them up and play one against the other. Managed to get 200 quid of my dads insurance doing that.
cheers :)
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You can change insurers but most will treat the third accident as a fault claim until it is resolved and then at their discretion refund you the difference.
If the other driver's insurance has accepted responsibility, and you have that in writing, you should be able to treat it as resolved even if you haven't had the money. (But check before you go ahead with any quote!)
Non fault claims shouldn't increase your premium by much, but insurers can and will use any excuse to chearge more money if they think they can.
My advice would be to find a specialist broker, such as Adrian Flux, or even one with a physical presence in your high street, and let them take decisions about your personal circumstances.
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I ended up staying with my insurers after my accident whilst the fault was being sorted, in order to keep my lower premium. Since I was not impressed with them and being young I was not going to pay extra until they sorted it out and finally got the 'proof' of no claims or no fault to the new insurers. Once proof of fault had been laid firmly at the other drivers door (which the police did from the minute they arrived on the scene) I was able to change easily the next time my insurance was due.
Having one accident at your fault will up your premium until the three or five years (depending on insurer) has expired with you being accident free. You must by law (?) declare the non fault accident too if it's within the requested time scale. the third accident and currently under investigation/dispute/insurers arguement is likely to put your premium up unless it's agreed by the insurers that the other driver was at fault.
I always shop around for my insurance, online quotes and ringing the free phone numbers groups. I try about 15 to see the differences, epescially for the excesses too. Every year I get a difference of up £300 for my 9 years no claims!!!!! Plus a full questionire about my disabilities. Then i go back to my current insurer and tell them the best deal elsewhere and they usually match it. They're not the cheapest first off but I am very happy with them and their handling of problems, which is rather important if you ever need to claim as well you know :)
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Pologirl,
I've read your other posts and, please understand, I'm not baiting you.
The first thing is that insurance is a contract. Tell the whole truth. If you don't, they have a perfect right not to pay up if you need them to.
You know the pensioner who has driven for 50 years and never had an accident? Seen hundreds? Always people overtaking like banshees when he can see the sense in driving at 27mph in the 50 limit. The language he almost hears, too.
So, people involved in accidents, whether directly their fault or not, probably should carry an insurance loading.
The other thing is that there is now a database that insurers subscribe to. If you've had a claim, most insurers will know. If you lie, and they find out, they could refuse to cover you.
Remember the question "have you ever been refused cover...?"
Just not worth it.
Good luck.
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I've read your other posts and, please understand, I'm not baiting you. So, people involved in accidents, whether directly their fault or not, probably should carry an insurance loading.
No I completely understand - you're saying my accident was indirectly my fault. Well excuse me for choosing that roundabout, on that day, at that time.
But anyway... thought you might be interested in the results of my search at confused.com today, which claim to search 94% of insurance companies -
Lowest quote: £778.75
Most ludicrously high quote: £1618.00
Number of companies who refused to quote because I'm a)a student b)a freelance media type person and c)the owner of a 6 point licence: 6 + all the supermarkets and Esure.
grrr.
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Dear polo girl
Please do not chew your keyboard.
What our knowledgable but blunt friend Sean is saying is this:
Your have a record of accidents. They may not be your fault, but your record suggests you are a high risk. And yes it might well be the route and time of day you normally drive is a higher risk. you may just be unlucky. Either way your history (6 points, three accidents) makes you a high risk...
You have to declare all accidents quote:
"have you had any motoring claims, accidents or losses in the last 3 years"
Do not be tempted to lie, as Sean says they can find out.
and when you say yes, these get qualified as as no blame, insured losses, etc etc.
So sorry PG, you are high risk, like it or not. Student, a record of accidents, 6 points.... you will get loaded.
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PG: RF and Sean are completely right.
(Like Sean, I too tend to "appear" blunt - it is only because we both tend to write short sharp posts in the belief that visitors to this site can pad out the message if they wish.)
I only wish to add here that Insurance Companies have a "benchmark" driver and car. Anything that deviates from that gets loaded premiums. A no-blame, no-claim accident in a car park (be it at work, supermarket, council or private car park) where some dozy driver reverses in to your safely parked car, will still count as an accident. It will add to your risk profile and some Companies will load your premium for that. Even if you want insurance for a preserved classic car that never leaves your garage, they will still take your history in to account.
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Oh dear. Pologirl, I'm trying only to help you. I really do try my best, but often cause offence. I really do not mean to.
I respect your "spirit". My daughter, now 24 exhibits just the same. I only ever win with Physics, as it has not changed in the past 200 years. I lose EVERYTHING else.
Let me describe something to you. I have followed cars in lane 2 of roundabouts, on dual carriageways. They have held back from overtaking lorries in lane 1. I have thought expletives, get a move on you old fuddy duddy etc.
Then, one day, an artic crossed partly into lane 2.
A collision would not have been the fault of the driver I was following, but her car would have been wrecked.
I only come here to help you, Pologirl. You buy my products, I want you to survive.
I am truly sorry if I have offended you.
When all this is sorted, please e-mail me. DD has my address. I may be able to help you with another Polo, or something.
Sorry again.
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PG,
Sean didn't mean to bite and I'm sure you didn't mean to nibble quite as hard as you did!
Take a moment to look over some of Sean's posts of the last month or two, then read his comments in this thread. I think you will find his input and help come from a great deal of experience of the motor industry, even if is language may sometimes seem direct. When it come's to VW's, he's your man.
No Dosh.
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If I don't reply it's nowt personal, I'm just working!
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Oooops, there's an "h" missing there somewhere.
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If I don't reply it's nowt personal, I'm just working!
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pg,
Recently renewed the insurance on both my cars. I found nowhere on the internet that would quote direct for my Imprezza as its group 20, e-sure woldn't quote it either. Spent three very long hours on the phone answering the same questions, usually in the same order, and finally got something reasonable. Don't lie, as has been mentioned already in this thread they will know and your insurance will be invalid. It just takes time and patience, a liking for electronic versions of greensleeves, (isn't this illegal now?) and you will get something close to the best available.
Good luck
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I read often, only post occaisionally
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Spikey's right, it's going to take some effort. I once had a car which the mainstream refused to insure, just because it was outside their scope - nothing to do with my record. A bit of old fashioned phoning round some brokers found me a whole range of acceptable quotes.
If you check certain publications (and I don't know which ones I mean!!) you will find brokers specialising in your particular requirements...
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I'm sorry!!
Honestly...Sean, I took your post in the spirit it was intended and was actually smiling when I typed the reply. I have to keep reminding myself that sarcasm travels about as well when typed as my southern sense of humour did to Stoke on Trent!
Sorry again!
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PoloGirl,
I\'m sorry that you felt pressured to say sorry!
Insurance when you are young is an absolute devil, you do tend to get in scrapes (at fault or not) and it does cost.
Just be grateful it does get much better* as time passes, even if that seems a way off now. For now you have to be open, get the best quote for the right cover, grit your teeth and pay up!
*Old git status gives me one single vehicle policy at under £80 and a five vehicle group policy not much over £500!
M.M
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