Car Insurance claim - How will it affect my premium?

jamesdeanjames

Hi,
I did a small bit of damage to another car and reckon the damage will be €500. I have NCB protection. My insurance company are off until tuesday.

How will this affect my premium?
Would I be better off just paying it myself?

Thanks, any help much appreciated.
james

Marsden

jamesdeanjames wrote: »

Hi,
I did a small bit of damage to another car and reckon the damage will be €500. I have NCB protection. My insurance company are off until tuesday.

How will this affect my premium?
Would I be better off just paying it myself?

Thanks, any help much appreciated.
james

I'd find a cheap garage and pay yourself.

I worked with a fella who had a claim and said his bonus protection wasn't worth a sh1t. He ended up paying more on his premium the next year than the claim was worth, and subsequent years were still higher than before the claim.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

jamesdeanjames wrote: »

Hi,
I did a small bit of damage to another car and reckon the damage will be €500. I have NCB protection. My insurance company are off until tuesday.

How will this affect my premium?
Would I be better off just paying it myself?

Thanks, any help much appreciated.
james

Bonus protection is just that. You should not be penalised. I never was. As for the suggestion that you find a cheap garage; it is the other persons choice not yours and I certainly would be going to my dealer if you had damaged my car.

coylemj

jamesdeanjames wrote: »

Hi,
I did a small bit of damage to another car and reckon the damage will be €500. I have NCB protection. My insurance company are off until tuesday.

How will this affect my premium?
Would I be better off just paying it myself?

Thanks, any help much appreciated.
james

If you think the damage was €500 the other guy will probably produce an estimate for €2,000. Body shops inflate the price of repairs if they think an insurance company is going to pay, partly because an assessor will probably inspect the damage and in order to justify his fee he will push the price down, it's all part of the game.

Do you have NCB protection because you pay extra for it? If it's a supposed bonus from the insurance company, it mightn't amount to much 'protection' because if you have a claim then no other company will quote you for the next few years meaning that you will have to stay with your current insurance company who can then screw you and the claim could cost you more in increased premiums than if you simply paid for the damage yourself.

However, before paying anything to anyone, make sure that you know exactly how much damage in total this accident involves. For example, was there any damage to your car? Was the other car unoccupied when you hit it? If not then there is a high probability of a claim for whiplash or other personal injury. If you pay out cash for the damage to the other car and then a personal injury claim arrives which means that it will become a claim on the insurance, your insurance company will not reimburse you for any money that you have already paid out. Ultimately if the accident is going to cost more than some threshold amount then you will be better off lodging a claim with your insurance company. Just make sure that you have the full picture of how much the accident is going to cost before you pay any money out, otherwise you could end up losing several hundred in cash if you choose to pay for the material damage and then see your NCB down the toilet if a personal injury claim arrives on the mat.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

coylemj wrote: »

If you think the damage was €500 the other guy will probably produce an estimate for €2,000....Was the other car unoccupied when you hit it? If not then there is a high probability of a claim for whiplash or other personal injury...

Boy, but you have a very low opinion for other drivers!

Otis Driftwood

It depends what level of protection you have OP.

Some insurers allow you to make a claim in a given period that doesnt effect your NCB.

Others have bonus protection however its "step back" protection in that if you make a claim your bonus will be reduced by up to 20%.

You will need to call your insurer tomorrow and check exactly what you have.

You also need to factor in the policy excess ie how much of the claim you will have to pay yourself.

matt70iu

jamesdeanjames wrote: »

Hi,
I did a small bit of damage to another car and reckon the damage will be €500. I have NCB protection. My insurance company are off until tuesday.

How will this affect my premium?
Would I be better off just paying it myself?

Thanks, any help much appreciated.
james

I found that even with full NCB protection, your bonus is protected, however, most insurance companies put a loading on the following years premium in the event of a claim which is seperate to your no claims bonus. For example, I had a third party claim made againt me.

The total was 2400 paid out. My bonus remained in tact, but they put a loading of 300e on my next years premium due to the claim on my file.

Was still worth having the bonus protection cuse instead of my insurance being 700e with the loading, it would have been over 1500 if I ad lost the 5 years no claims bonus.

Hope this makes sense.

Otis Driftwood

matt70iu wrote: »

I found that even with full NCB protection, your bonus is protected, however, most insurance companies put a loading on the following years premium in the event of a claim which is seperate to your no claims bonus. For example, I had a third party claim made againt me.

The total was 2400 paid out. My bonus remained in tact, but they put a loading of 300e on my next years premium due to the claim on my file.

Was still worth having the bonus protection cuse instead of my insurance being 700e with the loading, it would have been over 1500 if I ad lost the 5 years no claims bonus.

Hope this makes sense.

Are you sure about that?

Ive seen claims loadings being applied on someone that is a serial claimer,had a major claim ie 40 OR 50K + or if they have had convictions for say drunk driving but that does seem very outlandish for such a minor claim.

Did you get confirmation of this directly from your insurer about this?

Its basically against the law/ethics because if it wasnt then every insurance company could load anyone that makes a claim as they see fit.

Id query that if I were you.

matt70iu

Otis Driftwood wrote: »

Are you sure about that?

Ive seen claims loadings being applied on someone that is a serial claimer,had a major claim ie 40 OR 50K + or if they have had convictions for say drunk driving but that does seem very outlandish for such a minor claim.

Did you get confirmation of this directly from your insurer about this?

Its basically against the law/ethics because if it wasnt then every insurance company could load anyone that makes a claim as they see fit.

Id query that if I were you.

Um, thanks. I just thought it was normal practise. I'll check and post back on what they say:)

Otis Driftwood

Think about it.If making a claim effects your premium irregardless then whats the point in paying extra for bonus protection?Its more likely that you had a step back protection cover.You had a third party claim so rather than losing your full bonus you lost a portion of it.With the figures you mentioned above that sounds like the logical explanation.

hardCopy

Gannon Mealy Skullcap wrote: »

Boy, but you have a very low opinion for other drivers!

A €500 job at a panel beaters would easily tip €2000 at a main dealers.

The price you end up paying depends on how accomodating the other driver is.