Claim's effect on next year's premium

Offaly_good

Hey all, had an accident last week, no other cars involved, just ended up sliding off the road. A slippy road and gravel got the better of the tyres grip. Have no one to blame but myself. Damaged a wheel, wing, bumper and door.

I've got a quote to fix the car from a good reputable place for about 8k, using all genuine merc parts, resprays etc. It's an expensive car so that wouldn't be anywhere near writing it off.

Now the question that I can't seem to work out. I'm going to ring some brokers tomorrow but does anyone have any idea what impact a claim of that size would have on my premiums? It was about 890 this year with 3 years no claims that'd be wiped out (no ncb protection unfortunatly). 31 year old. 3 penalty points.

If I can negotiate a decent price with the garage, maybe use some not brand new parts, then would it be worth paying now, or will the premium increase not be quite that bad over the next few years?

Are there any other disadvantages to making the claim?

coylemj

Offaly_good wrote: »

If I can negotiate a decent price with the garage, maybe use some not brand new parts, then would it be worth paying now, or will the premium increase not be quite that bad over the next few years?

It's worth seeing if you can bring the cost down, in which case you could be in marginal territory. But at 8K I'd say you'd be better off putting in the claim. Don't forget to include any excess in your calculations, it's unlikely you'll get the full amount refunded.

Offaly_good wrote: »

Are there any other disadvantages to making the claim?

Yes there is. No other insurance company will give you a quote for a few years after that claim so you will not be able to shop around for better quotes at renewal time.

Offaly_good

coylemj wrote: »

It's worth seeing if you can bring the cost down, in which case you could be in marginal territory. But at 8K I'd say you'd be better off putting in the claim. Don't forget to include any excess in your calculations, it's unlikely you'll get the full amount refunded.



Yes there is. No other insurance company will give you a quote for a few years after that claim so you will not be able to shop around for better quotes at renewal time.

Thanks. I'm going to ring my insurance company and ask them what it's likely to be. The quote is to replace absolutely everything that was touched, so I think it's likely it could come down a good bit. 2 19 inch alloys are eye wateringly pricy new. I have excess insurance so I will actually get all the excess back if I do claim.

So you won't get any quotes at all after a claim from other companies? Fair enough I suppose, makes it easier to find out how much I'd roughly be paying next year.

If it came down to something in the region of 4 or 5 I'd be inclined to just do it myself and at least leave my options open.

When you apply for insurance they ask about accidents or claims, so I'd have to declare it anyway wouldn't I? The online quotes won't give me any quotes. Do even if I don't claim, am I screwed with other companies anyway?

Toyotafanboi

Give you some idea.

Ms TFB was in an accident last year.

Car hit ice, came off the road. No other cars involved, no injurys. €12k damage to the car. Policy renewal went from €600 to €1350.

A few companys wouldnt quote as she lost all NCB but plenty would as the claim was settled, relatively low value, no personal injury or 3rd party liability just accidental damage to our own car and most quotes €13-1600 ish.

Offaly_good

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Give you some idea.

Ms TFB was in an accident last year.

Car hit ice, came off the road. No other cars involved, no injurys. €12k damage to the car. Policy renewal went from €600 to €1350.

A few companys wouldnt quote as she lost all NCB but plenty would as the claim was settled, relatively low value, no personal injury or 3rd party liability just accidental damage to our own car and most quotes €13-1600 ish.

If that was the extent of it I'd be laughing and the claim is a no brainer. An extra grand a year would be totally fine. That's exactly the kind of info I was hoping to hear. Hopefully that's how it will be for mine.

coylemj

Just to throw this out. Bear in mind that the OP clearly has fully comp. and this claim we're discussing counts as 'accidental damage' and would be off the comprehensive element of his policy as there is no third party.

If the OP claimed off his (fully comp.) policy for that damage, then downgraded his insurance on the next renewal to third party (with or without fire & theft) only, wouldn't he be entitled to his full no-claims bonus? Since he will have had no third party claim?

Eggs For Dinner

coylemj wrote: »

Just to throw this out. Bear in mind that the OP clearly has fully comp. and this claim we're discussing counts as 'accidental damage' and would be off the comprehensive element of his policy as there is no third party.

If the OP claimed off his (fully comp.) policy for that damage, then downgraded his insurance on the next renewal to third party (with or without fire & theft) only, wouldn't he be entitled to his full no-claims bonus? Since he will have had no third party claim?

No

Offaly_good

coylemj wrote: »

Just to throw this out. Bear in mind that the OP clearly has fully comp. and this claim we're discussing counts as 'accidental damage' and would be off the comprehensive element of his policy as there is no third party.

If the OP claimed off his (fully comp.) policy for that damage, then downgraded his insurance on the next renewal to third party (with or without fire & theft) only, wouldn't he be entitled to his full no-claims bonus? Since he will have had no third party claim?

It'd be some craic if that flew

I guess the only way to know is ask the insurance company what it's likely to be. Thanks to the poster above, I'm more inclined to go with claiming to be honest. Get the job done right, and even if the policy more than doubles, that's ok, it'll go down again over time and it's a smaller hit to take than trying to do it on the cheap and paying 4 or 5k up front.

naughtysmurf

In 2013 the Mrs scrapped the side of the 2yr old car along a wall, no other vehicle involved, required a new rear door & paint job, fully comp insurance, all sorted through 24plus, no issues, premium actually went down the following year, subsequently moved to Aviva, disclosed the details on insurance application, paid the premium, when NCB cert came through it was at 100%, forwarded it on to Aviva & was refunded an amount back onto my card, I think we had NCB stepback protection or similar though

Offaly_good

naughtysmurf wrote: »

In 2013 the Mrs scrapped the side of the 2yr old car along a wall, no other vehicle involved, required a new rear door & paint job, fully comp insurance, all sorted through 24plus, no issues, premium actually went down the following year, subsequently moved to Aviva, disclosed the details on insurance application, paid the premium, when NCB cert came through it was at 100%, forwarded it on to Aviva & was refunded an amount back onto my card, I think we had NCB stepback protection or similar though

That helps me think it's not the end of the world to make a claim. I don't have ncb protection unfortunately, but I do have excess cover, so I'd get any excess paid back.

As long as I'm not going to get a quote of like five grand next year, I think I'll go through with the claim. I suppose that's what insurance is for. It's pretty bad that even though I have fully comp I'm so stressed about making a claim. It should be a relaxing, no brainer experience.

Eggs For Dinner

Offaly_good wrote: »

That helps me think it's not the end of the world to make a claim. I don't have ncb protection unfortunately, but I do have excess cover, so I'd get any excess paid back.
e.

Where did you get that , do you mind me asking?

Offaly_good

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

Where did you get that , do you mind me asking?

It was offered by my insurer through a company called PEX. Hopefully it does what it says on the tin.

coylemj

Offaly_good wrote: »

It was offered by my insurer through a company called PEX. Hopefully it does what it says on the tin.

How much did it cost and how much excess does it cover? I can adjust my excess down by simply paying a higher premum, that's a far more efficient way of doing it than involving another insurance company.

Good luck dealing with PEX. Aside from a suspicious blitz of 5 x 5 star reviews in the space of two days in early September, there is a string of one star reviews from p1ssed off customers.....

https://ie.trustpilot.com/review/pexinsure.co.uk

Offaly_good

Cheers everyone for the answers. Sounds like it's not armageddon for me if I do claim on the insurance.

My head was wrecked worrying about it but the couple of actual examples here have put my mind at ease a bit. Now just need to get the car sorted and back on the road.

Offaly_good

coylemj wrote: »

How much did it cost and how much excess does it cover? I can adjust my excess down by simply paying a higher premum, that's a far more efficient way of doing it than involving another insurance company.

Good luck dealing with PEX. Aside from a suspicious blitz of 5 x 5 star reviews in the space of two days in early September, there is a string of one star reviews from p1ssed off customers.....

https://ie.trustpilot.com/review/pexinsure.co.uk

That's what I was afraid of alright. Still it should be cut and dry. But I'll read up and make sure I dot the t's and cross the i's.

Covers excess up to 1000 and I think was in the region of 50 quid. It was just cheaper that way than having the lower excess. Most of the issues are with phone insurance, but you'd think excess insurance comes down to, you claimed, there's an excess, they pay you back (eventually)