Claim Insurance or no?

celtictiger

Hi all....I had a wee accident in Galway last Friday night....skidded on ice into a parked VW Caravelle which was like hitting a brick wall - no damage to the Caravelle which by pure chance happened to be owned by a friend of mine. Mine is a 2000 Mercedes E220 Cdi. Need a new bumper, grill, bonnet, headlamp and wing panel and a few bits and bobs - was at a garage today and it's looking like its going to be around 1.5 - 2k to fix. Its a taxi - and my insurance is 1680 a year - my first year with Quinn Direct. My question is should I claim it or should I pay it myself? Paying it would put me under some serious pressure but I'm worried about how much my insurance will go up? Anyone have any idea how much it I could expect it to rise? Thanks in advance for any advice.

Y2J_MUFC

Pay it yourself.... I had the same thing happen me about 2 months ago. Driving along a backroad, this woman in an 07 stopped dead suddenly on the road..... cost about the same as you to fix the two cars.... but my insurance went down by another 200 this year, where as it probably would have worked out dearer in the long run... to claim would put it up through the roof, and you'ill end up paying more than 2000 in the long, long run...cause you'ill lose the no claims.

I was with Quinn Direct my first year too, they are supposed to be incredibly difficult to get money out of....

Tipsy Mac

Pay it yourself if you can afford to. Also maybe look like doing a botch repair job for the moment, ie just fix the light and anything else that really needs doing to keep the car legal, maybe patch up the bumper for now if possible.

A claim like this would hang around your neck for 5 years or so and you would end up paying for it in the long run, also would make it dificult to get a quote next time round with another company. I think myself I wouldn't claim unless it was a minimum of 3k's worth of damage.

celtictiger

I would just patch it up but it'll be due for an NCT in less than two months time....I've been thinking of it like this:
If my insurance doubles (would it?) with a claim I'm paying an extra 1600 for the year....plus another 200 taking into account what it may have come down which brings it up to 1800.....thats for the first year.....I break even for the first year as compared to paying it off myself....I suppose the second year and so on is where I get screwed over a barrel. So it's fianancial pressure now or later.

hashey

yeah patch it up urself, and keep away from those caravelles man there like tanks!:) btw my neck is sore:eek:

Steve

What NCD do you have?
They can't increase premium based on a claim, they can only take away your no-claim-discount.

Random

stevec wrote: »

What NCD do you have?
They can't increase premium based on a claim, they can only take away your no-claim-discount.

They can't???

Steve

random wrote: »

They can't???

darn tootin they can't:)

Random

stevec wrote: »

darn tootin they can't:)

Are you saying that an insurance company cannot put your premium up if you claim?

Senna

is he not saying that they can take away your NCB. and asking how long a NCB he has, if he has only 1 year NCB or this is his first year NCB, then the effect of the claim wont be as much.

Steve

yes, just because the you've claimed doesn't mean the risk is any different.
Insurance co's do this all the time and get away with it cos average Joe doesn't know any better.

Call the insurance ombudsman office and they'll happily fight your corner.

Random

stevec wrote: »

yes, just because the you've claimed doesn't mean the risk is any different.
Insurance co's do this all the time and get away with it cos average Joe doesn't know any better.

Call the insurance ombudsman office and they'll happily fight your corner.

Have you got a link or some point of reference to confirm that an insurance company is not allowed to raise the premium if you make a claim?

Where did you hear this ?

Steve

random wrote: »

Have you got a link or some point of reference to confirm that an insurance company is not allowed to raise the premium if you make a claim?

Where did you hear this ?

Most discussion was on a private forum so I can't link to it
Try a search for 'ombudsman' in motors.:) there's plenty of examples.

Gurgle

stevec wrote: »

What NCD do you have?
They can't increase premium based on a claim, they can only take away your no-claim-discount.

Carefull now, many insurance companies will give you a so-called NCB even on your first insurance policy.

They can take that away again, and you won't get it from another company having made a claim.

Y2J_MUFC

Y2J_MUFC wrote: »

I was with Quinn Direct my first year too, they are supposed to be incredibly difficult to get money out of....

Getting money out of any insurance company is like pulling hens teeth.
You'll never see the cost of replacement of your car.

But Quinn havea reputation of settling quickly.

Steve

random wrote: »

Have you got a link or some point of reference to confirm that an insurance company is not allowed to raise the premium if you make a claim?

Where did you hear this ?

If you have a genuine case then the ombudsman will fight it for you.

pow wow

stevec wrote: »

yes, just because the you've claimed doesn't mean the risk is any different.
Insurance co's do this all the time and get away with it cos average Joe doesn't know any better.

Call the insurance ombudsman office and they'll happily fight your corner.

Of course the risk is different.

To the OP, in laymens terms your premium will most likely go up. Whether it's because of the withdrawal of your NCB or whatever, it will go up. If you want to thrash out via the Ombudsman as stevec suggests 'why' it went up and if they're 'allowed' to do it then go ahead.

You could try shopping around for quotes now with other insurers mentioning a previous claim for x amount and see what their premiums are like, that would give you an indication of how bad it might be. Sometimes they surprise you though and the hit isn't nearly as bad as you think it will be.

Steve

ellscurr wrote: »

Of course the risk is different.

To the OP, in laymens terms your premium will most likely go up. Whether it's because of the withdrawal of your NCB or whatever, it will go up. If you want to thrash out via the Ombudsman as stevec suggests 'why' it went up and if they're 'allowed' to do it then go ahead.

In the case I read about, the guy had protected NCD. Had a minor incident (1-2k damage) and insurance co. said premium would go up. He rang the ombudsman and was told that they can't load a policy in this case. All they can do is take away your NCD, in his case it was protected.
This was last Aug or so and the policy wasn't due for renewal so don't know what the outcome was. I'll try to find out.

Edit: His premium didn't go up, same as last year.

My original q. to the op was how much NCD they had (and is it protected).
From that you can work out if it'll cost more to claim.

bazz26

If I had the money I would fix it up myself, insurance on a taxi is steep enough, a claim may make it even more expensive and limit you next year going with another insurance company.

Also get a few quotes on the repair work in the event the first garage are too expensive.

chubba1984

I crashed last year. Was insured with Hibernian and they paid me the proper value of my car (verified with a local main dealer who my family would have dealt with on many occasions in the past) minus the policy excess. Payment was prompt.

On insuring my car this year, compared it with the detailed breakdown from the previous year. Only thing I lost was the no claims discount. The original premium cost was the same i.e was 2,000 less 30% no claims in 07, inow is 2,000 with no no claims discount in 08.

Diddler82

1. Check what the excess is on your policy i.e. if you pay the first €300 on a claim it means you are down straight away anyway.

2. Ask them how much it will effect your premium for and for how long

3. Pay it yourself is probably the best bet, I have a sister who works in Quinn Direct and they get rewarded to make sure you get as little money as possible - it is their job as Assessors.:mad:

hiscan

had an accident myself two months ago skidded on some ice and hit a wall,5000e worth of damage so i rang my insurance co. eagle star to see how much my insurance would go up if i claimed and they told me 600e over 3 years .my current insurance is 700 per year and this will be my first ever claim