Motor insurance problems

smcgiff

This can be filed under bringing it on myself.

In June 2010 I had a claim. I pulled into another lane (wasn't concentrating) and rubbed wheel to wheel and some minor paint damage. I can understand the other person was shocked - it wasn't a nice thing to have happened to them.

The person in the other car was old enough, approx late 50s early 60s.

She has since claimed her dancing career is over ( I think she taught classes) and other back damage, to put it in perspective my 8 year (at the time) daughter asked me why did I brake. (came to a sudden stop in traffic). Fortunately I had full NC protection (however, my renewal went up a few hundred for one year post claim, went back to normal after that).

I checked a few months back and the claim was still open. She's looking for a significant payout and the insurance company are not happy. Normally I'd be happy they are contesting a dubious claim, however...

The problem I have was that I was traveling and not using my car so I left my insurance lapse back in August. It was only €542 per annum, full NCB protection. It's since gone up to €682, bad an all as that is they've told me they'll not be able to quote while the open claim remains! Eek!

I now need my car for work. I'm waiting for a call back on Monday when they check to see if the claim remains open. Stupid of me to have left the insurance lapse, but really didn't expect a claim from over 4 years ago to be affecting me - especially what should have been a very simple insurance claim

Also, because I left my insurance lapse it's as if I never had insurance with 123.ie (RSA).

Any advice?

To Elland Back

Firstly, your last insurer is obliged to offer you a quote, though they are not obliged to offer you additions such as protected bonus, driving of other cars, additional named drivers etc.

Secondly, look for an insurer who only ask about claims which occurred in the last 3 years. Remember to only allow NCB for the number of completed claim free years you had since the accident.

Finally, use a broker as you won't get far with the direct insurers given your circumstances

smcgiff

Thanks,

Some very good suggestions there.

I don't have a claim since 2010 (my first ever), but 123.ie did have the details of the 2010 claim. This may not be noticeable to other insurance companies, and it shouldn't really be an issue for them.

Thanks again.

To Elland Back

If you answer "no" to a question about any claims in the last 3 years and present them with a certificate which mentions a claim in 2010, it shouldn't affect anything. You will have made a proper disclosure

ebbsy

I would say it is very unlikely that the ould biddy would be unable to dance as a result of you brushing against her though.

dave011

She must be looking for a crazy amount if compensation. I had a "tip" and literally a tip off a car in the car park, €400 damage to car and she claimed injury , my insurance settled it for €8,000. Usually the insurance want it closed quick enough so she must be looking for a large sum!

smcgiff

dave011 wrote: »

She must be looking for a crazy amount if compensation. I had a "tip" and literally a tip off a car in the car park, €400 damage to car and she claimed injury , my insurance settled it for €8,000. Usually the insurance want it closed quick enough so she must be looking for a large sum!

Aye, and as where I live is not the biggest city in the world I'm good friends of someone that's married to a relation of said woman. The way she described it to her family it sounded way worse than it actually was, so she was building it up from the get go. She used to take part time dance classes.

It hasn't yet gone to court, after so long you'd have thought it would have got that far by now. She turned down the arbitration process.


I got to see her claim form and she's claiming this accident has exacerbated an injury from a previous accident. She has a doctor's cert backing up her claim (hence forth I treat doctor's certs with contempt).

The whole process has been an eye opener. You can just be unlucky with a claim. About 12 years ago a 19 year old drove his dad's 4x4 into me, my car was written off and I didn't claim for personal injuries - I felt fine. So much for Karma

smcgiff

To Elland Back wrote: »

If you answer "no" to a question about any claims in the last 3 years and present them with a certificate which mentions a claim in 2010, it shouldn't affect anything. You will have made a proper disclosure

The certificate shows an open claim, payout to date €3.3k.

To Elland Back

smcgiff wrote: »

The certificate shows an open claim, payout to date €3.3k.

As long as it shows the incident date as 2010, an insurer who only asks for claims in the last 3 years should accept it

smcgiff

To Elland Back wrote: »

As long as it shows the incident date as 2010, an insurer who only asks for claims in the last 3 years should accept it

Unfortunately, 123.ie only ask on their online configurator if you've a claim in the last 4 years, but the girl on the phone then noted there was an open claim.

So, it's not guaranteed not to be a problem with other insurance companies. I think it's likely to be.

I'm hoping the case will be closed, when I was talking to old insurance company (bought out by RSA/123.ie) a few months back they said they were hoping to settle, but I've been down that road before and it keeps getting put off. They said they'd call me when it was closed. No call yet, but hopefully that's because I'm not a priority.

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

To Elland Back wrote: »

As long as it shows the incident date as 2010, an insurer who only asks for claims in the last 3 years should accept it

You are very wrong here

If the claim is open there is little chance of getting a quote elsewhere.

most places also ask for claims the last 5 years or even more (including some asking have you ever had any accident or claim regardless of when)

OP dont take this advice, if you are looking for quote always mention an open claim and any relevant information the company is looking for because if they find out any other way then you will have a cancelled policy and find it very hard and very expensive to get insured again

smcgiff

Think you're right KSaL, very frustrating.

smcgiff

Is there an ombudsman one could appeal to ... if it comes to it.

I was quoted €540 in August for a 210 BHP car Full NCB protection - although nothing else changed I'm now untouchable. :rolleyes:

To Elland Back

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

You are very wrong here

If the claim is open there is little chance of getting a quote elsewhere.

most places also ask for claims the last 5 years or even more (including some asking have you ever had any accident or claim regardless of when)

OP dont take this advice, if you are looking for quote always mention an open claim and any relevant information the company is looking for because if they find out any other way then you will have a cancelled policy and find it very hard and very expensive to get insured again

I'm not wrong here, I have advised the OP to use this method with an insurer who only asks about the last 3 years, not those that ask about 5. I've cleared this for clients many times, with full disclosure. Nowhere did I suggest hiding this incident from an insurer. Frankly, I'm insulted you would suggest I would direct a poster towards misrepresentation.

BTW OP, 123.ie are only brokers and not an insurer. There are some good brokers and some bad ones

smcgiff

To Elland Back wrote: »

BTW OP, 123.ie are only brokers and not an insurer. There are some good brokers and some bad ones

Could be wrong, think they are exclusively tied to RSA now, they used to provide quotes for many insurance companies, but tied to RSA now. Stand to be corrected.

To Elland Back

smcgiff wrote: »

Could be wrong, think they are exclusively tied to RSA now, they used to provide quotes for many insurance companies, but tied to RSA now. Stand to be corrected.

Apologies, you are right about being tied to RSA, my point was that they are not the actual insurer

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

To Elland Back wrote: »

I'm not wrong here, I have advised the OP to use this method with an insurer who only asks about the last 3 years, not those that ask about 5. I've cleared this for clients many times, with full disclosure. Nowhere did I suggest hiding this incident from an insurer. Frankly, I'm insulted you would suggest I would direct a poster towards misrepresentation.

BTW OP, 123.ie are only brokers and not an insurer. There are some good brokers and some bad ones

Open claims MUST be disclosed. There is no two ways about that regardless of it happening yesterday or ten years ago it must be declared.

Oh, and ive canceled car insurance policies before for one of the biggest insurance companies in the country over non-disclosure so dont start bringing clients and what you do for a living into this.

To Elland Back

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

Open claims MUST be disclosed. There is no two ways about that regardless of it happening yesterday or ten years ago it must be declared.

Oh, and ive canceled car insurance policies before for one of the biggest insurance companies in the country over non-disclosure so dont start bringing clients and what you do for a living into this.

If you are asked if you have had any accidents, claims or convictions in the last X number of years and answer honestly, how can that be non-disclosure? Your accident is the date of the incident and the claim is the date a 3rd party makes it known that they are seeking compensation. If it is still open is not an issue providing it is outside the timeframe asked by the insurer. That's the way it is

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

To Elland Back wrote: »

If you are asked if you have had any accidents, claims or convictions in the last X number of years and answer honestly, how can that be non-disclosure? Your accident is the date of the incident and the claim is the date a 3rd party makes it known that they are seeking compensation. If it is still open is not an issue providing it is outside the timeframe asked by the insurer. That's the way it is

Your joking right ?

An open claim must be disclosed. If you have an open claim it is most definitely outside the acceptance criteria for most insurance companies and they will not quote.

To Elland Back

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

Your joking right ?

An open claim must be disclosed. If you have an open claim it is most definitely outside the acceptance criteria for most insurance companies and they will not quote.

Show me where that is part of the insurance regulations? Are you saying that you must disclose an open claim OUTSIDE THE PERIOD OF THE QUESTION with a reserve of 50k, but need not tell them of a settled claim of 1,000,000 again OUTSIDE the period of the question

Good night

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

To Elland Back wrote: »

Show me where that is part of the insurance regulations? Are you saying that you must disclose an open claim OUTSIDE THE PERIOD OF THE QUESTION with a reserve of 50k, but need not tell them of a settled claim of 1,000,000 again OUTSIDE the period of the question

Good night

I'm not going to argue with you anymore, you'll only try to get me to stoop to your level

All i say is i was trained in insurance correctly and I've refused insurance, cancelled policies over this very item. Non disclosure of an open claim. End of story. Most companies are starting to ask specifically for open claims too.

im leaving it there and no longer following this thread as im not going to be getting into any arguments, the OP can always call the insurance companies and ask the question and see which answer he gets himself.

lomb

Why are people able to bring spurious claims. The insurers, their employees, solicitors and judges as well as doctors are gimps for allowing it to take place. Whiplash injuries should be capped at say 2 grand. If its not enough tough ****. Problem solved.

Del2005

lomb wrote: »

Why are people able to bring spurious claims. The insurers, their employees, solicitors and judges as well as doctors are gimps for allowing it to take place. Whiplash injuries should be capped at say 2 grand. If its not enough tough ****. Problem solved.

Because all these people are making good money off spurious claims.

smcgiff

lomb wrote: »

Why are people able to bring spurious claims. The insurers, their employees, solicitors and judges as well as doctors are gimps for allowing it to take place. Whiplash injuries should be capped at say 2 grand. If its not enough tough ****. Problem solved.

In a lot of cases the insurance companies consider challenging a case as being more expensive than paying out. However that is completely short term thinking and has led to a compensation culture.

I'm totally in agreement with the insurance company challenging the case, but surely there should be some closure after this length of time.

I'd also add that from my own experience the system is messed up. I've seen her assessment of the accident and the whole thing has been allowed to escalate completely beyond recognition of what actually happened ( I know I'm biased).

From day one I've told the insurance company I'd happily attend court to give my side of the story, even though from the doctor's report it's a miracle she still has a head on her shoulders. Again, it was a side to side wheel touch (from her description it could be read that I t-boned her ).

dave011

Love to know out if curiosity what was offered to her, because I'm sure it was similar to my claim against me, and if it was you would of thought she would just take it and move on! Especially if she's not that badly injured, madness how it still affect policies when the claim is still open so long!