Post accident insurance question

ironmonkey

Hi all
I had a tip last week. I was parked in a car park with a steep gradient. I set the handbrake but must not have lifted it high enough. The car rolled while I was away - into the side of a new Mercedes CLS 350. I know thank fu@k nobody was hurt but it hit the most expensive car I've ever seen in that car park. Any how the estimate came back as 4000 sterling.
I want to know if anyone can advise what the insurance loading is going to be on renewal. At the moment I'm driving a 1.8 with 25 years without a claim. My insurance this year was about €500.
I could get a bank loan and pay it back over a year or just process the claim.
The damage to my car was minimal.
Feel free to criticise my carelessness. I do appreciate that this could have been worse.
Tx

goz83

Let the insurance pay for it. That's too high to be paying out of your pocket.

stecleary

Paying for it yourself is crazy. Getting a loan and paying for completely defeats the reason for having insurance, even with a hike on your next policy.

We had a fire in out house last year, nothing too bad about 18k worth of damage, we could have paid for it ourselves and even thought about it but at the end of the day its what insurance is for. house insurance jumped from €540 to €1080, exactly doubled, but at least we still have 18k in our pockets. the premiums will come down before the loan could be justified to to keep premiums down

testicles

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MaceFace

I had an accident last year - other party completely at fault but they denied it and I couldn't prove it so it ended up being split 50/50.
Altogether about 3500 in damage (more to my car).

My renewal was loaded by €71.

hi5

25 years of paying premiums should more than cover a 4000 euro bill.
It's a shocking indictment of the insurance industry's stranglehold over their own customers that people should even have to consider paying out from their own pocket...but sadly that's the way things are in this country.

Straighenup

testicles wrote: »

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Is that possible? Just out of interest how would you go about that? I'm guessing the Insurance company would have their assessor estimate the actual cost, if you could pay them back that amount, it might be worthwhile

Sue Pa Key Pa

Straighenup wrote: »

Is that possible? Just out of interest how would you go about that? I'm guessing the Insurance company would have their assessor estimate the actual cost, if you could pay them back that amount, it might be worthwhile

It is standard practice with insurers that there will be no claims loading or loss of NCB if you reimburse their outlay. The settlement figure must be disclosed to you under CPC regulations, so you'll have the figures on which to make your decision. However, it is still an 'accident' which must be disclosed to all potential insurers when seeking quotes.

Straighenup

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

It is standard practice with insurers that there will be no claims loading or loss of NCB if you reimburse their outlay. The settlement figure must be disclosed to you under CPC regulations, so you'll have the figures on which to make your decision. However, it is still an 'accident' which must be disclosed to all potential insurers when seeking quotes.

That is fantastic advice, thank you:)

Sue Pa Key Pa

Straighenup wrote: »

That is fantastic advice, thank you:)

In these circumstances, no way would I consider paying it myself though. This mess maybe sorted in a year or two and the environment may be there for cheaper premiums and you'll have repaid more than any premium increase

ironmonkey

Thanks for all the replies. For me it's a numbers exercise. If I have to disclose a claim for the next 5 years I'm going to lose my no claims deduction. It's my understanding that it doesn't matter if the claim was for 4 million or 4 grand - you lose the deduction and that's it.
If the cost over 5 years of increased premium is more than 5000 (euro) then it's worth paying up front.

Count Down

Unless you're paying a premium of €4000-€5000 a year at present you should let the insurance company pay. You'll regain your NCB after the 5 years, and it won't cost you anything like the €4000 or so you're thinking of paying now.
If the insurance company play by the rules, you'll pay about 50% extra next renewal, 40% after that, 30% after that, and so on.
With simple maths, that will be €750 next year, €725 the following year, and so on. (I think!)

Sue Pa Key Pa

ironmonkey wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. For me it's a numbers exercise. If I have to disclose a claim for the next 5 years I'm going to lose my no claims deduction. It's my understanding that it doesn't matter if the claim was for 4 million or 4 grand - you lose the deduction and that's it.
If the cost over 5 years of increased premium is more than 5000 (euro) then it's worth paying up front.

The numbers don't warrant paying Stg£4k, even if you have zero bonus protection