Premium rise after accident I caused?

Mairead80

The husband rear ended someone recently. A genuine accident but his fault nonetheless. Fair bit of damage to the other car and driver wanted Guards called. Again, all fair enough. Got a letter from the insurance company afterwards to say car costs were settled. Naively thought that was the end of it, but then received a solicitor's letter to say driver is looking for major compensation. Despite Guards telling my husband other driver was 'absolutely fine' on the night, have no doubt he'll get thousands. Anyways, absolutely petrified about how much this is going to cost in his next premium due in early 2020. Anyone know what kind of increase he'd be looking at? Was paying around €600 and had 50% step back cover.

McCrack

I never knew Gardai were trained to give medical opinions

Dia_Anseo

Mairead what matters here is that you and your husband are healthy and together.

I hope this helps!

punisher5112

He hit another car, wasn't paying enough attention and the injured party is well within their rights to pursue a claim.....

Just because one seems ok after the initial collision doesn't mean they won't be in pain later or the next day.

Your insurance company will pay out what ever is deemed necessary and there is nothing you can do.

Nearly 100% the premium will rise and most likely won't even get a quote elsewhere.

Higgins5473

You’ve up to two years to start putting in these injury claims which is part of the problem IMO. Your premium at best will be many multiples of what it is now with your current provider/underwriter. You’ll have to shop around and potentially try a broker. Have you step back or will you lose your no claims entirely? When you are looking for a new quote you will have to give the cost of the claim, it depends if it has settled by then when you are renewing and it may also ask if it has been settled in full.

colm_mcm

Sure the insurance was going to go up either way,
With or without the PI claim.

Del2005

The problem now is that you are stuck with the insurance company until the claim is settled and unless you have protected no claims you will loose your NCD along with an increased premium, personal injury cases can take years.

People in a crash can get a adrenaline hit and that can hide a lot of issues, the couple of days after the crash is when non obvious injuries will develop.

Mairead80

So basically, we are screwed premiums-wise. I guess the Gardai based their 'medical opinion' on the fact that the guy refused an ambulance because he said he was fine, just wanted car sorted. As mentioned, husband knows he was in the wrong and is clearly going to pay a hefty price for it, so there is no need to remind me of that in the comments. Was just looking for some indications of price increases...

wexfordman2

punisher5112 wrote: »

He hit another car, wasn't paying enough attention and the injured party is well within their rights to pursue a claim.....

He has a right to pursue a claim for actual damages and loss, that is all.

Just because some one made an error, does bot give someone the "right" to cash in in it.

Jimmy Bottlehead

Mairead80 wrote: »

So basically, we are screwed premiums-wise. I guess the Gardai based their 'medical opinion' on the fact that the guy refused an ambulance because he said he was fine, just wanted car sorted. As mentioned, husband knows he was in the wrong and is clearly going to pay a hefty price for it, so there is no need to remind me of that in the comments. Was just looking for some indications of price increases...

There's absolutely no way to gauge how much your premium will increase by. Look how much it varies company to company, broker to broker. Now factor in a crash. There's no way to know.

It's unfortunate, but you have to accept whatever financial repercussions there are.

mondeo

Be grateful he had insurance, imagine how much worse off he would be if he didn't. He would be up in court in dept to pay this guy a personal injury claim. My sister got hit by a car years back at a pedestrian crossing. Granted she needed some surgery on her face, she got 33k compensentation from the insurance company. This guy that was hit probably isn't that bad since he walked away feeling fine. Any idea what specific injury this man is claiming for ?

Mairead80

Have no idea what the injury is. Letter says 'personal injury, loss and expenses'. It's in the hands of the insurer now. Just rang the insurer to see if they can give us an idea of the premium but they refused, said it will only be generated 30 days before renewal. Would just love a rough idea so I can try to budget for it, but seems that isn't possible. Anyway thanks for the replies.

punisher5112

wexfordman2 wrote: »

He has a right to pursue a claim for actual damages and loss, that is all.

Just because some one made an error, does bot give someone the "right" to cash in in it.

Where did I say that....

Sultan of Bling

Mairead80 wrote:

Have no idea what the injury is. Letter says 'personal injury, loss and expenses'. It's in the hands of the insurer now. Just rang the insurer to see if they can give us an idea of the premium but they refused, said it will only be generated 30 days before renewal. Would just love a rough idea so I can try to budget for it, but seems that isn't possible. Anyway thanks for the replies.

It will increase by multiples of what you're paying now as someone advised earlier so just start saving whatever you can afford now.

Del2005

Mairead80 wrote: »

Have no idea what the injury is. Letter says 'personal injury, loss and expenses'. It's in the hands of the insurer now. Just rang the insurer to see if they can give us an idea of the premium but they refused, said it will only be generated 30 days before renewal. Would just love a rough idea so I can try to budget for it, but seems that isn't possible. Anyway thanks for the replies.

Sounds like a fairly standard claim. Hopefully it's only whiplash that they are claiming for.

No body can guess what your premium increase will be, but if you don't have a protected NCD your renewal will double at least.

_Brian

My sister in law had a small tip with her car, she was in the wrong. €15k paid out between PI and vehicle repair.

Her premium went from €800 to €2600


Maddening thing is she was set up.

She was in the habit of driving onto her driveway and reversing out onto the estate.
Her neighbor, a traveller as it happens, was sitting in his van waiting for her one day, when she was reversed out and stopped to move forward he started off from his house two doors up and hit her before she got moved off.
Guards said they knew this happened but no way to prove it.

wexfordman2

punisher5112 wrote: »

Where did I say that....

By stating the obvious in your post, which was completely pointless as the op never claimed he didn't have a right to claim damages, you deliberately antagonised the op and prob a few other posters.

Yours was a pointless meaningless and vindictive post imho, and deserved a clarification at least. That clarification being that yes, the injured party has a right to claim for loss or injuries actually inflicted.

Now what point or purpose has your post had in relation to the posters query ,?

Eggs For Dinner

_Brian wrote: »

My sister in law had a small tip with her car, she was in the wrong. €15k paid out between PI and vehicle repair.

Her premium went from €800 to €2600


Maddening thing is she was set up.

She was in the habit of driving onto her driveway and reversing out onto the estate.
Her neighbor, a traveller as it happens, was sitting in his van waiting for her one day, when she was reversed out and stopped to move forward he started off from his house two doors up and hit her before she got moved off.
Guards said they knew this happened but no way to prove it.

Without medical evidence that there was "an injury" that would never have succeeded. Between the medical profession, scabby solicitors and lazy insurers, this will continue. The rewards are too high

punisher5112

wexfordman2 wrote: »

By stating the obvious in your post, which was completely pointless as the op never claimed he didn't have a right to claim damages, you deliberately antagonised the op and prob a few other posters.

Yours was a pointless meaningless and vindictive post imho, and deserved a clarification at least. That clarification being that yes, the injured party has a right to claim for loss or injuries actually inflicted.

Now what point or purpose has your post had in relation to the posters query ,?

What the actual are you on about.....

The op seems to think as they were ok at the time that they must be the next day....

Unfortunately I've been hit a few times with red light runners and just pure thickness on their part.....

I in no way done anything you said....

Internet police are out in force today....

wirelessdude01

Was the solicitor letter sent to you or your insurance company?

Eggs For Dinner

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Was the solicitor letter sent to you or your insurance company?

Usually sent to the policyholder to pass on to their insurer

Mairead80

Yeah came to him. Horribly scary letter to be honest (I presume all solicitor's letters are), but then a line at the end saying to forward it to insurer. So insurer has it now. They paid out for the car almost immediately, but not sure how long these type of claims take?

somesoldiers

I had an accident last year, car two in front stopped dead, car behind hit it. I hit them. I was liable for the car I hit

Insurance went from 1000 to 3000, just have to suck it up. Regardless Of how much the claim is OP you will have a big rise but not in proportion to the damages claimed

This will start to decrease as your NCB rises again

I get letters frequently from solicitors and personal injuries board but call insurer, they always have a copy anyhow, and they say to leave it with them

Once you still have a claim against you you likely won’t even get quoted elsewhere or at an even greater price so you are stuck with them til claim settles at least

Eggs For Dinner

Mairead80 wrote: »

Yeah came to him. Horribly scary letter to be honest (I presume all solicitor's letters are), but then a line at the end saying to forward it to insurer. So insurer has it now. They paid out for the car almost immediately, but not sure how long these type of claims take?

It's a template letter that most use. Designed to intimidate but standard fare from your insurers point of view.

doctorchopper

I was in a similar situation Jan 2018, hit car in front, resulting in personal injury claim. payout was 18000. premium went from 600 to 2500, i managed to get it down to 1600 by dropping fully comp and going with only third party fire and theft. Even after 1 full year after claim no other company would quote me, hopefully this year they will. I had step back but lost 30% so down to 20, will be back up to 40% on next renewal

Mairead80

somesoldiers wrote: »

I had an accident last year, car two in front stopped dead, car behind hit it. I hit them. I was liable for the car I hit

Insurance went from 1000 to 3000, just have to suck it up. Regardless Of how much the claim is OP you will have a big rise but not in proportion to the damages claimed

This will start to decrease as your NCB rises again

I get letters frequently from solicitors and personal injuries board but call insurer, they always have a copy anyhow, and they say to leave it with them

Once you still have a claim against you you likely won’t even get quoted elsewhere or at an even greater price so you are stuck with them til claim settles at least

Is that definite that the rise is not in proportion to damages claimed? I assumed the more the man gets, the more premium will rise?

somesoldiers

Mairead80 wrote: »

Is that definite that the rise is not in proportion to damages claimed? I assumed the more the man gets, the more premium will rise?

Losing your NCB is the extent of your liability. They can’t charge you more because the claim is more, the risk was theirs, this is why you pay for insurance.
The risk is greater now hence they will increase the premium on next renewal.

You will unfortunately be stuck with them and whatever they charge you while the claim is still open.
Try and put some money by between now and then so you can pay as much up front as possible and not be stuck with an extra 10% for monthly direct debits!

coylemj

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

It's a template letter that most use. Designed to intimidate but standard fare from your insurers point of view.

+1 I was a witness to an accident several years ago. I was sitting in my car when an accident happened beside me so I gave my details to the driver whom I regarded as the innocent party, said I'd back him up with a statement if he needed it.

My reward for being a good citizen? His solicitor decided to cast the net far and wide so he wrote to me (and probably everyone else) alleging that the accident was 100% my fault and wanted details of my insurance! Apparently it's standard stuff - blame everyone and see who engages. I ignored the letter and never heard from them again.

doctorchopper

somesoldiers wrote: »

Losing your NCB is the extent of your liability. They can’t charge you more because the claim is more, the risk was theirs, this is why you pay for insurance.
The risk is greater now hence they will increase the premium on next renewal.

You will unfortunately be stuck with them and whatever they charge you while the claim is still open.
Try and put some money by between now and then so you can pay as much up front as possible and not be stuck with an extra 10% for monthly direct debits!

When my policy came up for renewal there was a "extra loading" so they called it of around 800 euro, so its more than just a loss of no claims bonus

Toots

I had a claim put in against me in 2018 - guy cycles into the front of my parked car, then claimed I drove it out of the parking spot and hit him. No witnesses and I hadn't got a dash cam, so basically it was my word against his. He was claiming some sort of injury (the insurance won't tell you specifics, only that it's an injury) and he was using one of those "injury lawyers 4U" type crowds. First I heard of it was when a letter from the PIAB landed in my door 5 months later.

Like you, I tried to gauge how much my premiums were likely to go up by (I'd only just renewed) but they can't/won't say anything until the renewal time. If the claim is still open, you'll be stuck with whoever's insuring you now. Mine settled about 2 weeks before renewal notices were sent, for just under €15k.

Previous year I'd paid €550ish for fully comp with step back bonus protection. I also had a full NCD. My renewal came in at €1217 fully comp with my NCD stepped back to 2 years. So my premium was just over double what I paid the last year, which was honestly a lot less than what I expected. I was wondering would it put me off the road. However, a knock on effect was that my husband's premium also went up, because I was on his policy and when he renewed, they wouldn't quote him with me on it because at that time the claim was still open. His renewal was €474 but when he rang to tell them about my claim, they wouldn't allow me to stay on the policy and when he took me off it increased to €670ish.

With regard to your case, the guy could be genuinely injured, often with adrenaline you feel fine right after and then it's only a day or two later that it really starts. My husband was in a crash on the M50 (somebody went into the back of him at speed while he was stopped at the lights on an exit ramp) and he felt totally fine afterwards. Refused an ambulance, refused to let me take him to A&E or swift care or even the GP. He started feeling a bit stiff by dinner time and within 48 hours he could barely stand upright. I got him to the GP then and he said he sees it all the time, the shock makes people feel grand and then it wears off and they're in bits.

Best advice I can give you is try and forget about it as much as possible, and just let the insurance take care of it. That's what you pay them for. I know hard not to think about it, and I was worried sick about my case, but it's completely out of your hands now.

Mairead80

Toots wrote: »

Previous year I'd paid €550ish for fully comp with step back bonus protection. I also had a full NCD. My renewal came in at €1217 fully comp with my NCD stepped back to 2 years. So my premium was just over double what I paid the last year, which was honestly a lot less than what I expected. I was wondering would it put me off the road. However, a knock on effect was that my husband's premium also went up, because I was on his policy and when he renewed, they wouldn't quote him with me on it because at that time the claim was still open. His renewal was €474 but when he rang to tell them about my claim, they wouldn't allow me to stay on the policy and when he took me off it increased to €670ish.

Interesting about your husband Toots, thanks for the heads up. So I guess I should be prepared for my insurance to go up also:-( Am assuming this claim will still be open for some time, as it only happened last month and my husband's premium is due in Feb, so we should receive new quote next month. From what I have read, PI claims take an average of two years to settle (if uncontested).