To claim or not to claim that is the question

pmcg1983

Partner drove car into flood last week and car stopped working. Family friend who knows about cars took a look at it and said there was water in the engine and it will probably need a new engine. Car is 2008 Mondeo. I haven't taken it to a garage yet to get a full diagnosis on it but I have spoken to my insurance company about the options. They said they can either take it to one of there garages and assess it there or they can take it to a local independent garage and they can send out assessor. If they deem it as needs to be written off the most I think I would get would be 1,500. They said my premium would double when it comes to renewal as I was currently on a 50% no claims discount which would mean going from 400 to 800 which wouldn't be too bad but my worry is that it would be a lot higher. I filled in the quote form on the insurance companies website for all my details plus the potential claim amount and they refused to quote which makes me worried for when the renewal date comes around. What's the best course of action here, claim and hope the renewal amount is reasonable or pay to get it fixed out of my own pocket/scraped and buy new car?

Jamessmith0901

It's best to get a full diagnosis from a trusted local garage to assess the damage to your car. If the cost of repairs is high, it may be worth purchasing a new car instead. Consider the cost of a potential insurance claim against the long-term impact on your insurance premium. If you do decide to make a claim and the renewal amount is too high, consider shopping around for alternative insurance providers.

thebiglad

If you lose 50% NCD it will take you 3 years to work that back so premium will be affected for that period.

Also, assuming you have comp cover and do claim, there will be an excess so, if the car is valued at €1,500 you'll have the excess taken off that too.

If you believe car is worth €1,500 and, you can afford to replace it without insurance then that is the better option - save your claim in case something involving another party occurs, otherwise, view the insurance claim as a loan, you'll pay back €400 next renewal and so on...

The issue with insurance quotes may be age of the car - try quotes with a 2010/11 model and see if you do any better.

kirk.

And get fully comprehensive and full no claims bonus protection

Don't know why anyone would do otherwise

whomitconcerns

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058319237/to-claim-or-not-to-claim-that-is-the-question

That's not how insurance works. It won't go from 400 to 800 if you lose your no claims of 50%.

Your premium will probably go to maybe 1500 from 800.

Losing your ncb affects the discount you get. But your premium can go up as much as they want. Hence it's a bit of a scam. 😁

Eggs For Dinner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121273162#Comment_121273162

Your maths on the effect of losing the 50% NCB are wrong.

whomitconcerns

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121274244#Comment_121274244

Not sure what exactly you mean, but my point is more about how ncbs function.

My point was to illustrate that a 90% ncb on a 5k premium is less beneficial than a 10% ncb on a 500 premium, hence focusing on the percentage itself is not very helpful in cases like the above.

Eggs For Dinner

The OP was advised by his insurer that his premium would likely go from 400 (currently) to 800 if he claimed, as he would lose his 50% NCB. This means the pre-NCB figure is 800 and is what he would pay next year, subject to any rate increases. You stated that his premium would likely go to 1,500 FROM 800, which is not his current premium

pmcg1983

Thanks for all the replies on my original post. I've decided to not go through my insurance and get a new car out of my own pocket. Thanks again

endacl

Probably the best option. You’d only be back on the road with a new engine a short while before you’d start to notice all the electrical issues after a flood that would be a headache to track down and a significant cost to fix. And the smelly carpets…

Yeah Right

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121277042#Comment_121277042

He wasn't told that (or at least, you cannot infer that from his post given the info provided). He was told his premium would double and the 400 to 800 is is his own back-of-envelope calculations. What @whomitconcerns is saying is:

Premium = 800

NCB discount = 50% so currently paying 400 (premium is still 800 though, in their eyes)

Claim = loss of NCB so original premium of 800 now applies

"Your premium will double" could mean they'll charge you 1600 from now on, as losing just the 50% NCB sounds like an okay deal given the circumstances

His premium was always 800, he was getting half of that off though. If it doubles, there's a chance it will double the 800 figure, not the 400. I'd get anything in writing before heading down that road though.

FishOnABike

If you claim on motor insurance not only do you lose your no claims discount (assuming it isn't protected) your risk rating can also go up which raises your base premium. You are also out of pocket for any policy excess.

You could be several hundred euro out of pocket for the excess and see your policy go from 300 (1000 with 70%no claims discount) to 1500 with no no-claims discount, just to use easy to work with numbers as an example.

listermint

Has it been checked properly?

Frankly unless it was seawater then the odds are electrical damage is not linear.

If it got engine water then removing the plugs and turning it over to eject water. Changing oil and all filters would probably sort it.

Get someone at least competent to have a look rather than immediately issuing yourself a write off.

Eggs For Dinner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121316172#Comment_121316172

Dear God, what a convoluted route to come to a wrong conclusion

Yeah Right

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121316828#Comment_121316828

Way to mask your own ignorance, pal. It's only convoluted if you have a tenuous grasp of the English language and/or mathematics. We also have no way of knowing if it's incorrect without any further information from the OP. One thing we DO know, for certainty, however is that this sentence.....

The OP was advised by his insurer that his premium would likely go from 400 (currently) to 800 if he claimed,

.....is wrong because that's not what he was told. He was told it would double. He wasn't told it would go from X to Y, he was told it would double. It's not clear what the starting or end figure are, but nevertheless, your statement above is wrong. Scarlet for ya.

Eggs For Dinner

You're funny.

In the original post the OP said his premium would double, "going from 400 to 800".

I'll leave it by saying I've more experience than you on this subject

Yeah Right

Incorrect again, looks like all that experience means SFA when it comes to reading comprehension.

The op said they told him it would double. That's the only input from the insurance company, that it would double. They never said it would go from 400 to 800, the OP is inferring that.

This might not be the case, it might double from 800 to 1600, we don't know without further info. So, the statement you made earlier, that he was advised it would go from 4 to 8 by the insurance company, is wrong. End of story.

There is no debate over this...... based on the info provided, you cannot make that statement and consider it true. It MIGHT WELL be true, but you're making too many assumptions to categorically state it as fact. You're wrong, and are in no position to tell others they're wrong.

Instead of accepting this with grace, you're now pretending to be more knowledgeable about the situation because you worked in an insurance company or some ****, like that gives you an insight into the phone call he had with his insurers. You, I and everyone else bar the op and the salespeople on the phone don't know what was said.

Eggs For Dinner

When you're in a hole.........