Car Insurance Hike

[allenlondon]

Nissan Tino. Had it for 12 years. Do less than a thousand miles a year.

Insured with Direct Line. Last year £400, this year £550.

Mrs A had a very minor bash in a car park, which the other driver claimed on. So thus, in spite of protected no-claims, premium shot up. (Would have been £750 without the protected NCB!).

What do we do? Living in London, you need comprehensive insurance. Confused's cheaper end is around the £400 mark.

A

[margarettom]

Any claim will increase your premium the following year, despite NCB protection. We had the same problem. The only thing you can do is shop around, but that claim will still affect your quotes.

[Ellipsis]

Allen, according to that document, with a protected NCB and 9 years no claims, with one accident, your NCB is unchanged so you will still get the same discount.

Any increase is therefore market conditions. NCB is merely a percentage discount. If your base premium goes up, and the percentage discount remains the same, then your cost will increase.

[allenlondon]

Right, so the market conditions dictate an increase from £400 to £550?

Lummy. I knew they were chisellers, but that takes the biscuit.

[DTCwordfan]

try the NFU and see what they quote - I found them to be superb and very competitive. It's also a mutual so you get a 'stake' in them. Their service is excellent....they're outside of the Confused spectrum by the way so they're not taken into consideration by Confused.

[allenlondon]

Thanks DTC.

[BAKERS DOZEN]

I tried NFU when our quote went up from £270 to £350 and was quoted over £1,000 by them. When I queried what I thought was a stupid amount the chap on the phone asked me if I actually knew what NFU stood for which to be honest I hadn't really thought of. It stands for National Farmers Union and you will probably get a good quote if you live in the countryside but Manchester, where I live, is a no go area with them. Finally went with LV and very happy with their prices and their service.

[Prudie]

I'm not aware of your circumstances but am surprised at even £400 for that car of that age. My last 3 cars have all been slightly 'sporty', over 2000cc, 10K average mileage, business cover, NCB protection and fully comp and I've never paid more than £220 with several companies.
Just commenting, don't really know how it all works.

[bednobs]

Your premium has gone up because you are seen as a higher risk. The Ncd is still the same percentage but of a higher amount

[teacake44]

The real answer to this is, unless the damage is really over the top, in which case a 12 year old car will be written off any how, pay for it yourself, or you may end up paying a lot more in extra premiums than the cost of the damage.

[bhg481]

You still have to tell your insurance company you've had an accident, even if you don't claim, so your premium might go up anyway. Of course you can choose not to tell them but if, by any chance, they find out they can cancel your policy or refuse to pay out on a claim, which will cost you more in the long run.

[teacake44]

So I back into a concrete post, crack my bumper, take it for repair, job done. How they going to find out?

[allenlondon]

That was the point. Mrs A had no choice but to tell Direct Line of the accident (and anyway, as it happens, the third party DID claim against our policy, so any attempt at secrecy wouldn't have worked).

He had a few scratches on his extremely flashy motor - if it had been on our car, we would have ignored it (living in London it's an occupational hazard).

[bednobs]

In which case they are trying to recoup their losses

[teacake44]

Flashy motor, sounds a little like sour grapes. You could have asked them to send you a quote first for the repair.

[ToraToraTora]

NCB and protection thereof works like this, I will use arbitrary figures as an illustration. Say you have 70% NCB and the base premium is £100, then you will pay £30 + a small amount to re insure against the NCB, say £5 so you will pay £35 for £105 worth of insurance, your £5 is protecting you for a potential hike of £70. Now you claim so you lose the NCB but your NCBP now comes into play and at renewal you get the payout of £65 but that is against the original premium of £100, so now they add on the price rise for that year and the price rise because you are now a higher risk, say £10 + another £5. So the new base premium is £115, less your reinsurance payout of £65 = £50, that's your new premium. Which looks like a hike and it is NCBP only protects the NCB amount from the preceding year.

[ToraToraTora]

PS yes they have proportional forfiture and all manner of bells and whistles but the example above is meant to illustrate the principle. The best thing is never claim, for small-medium amounts what with NCB forfiture, price hikes and excess it ain't worth it. In your case I'd have got the other car fixed myself and not mentioned it.

[allenlondon]

"Flashy motor, sounds a little like sour grapes."

Stop making things up teacake. You (or he) can drive as flashier car as you like. We don't. We don't care either way.

[teacake44]

Are you real, me making it up? your words not mine. Quote @14.24 "He had a few scratches on his ( extremely flashy motor")

[woofgang]

Try Sheila's wheels, they have always been good for me. BUT I think once you have had a bump, it takes a few years to be able to get a cheap deal again.

[allenlondon]

No, teacake. "sounds a little like sour grapes" - WHOSE words?

Don't take me for the raw prawn, pal.