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Luckily I’ve made it to this point in life without ever needing to make a claim on my home insurance. Unfortunately this means I’m at a loss when it comes to knowing anything about actually needing to use said insurance.
We had a bit of an issue over the weekend where it might make sense to try and make a claim. However, given the sum involved I’m not sure if it would definitely be worth it if this were to result in the premium going up when we renew in a couple of months.
Does anyone have any recent experience of making a claim and the impact this might have when it comes round to renewal time? Is there a sum of money where you think it would be worth going to the insurance over just sucking it up and sorting things out yourself (assuming this was within your means)?
I'd avoid using insurance for anything less than a couple of grand TBH. Just not worth the hassle.
When a mate bust his foot in Norway kayaking he just paid cash for the xrays, crutches etc.
Likewise son's plastercast in St Anton.
We never bother with cancellation insurance etc when booking trips and always dial the possessions insurance value to zero on holiday insurance etc
Of course there are some things that affect the premium even if you don't claim for them. Which of course you *are* obliged to tell the insco about.
I had a claim last year approx £2.5K (cooker).
Home insurance went up ... say £150ish
My home insurance went from £220 to £390 with Hastings Direct after I tried to claim on their boiler breakdown cover that was included as part of the policy. Unfortunately they only have one person in the country covering oil boilers so the appointment was about a month away. I fixed the problem myself, but it was recorded as a claim for renewal.
given the sum involved
I buy insurance for the things that could go wrong that I can't afford to fix, replace, re-pay, cover etc. Only times I wouldn't/haven't use insurance is if the sum involved was equal to, or less than, my corresponding excess. E.g. we had a slow leak for many years in our kitchen from a hidden pipe and claimed - we ended up needing everything replacing, fixing etc. When we had a leak through the ceiling of our living room, however, I paid to get the work done myself as escape of water excess excess was same as getting work done anyway. So, I guess it really depends on what has happened and whether excesses are a factor etc. Over the years my premiums have gone up and gone down on all my insurance products, but if I needed to claim, I claim, its what I paid for in the first place. Other's MMV
It will go up if you claim as it is deemed that your risk has increased.
But it also goes up most years due to inflation, the fact that claims get more expensive per year and other stuff like plane crashes, shipping disasters. Insurance is very complex. Insurers diversify their risk portfolio by covering all manner of things across the globe.
Hurricane Ian last year will push up prices globally as insurance is a global industry. As consumers we never see this but it is all part of the pricing of premiums
In short, if you can't afford to fix it use the insurance. A £300 policy excess to fix a £5k problem is a no-brainer even if your premium goes up 25% next year
I claimed a small house fire(!) and a water leak from broken water pipe in upstairs shower in one year.
Premium went up about £100/25% that year, and I think the next couple of years has been £50ish.
I claimed for a broken bike and kit on the house insurance accidental damage cover, total claim was about £4k.
The policy went down by about £5 the following year!
We were burgled a few weeks before moving, moved to new house, in completely different postcode. Premium went up £1000 due to being more at risk of burglary, they wouldn't accept it was a different house..... Changed provider and got insurance cheaper than original premium.
Lesson - expect to have to change provider as they will try to load your next premium to reclaim their payout
And I was told 3 claims in a 5 year period will make you uninsurable / need to use specialists - we had storm damage from a few years before.
I had a claim last year and this year's renewal went up considerably. I just shopped around and switched companies, all up front about the claim, and the premium was back to 'normal'.
In 2021 I crashed my santa cruz blur and wrote it off, 2 buckled wheels bent fork cracked frame and rear triangle. Insurance paid out new for old and did not take the excess, pay out was just under £3k, our next policy only went up by £50.
My reminder has appeared, premium up 50%. No claims for at least 10 years (they checked)
Insurance industry has taken a kicking, therefore we take a kicking.
Comparable policies similar prices, maybe try quotes online with and without a claim?
It will go up if you claim as it is deemed that your risk has increased.
It seems weird to me that making a claim increases your actual risk. Surely it's the opposite, like say your boiler explodes and you have it replaced then it's way less likely to generate another claim because it's brand new and under warranty.
More likely, making a claim increases risk because you're deemed to be the sort of person who makes claims rather than suck it up.
You're looking at it from the eyes of the consumer not the insurer. They look at a whole range of risk metrics, some are tangible, some are more propensity based. They are masters of the dark arts of extracting money from you
It depends on the claim. Someone who claimed for an item they lost for example? The stats may show that anyone who claims for lost property is more likely to have a future claim for a loss.
Other than the financial numbers I place a value on not having to deal with insurance companies any more than I have to.
My insurance increased by £10 after the roof blew off.
Risk metrics...a colleague at work used to have an accident every few years to ensure he got his money's worth. Including the classic red wine on the carpet and replacing the entire downstairs carpet at it all matched. You claim, you are more likely to claim again.
Except...I dropped a new laptop and claimed, value was about £700. The premium didn't go up as my policy allowed occasional claims, however, once the excess came off, and the cash deduction because their preferred supplier had a rubbish range, I was left wondering why I'd bothered with the hassle. I doubt I'd claim for anything below a grand now
Thanks for all the stories.
Sounds like this probably won't be worth trying to make a claim this time. I expect the cost to replace the missing kit (a switch and a case full of games) would only be a few hundred more than our excess, so not really worth the hassle or risk of pushing up the premiums.
Other than the financial numbers I place a value on not having to deal with insurance companies any more than I have to.
This x 1000
Tagnut, that was a good outcome, who was the insurance with?
Insurance industry has taken a kicking, therefore we take a kicking.
Yep, mine went up £300 to £1400 this year and that was just before I made my first ever claim in 20 years for £3,000 (excess £300). The loss of a bit of no claims means it will go up by another £300 next year plus any usual increase.
If you need an idea of increase after claim just phone them up and ask. My insurer (NFU) are very open about costs, whether you may want to claim, getting most out of it etc,.