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I was involved in a minor incident in March. I was found to be at fault even though I strenuously denied this, or more specifically, that the damage the other party claimed I had caused was blatantly already there and not caused by me. But anyway, just added that for context.
Maybe cos Coronavirus, this still hasn't been settled and my renewal date is in a few weeks. I'm obviously shopping around so what happens if I jump ship to another company before this matter is settled?
Not much I imagine, your insurer will carry on doing whatever they're doing whether you're an existing customer or not.
You have to declare the incident and explain that at the moment it is not settled. Unfortunately it will likely be counted as your fault at the moment but if you are cleared you can update this mid-term.
Note car insurers share a central database for accidents so it would be unwise to try and stay silent on the matter.
Oh ok, maybe I've misunderstood how it works as I had a clean slate up until then. They've given my my renewal quote which is astronomical presumably because of the incident. So that's to reflect my increased risk if they are to insure me again right? They don't settle the claim for the third party and then put up my insurance to cover it part-way into a policy?
So hypothetical example, say i was paying £900 per year but in instalments. I then have ten accidents in the space of a month. My premium would go up to say 88k at the next renewal, they wouldn't start taking more on my current direct debit?
Yes the premium reflects the risk on the day. At the moment you’ve had a claim and they’re pricing it in.
Even if it goes in your favour they still put your premium up, just not by as much. I don’t fully agree with how they underwrite car insurance (note I’m an underwriter of 20 years but on the commercial side) but that is how it is.
They’ve given my my renewal quote which is astronomical presumably because of the incident. So that’s to reflect my increased risk if they are to insure me again right?
the claim will of increased premium, how much of the premium increase will be down to the costs of the claim. have there been any other changes to your risk profile since last renewal - differnt car, moved house etc? part of the premium could just be the lazy tax they apply at renewal to see if they can get away with it.
They don’t settle the claim for the third party and then put up my insurance to cover it part-way into a policy?
no they dont
I had this when my car was written off. Slightly different because I was not at fault but as that was not confirmed at renewal time, the renewal quote was high. When I queried it, they said that if it was proved to be not my fault then I might get a partial refund. But they wouldn't confirm that.
I used a price comparison website to get a quote with the incident being my fault and got a price for significantly less than the renewal. I jumped ship to the new insurer and forgot about it until the following years renewal came through when it was confirmed that I was not at fault.
TLDR Get other quotes based on you being at fault.
I don't think they can put up your premium mid-way through the period on the insurance certificate, only at renewal (unless you broke the terms of the policy, in which case they could cancel it). So yes, they will put up your premium for renewal to reflect the increased risk - they may even do that even if you were not at fault, eg, because they now have evidence that you drive on roads used by idiots. So far as I know, you're still insured for incidents that happened during the policy period, even if you don't renew it, but when I came to renewal when I had a possible claim outstanding, I decided to stay with them in the hope that they would deal more reasonably with a current customer than and ex-customer; no idea if that's true.
They did put my renewal premium up, but when they decided, part way through the year, that I'd been the victim of a crash for cash fraud, they refunded the extra.
Thanks chaps, I get it now. I was wondering if they'd come chasing me for more money once they'd settled the lying toad's claim. I'm definitely jumping ship anyway, I kind of had the naive impression that your insurance company would defend you against spurious claims... hahaha. They basically said it would cost too much to investigate so we'll just roll over and agree with them and pass the cost on to you. The "damage" was rusty and looked like it'd been there for decades... Yeah great thanks.
but when I came to renewal when I had a possible claim outstanding, I decided to stay with them in the hope that they would deal more reasonably with a current customer than and ex-customer; no idea if that’s true.
All hypothetical, but I'd be keen to know about this too ^. If anyone has experience / inside knowledge of this. It sounds very illegal, but car insurance seems a dirty business!
They basically said it would cost too much to investigate so we’ll just roll over and agree with them and pass the cost on to you.
exactly what I had from Churchill. Useless scumbags.
I am now with Bymiles - where you pay a reasonable flat fee for the year and about 3p per mile. Great for me who doesn't drive much, will save me over £200 for the year I reckon. I can give a referral link (by private message/email) if anyone's interested - gives us both free miles.
Some years ago I was involved in an accident in a Tesco car park where a car reversed out of a space and hit my car
There was significant damage to my car and my insurer wanted to do a knock for knock
I had legal cover and insisted that I wasn't at fault and wanted the third party claim defended
It got very messy - the third party was using a no win no fee lawyer - but after 2 court sittings (the second because the third party's insurer hadn't complied with the original ruling) I won my case and my insurer made a full recovery of their losses
Sadly it did still mean an increase in premiums but by shopping around it was relatively modest