Insurance Premium after stolen/recovered

[David Sparkes]

8 hours ago, Cynic-al said:

...I believe if you have enough money to cover a claim you don't need insurance but I've never been in a position to need to look into the details:) 

That's sort of the outlook I've come to hold.

I didn't have the experience, either first hand or anecdotally, when I started motoring. Nor did I have the financial reserves then, but now, whatever the excess was on the policy, I'd strongly consider covering myself for costs below £1,000, and possibly more, although this may involve using 2nd hand parts, or accepting continued use of a marked panel.
Fortunately, I haven't had to 'test' my current view, but really, it is becoming obvious that using 'cash' is so much less hassle than claiming, both now, and for the next five years.

Regards.

[neil110]

20 hours ago, Cynic-al said:

Well at the end of the day if they didn't make money they wouldn't be there, they're not a government service. They base it on risk and statistics, if they price themselves out the market they wouldn't earn any money either so it's kind of self regulating even if its annoying.

What annoys me if when the courts stick their nose in and make rulings like they can't make a womans insurance cheaper based on gender. If the statistics show that they pay out less to women then men then it costs them less so they should charge less.

I get that bit, the point I was trying to make is that the amount of money the insurance company wanted the following year basically charged my normal premium, plus the entire value of the accident damage claim they had paid. Thus in effect I had paid them the premium and the excess, they were just trying to recover their entire cost

The other thing that galls me is that supposedly they are insuring the driver. Yet when there is a total loss claim, the policy stops and a new policy has to be taken out for the replacement vehicle

[geoffbeaumont]

12 hours ago, Cynic-al said:

I believe if you have enough money to cover a claim you don't need insurance but I've never been in a position to need to look into the details:) 

I think it's a bit more complicated than that - BP used to do this years back (and probably still do). I don't know the exact ins and outs of it, but they had to have a fund available to cover motor vehicle accidents, and prove it was available for that purpose. I was told that, in their case, they did it because their fleet was so large they were too big for any of the insurers to handle, but I don't know whether that's correct or whether it was just cheaper for them to do their own "underwriting".

[Cynic-al]

4 hours ago, David Sparkes said:

That's sort of the outlook I've come to hold.

I didn't have the experience, either first hand or anecdotally, when I started motoring. Nor did I have the financial reserves then, but now, whatever the excess was on the policy, I'd strongly consider covering myself for costs below £1,000, and possibly more, although this may involve using 2nd hand parts, or accepting continued use of a marked panel.
Fortunately, I haven't had to 'test' my current view, but really, it is becoming obvious that using 'cash' is so much less hassle than claiming, both now, and for the next five years.

Regards.

I've done this in the past, the problem is even if you repair yourself your still obliged to declare the accident which means they're still likely to re-evaluate you based on their risk scale so your insurance still might cost more even though they haven't paid out a penny.

Edited May 24, 2017 by Cynic-al

[Cynic-al]

1 hour ago, neil110 said:

I get that bit, the point I was trying to make is that the amount of money the insurance company wanted the following year basically charged my normal premium, plus the entire value of the accident damage claim they had paid. Thus in effect I had paid them the premium and the excess, they were just trying to recover their entire cost

The other thing that galls me is that supposedly they are insuring the driver. Yet when there is a total loss claim, the policy stops and a new policy has to be taken out for the replacement vehicle

I know what you mean, it is stupid especially when you'll be paying more for several years to come and have ended up out of pocket. But the comparison sites have made it easier to shop around and has made insurance cheaper in my opinion. I pay about £220 for £10,000 miles a year SDC in the 10 year old S-max and about £760 20,000 miles a year business in the newer pickup.