Reply to: Insurance question after a bump

[milanbenes]

aha

as somebody who suffers from the same allergy, it is all starting to make sense

Milan.

[ladymuck]

oh dear

I am really lost on this thread

op's missus was reversing across the pavement and hit a car coming down the alley next to the house

call the police

get an accident number

send it to the insurance

is it really so complicated ?

Milan.

The TL;DR is that NLUK is losing sleep over the prospect of an increase in insurance costs because a conversation with an insurer happened. Cracking open his wallet is not something that comes naturally to him.

[milanbenes]

oh dear

I am really lost on this thread

op's missus was reversing across the pavement and hit a car coming down the alley next to the house

call the police

get an accident number

send it to the insurance

is it really so complicated ?

Milan.

[woody1]

You could try going on a couple of insurance comparison sites and entering all the details honestly, then the quotes should tell you whether insurers care about it.

Make sure you set the renewal date to 2-3 weeks from today, that's the sweet spot for quotes for some reason best known to insurers.

Or, as I suggested above, phone the insurance company and get a quote to change to a virtually identical vehicle. Use Autotrader to find a reg number to give them.

[NotAllThere]

it all sounds very complicated and jiggery pokery and life hacks

we've never had such problems with Allianz

Milan.

I've never had problems with AXA. I think it's a country thing...

[Snooky]

You could try going on a couple of insurance comparison sites and entering all the details honestly, then the quotes should tell you whether insurers care about it.

Make sure you set the renewal date to 2-3 weeks from today, that's the sweet spot for quotes for some reason best known to insurers.

[WTFH]

Call yourselves contractors and you don't have turnaround driveways.

If you were to go out the main entrance at our house, there's enough room to fit two big cars through the gates at the same time. I think we can get 12 cars on the drive, although I'm not sure we've ever had more than 8.

Mrs NLUK has never had any problems when she's been here.

[Paddy]

Call yourselves contractors and you don't have turnaround driveways.

[xoggoth]

Sounds sensible to reverse into my drive, problem is that the driver door is likely to hit the wall if I'm not careful when I open it. I can see both ways from my drive anyway, the problem is not the drive but cars or vans parked on the road either side. Obscure the road whichever way I'm facing.

[milanbenes]

it all sounds very complicated and jiggery pokery and life hacks

we've never had such problems with Allianz

Milan.

[hobnob]

Reversing in to a road is generally an automatic fault according to the insurance people.

I always reverse into my driveway, and I've been at workplaces where they tell everyone to reverse into parking bays. The theory is that it's safer to reverse in (when I know that the parking spot is empty) and then I'll have a better view on the way out. The only problem comes if I have people tailgating me on the road who block the entrance to the parking spot.

This also fits in with rule 201 of the Highway Code:
The Highway Code - Using the road (159 to 203) - Guidance - GOV.UK
"Do not reverse from a side road into a main road. When using a driveway, reverse in and drive out if you can."

However, I don't think it's illegal to reverse out of a driveway, so it's interesting to hear what your insurance company said.

[woody1]

Good luck trying to get anywhere with them, even with your northern "charm". Chances are you won't be able to find out about any extra "loading" until renewal time.

Although, there is possibly another way. Find the registration of a similar vehicle on Autotrader, and get your wife to ask the company for a quote to change her car. (You might want to wait until after the claim has been finally settled.) Unfortunately, even this may not necessarily be an accurate predictor of what to expect at renewal time.

BTW, I wonder if the other driver's renewal premium will get "loaded", merely for being involved in an accident, even though it wasn't their fault? Nothing would surprise me with these sharks.

[milanbenes]

it does sound very complicated

two claims on the system split brain tastic I wonder how they keep everything consistent

Milan.

[northernladuk]

Can't see it makes any difference that your wife (inadvertently) opened a claim. A claim against her policy was opened anyway by virtue of the other driver claiming off their insurance and your wife's company accepting liability.

I suspect there will be two claims on the system. The claim from the 3rd party and the 'Communications Only Claim' so I've a feeling both will be taken in to account. Further explaination below your second point.

If she's got protected no claims, then the premium shouldn't go up by more than the usual inflation etc. I suppose there might be a bit more because she's now deemed a higher risk but pricing is so opaque it may be hard to tell.

Not true. You get loaded just for ringing them and asking what to do about an accident you 'might' have been involved in. They are sneaky bastards now. Just asking them a question means you are a risk to them so they can (and often do) apply some loading. If they are willing to load people just for calling I expect they will want to try load her twice for the 3rd party claim and her comms one so need to take them to task about her inadvertently opening the communications one on advice of the agent.

[milanbenes]

it sounds like the OP needs to upgrade

toodle pip

Milan.