Afternoon all!

Right, my issue here is that 18 months back someone bumped the front of my Octy and slightly damaged the bonnet and 2 piece sports bumper knocking things out of line. Annoyingly they left no details leaving me to fit the bill. So without going through the insurance as I didn't have protected no claims at the time I managed to sort it out and got everything back in line along with a new sports bumper I luckily sourced from ebay painted and ready to fit. The original bumper underneath still has signs of damage but is only noticeable through close inspection.

Now, to top it all off a colleague in work reversed into me last week and damaged the new bumper knocking everything back out of line again. This time I have protected no claims and have been considering getting everything sorted via my insurance and have my colleague cover the excess. He didn't cause all the previous damage so I don't see it fair that I insist his insurance fix it all.

Now my insurer have thrown a spanner in the works as my premium will be effected by a 30-40% increase if I make a claim even though it's not my fault.

Has anyone got experience with this issue and what are your opinions on what I should do?

Matt.

Edited 13 April, 201313 yr by billywhiz040480

all you are protecting is a small percentage of your premium.

The basic premium goes up. Your protected no claims just get you the same discount. It sucks but insurance companies are robbers. If it were me, I'd claim off the other guys insurance and get a new bumper. He damaged it, his insurance should cover it. Whether it was as-new before he hit it is irrelevant.

If you're worried about affecting your colleague's insurance, give him the option to pay for a proper repair. If he doesn't want to do that, then his insurance should pay.

Edited 13 April, 201313 yr by JB-)

My decision of going with my insurer was based on previous damage and the fact that my colleague has just found out his wife has breast cancer. I'm trying to show some empathy even though he is at fault and offered just £100 to get a touch up job on the new bumper, I refused based on the damage he may have caused under the bumper.

Edited 13 April, 201313 yr by billywhiz040480

You have a risk profile which gives you a premium and the your ncb discounts this. If you protect your ncb then your next premium will still be reduced by the same percentage ncb. However, if you have an accident and the insurance company thinks your risk profile has changed they can load you. Your premium goes up but if protected the ncb still applies.

In this case you are not at fault so you shouldn't be loaded, but insurance companies are basically crooks so they will anyway.

I know your colleague didn't cause all the damage but if it's going to cost you money, I would just make a claim against his insurance and be done with it. It will teach him to be more careful. If he has a problem loosing his ncb, he can pay cash. Simples!

As sad as his situation may be, it's not your problem. He damaged your car, and the reason we all have to have insurance is to cover the cost of that damage. Why should you pay increased premiums for the next fives years while he gets away with just paying your excess.

What about the previous damage sustained to me car, he was aware of this before he hit me.

As sad as his situation may be, it's not your problem. He damaged your car, and the reason we all have to have insurance is to cover the cost of that damage. Why should you pay increased premiums for the next fives years while he gets away with just paying your excess.

True, why should when he hit me.

What about the previous damage sustained to me car, he was aware of this before he hit me.

Totally irrelevant. He's damaged it further and that now has to be repaired. That should not be at any cost to you. The inconvenience is bad enough.

What about the previous damage sustained to me car, he was aware of this before he hit me.

His insurance company might ask for a contribution from you since you are 'better off' with a full repair on a damaged part. That however will be something between you and his company and would not affect your insurance. He doesn't get a free hit just 'cause your car isn't perfect.

I'm going to see a friend on monday who owns a Crash and Repair company to get a quote, I've already explained my situation and he wants to see whether there's any point going to the insurance.

His insurance company might ask for a contribution from you since you are 'better off' with a full repair on a damaged part. That however will be something between you and his company and would not affect your insurance. He doesn't get a free hit just 'cause your car isn't perfect.

That makes very good sense cheers.

Hope you get it all sorted, it is good to see someone tackling an awkward situation so honestly. If I was the guy who reversed into it, I would not worry as any claim on his insurance will have same result on his next premium just a bump and minor bodywork damage. If yours was not repaired in first place all would the resulting damage now still have been the same? Personally if it was me and I knew you and I hit your car by accident knowing you had repaired it but not 100% yourself last time, I would be at least satisfied with the prospect of it being put right 100% for you for the inconvenience and embarrassment alone. I have about 12 years protected NCB and I live in fear of being in a similar situation to you as I know the insurance companies would just increase premium to make up for it regardless of it being protected or not.

I bet if I got a quote saying I had say 5 years NCB and an accident in last couple of years for no injury sub £1k claim and one with no protected NCB, there would be little difference in it. Would it be more or less than the 15-20% all companies have charged me of premium value to protect NCB....

Same thing happened to me a few years ago. Scraped my rear wing on the stone gatepost backing into the drive.

Gutted! My first at fault claim in over 30yrs of driving. Got it fixed up (around £600) and thought no more until my insurance renewal arrived 8 months later. It had gone up by £100. Phoned insurance company who told me it had gone up because my premium had increased due to the claim. Protected no claims discount wasn't affected - it was still at 65%. If I hadn't had the protection I would have lost 2yrs discount so it would have gone up even more!

I changed companies! Saved the £100 plus another £20!

Same thing happened to me a few years ago. Scraped my rear wing on the stone gatepost backing into the drive.

Gutted! My first at fault claim in over 30yrs of driving. Got it fixed up (around £600) and thought no more until my insurance renewal arrived 8 months later. It had gone up by £100. Phoned insurance company who told me it had gone up because my premium had increased due to the claim. Protected no claims discount wasn't affected - it was still at 65%. If I hadn't had the protection I would have lost 2yrs discount so it would have gone up even more!

I changed companies! Saved the £100 plus another £20!

I change companies every year because you can always get a better deal, I'm just concerned how much it will go up with 6 nearly 7 yrs protected no claims, I went protected in case of this scenario but had no idea my premium would go up as a result. I pay £470 now which includes a write off back in March 2009 where I lost 2 yrs no claims.

Ill have 7 yrs PNCB in less than a month if I don't claim but if I did will I lose this year and stay on 6?

Edited 13 April, 201313 yr by billywhiz040480

I salute you for being caring enough to be concerned about your colleagues position but, if it were me, I would get a quote for the full repair, offer to pay a reasonable amount (probably erring on the generous side) towards betterment, and then let the colleague decide whether he wanted to settle it through his insurance or outside of it.

Better for you if you can get a cash settlement either way, as you can then have the repair done at a later date as you see fit (or keep as compensation against subsequent resale value). Insurance companies can often be quite obliging if you're honest with them about previous damage.

Edited 13 April, 201313 yr by Skoda Al Coda

It's also always interesting to see the difference in costs of a cash / personal repair versus an insurance repair...

Repair garages will always find more that needs doing

I got stung years ago with this no claims protection, my fault accident, cost of about £450 for the repair, when my renewal came around, policy was £450 more than the previous year but my NCD was still up at 60%.

Since then I have always stripped my policy out, no legal cover, no recovery, no courtesy car, no NCD protection just a basic policy with an excess that is enough to repair or pay out in the even of an incident and of course to keep the police happy.

I do not believe in all the add ons insurance companies scare people into paying for.

In your position I would just go through the insurance as your car was hit by somebody else, when ever we try to help others, 9 times out of 10 it ends up back firing and costing us more money. The insurance is in place to deal with exactly what has happened, so use it.

Did you also know that is you enquire about a possible claim with your insurer and then decide to pay for the repair yourself, this will also affect your premium as the incident is logged.

The issue James was a fault claim. Your policy got loaded. I assume to load that much was a large claim?

No courtesy car isn't always needed, but I can't imagine it removed that much cost.

Legal insurance for is £20 cost is a false economy as if you were injured or have any issues with a third party paying (common if not a UK insurer) what would you do then?

The repair to the car I had was £453, as for the what IF, what IF something happens, what IF something nothing happens?

I am sure a standard policy covers most things, so we will worry about what IF when or if it ever comes up. in the mean time I feel £230 fully comp for the vRS is about reasonable.

Did you also know that is you enquire about a possible claim with your insurer and then decide to pay for the repair yourself, this will also affect your premium as the incident is logged.

I didn't give them my name or policy number as I thought they might try that little cherub.

I didn't give them my name or policy number as I thought they might try that little cherub.

I hope you didn't ring from a phone that is registered on your policy. It will link straight to you.

Doh!

TBH the chances are slim that they would check, but I would block caller ID on calls like that