Made me laugh ...

[CitroJim]

Just shows how rotten to the core the whole UK insurance business is. It so badly needs a fundamental overhaul.

[Old-Guy]

Just shows how rotten to the core the whole UK insurance business is. It so badly needs a fundamental overhaul.

Too true!

As I know to my cost, the 'value' that Insurance companies place on a car is either the lowest of trade valuation sources (e.g. Glass's) price for a vehicle of that condition (average of recent trade auction prices) or, for old vehicles,what their valuer guesses (with no data to go on) at what you could pick up a similar car for at auction. Neither of these bears any resemblance to the actual replacement cost unless you are very lucky, for the simple reason that a 4-10 year-old car sold at auction will need at least a service. What insurance companies conveniently ignore is that trade values are average hammer prices (i.e. excluding buyer's premium). Buyer's costs are on a sliding scale that adds at least £60 to the price of a £50 car and at least 10% to a 'quota' disposal (registered 6-12 months ago and being sold with delivery miles only).

You might be lucky enough to pick up a tidy, sound, S1 Xantia for £150 from a local private seller, but you'd have to allow another £300-£600 to get it through the next MoT just a few months away. Still cheap motoring but for 10 times the write-off value.

A newer car in good condition (lowish mileage, FSH) only go to auction if there is something wrong with it or it's a fleet disposal (in itself 'something wrong').

The Insurance industry relies on an infamous High Court judgement handed down by a naive and ignorant judge who was persuaded that the value of a vehicle for insurance purposes is that quoted by a trade guide, despite the general principle that an innocent victim of someone else's fault is entitled to be put back in the position they were in before the loss.

[daviemck2006]

I found my insurance company very fair when my c5 got written off in December last year. A local dealer I know valued it on a trade in at 1400 if it hadn't been damaged for good condition and the miles on it, and then said if I got anything more than 1200 I would be lucky. The assessor phoned me, he said he had been looking at prices to buy a similar car, and quoted 3 which were on sale that he had seen, and had averaged out the asking prices at 2150 and that was what they were paying me. I did not argue, considering I only paid 870 for it 7 months earlier! Ok I had to service and mot it which cost me 400 odd but I was happy. They paid me retail value, and we're by far the cheapest premium.

[van ordinaire]

So that's £93 to insure a £95 car, by their reckoning - that's worse, proportionately, to the £400-odd it cost me to insure a £500 van (not that I paid anything like that for it!). To think, one of the attractions of the C15 was they're reputedly cheap to insure!

Last time I wrote a car off (& claimed) while the settlement was reasonable, the renewal premium asked for the replacement was vastly more than that & an increase of several 100%.

With these low value cars it's generally not worth claiming because, with the increased premium (not just on that car - indeed, if you're really unlucky, not just on motor insurance &/or loss of NCB, it'd be years before you got the premium down to the pre-claim level - &, meanwhile, would've cost you far more than you received in settlement.

[superloopy]

Exactly ... what he said.

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[MikeT]

With these low value cars it's generally not worth claiming because, with the increased premium (not just on that car - indeed, if you're really unlucky, not just on motor insurance &/or loss of NCB, it'd be years before you got the premium down to the pre-claim level - &, meanwhile, would've cost you far more than you received in settlement.

Doesn't matter if you claim or not, you are still required to notify your insurer (lest you end up in trouble later when you really need to claim). A notification of an accident (regardless of blame) can increase premiums for years to come for both parties as well as affect NCB, as no doubt I'll discover come next year's renewal

[rory_perrett]

With these low value cars it's generally not worth claiming because, with the increased premium (not just on that car - indeed, if you're really unlucky, not just on motor insurance &/or loss of NCB, it'd be years before you got the premium down to the pre-claim level - &, meanwhile, would've cost you far more than you received in settlement.

Doesn't matter if you claim or not, you are still required to notify your insurer (lest you end up in trouble later when you really need to claim). A notification of an accident (regardless of blame) can increase premiums for years to come for both parties as well as affect NCB, as no doubt I'll discover come next year's renewal

Yep afraid so, a few years ago I got hit by a car driven by the delivery driver for a local body shop. They were great, he admitted full liability, no insurance claim, they took my car into their shop and fixed it. Following year my premium up 20%.

[wurlycorner]

So that's £93 to insure a £95 car, by their reckoning - that's worse, proportionately, to the £400-odd it cost me to insure a £500 van (not that I paid anything like that for it!).

They aren't insuring your car though tbh - that is pretty much the lowest part of any value attached to the risk, rather it's your risk of having/being involved in/causing an accident and the cost of what you hit or do to yourself (loss of lifetime earnings being the major part.).

The reason they might refuse to quote or bump the premium if the value of the car is well above 'book' value will be things like assuming that means the car is some way more attractive to thieves, has rare parts that will cost more to repair, or you have modified it in some way and aren't declaring it, or appear to be someone that will always seek to maximise claims etc.

(While I'm not defending insurance premiums, just putting some rationale out there on the background to it all, based on some experience )

[van ordinaire]

Yes, of course it's true you can do just as much damage/harm with a low value vehicle as a £1m supercar - there's just something about premiums vastly exceeding the value that grates a little, just seems perverse!

Notifying the insurance company of an accident might increase the premium on renewal, it cannot affect NCB - because there's no claim it is (as often quoted in a different context) it is, after all, a no CLAIMS bonus, not a no blame bonus!

Slifgtly off topic, if you have the misfortune to be the victim of a no blame accident, it is essential that when notifying your company you make it clear that you are NOT making a claim, and pursue the other driver (don't get involved with their company - which will be looking after its own interests - that's for him/her). You will get a small claims court judgement while the insurance companies are still prevaricating.

[myglaren]

Slifgtly off topic, if you have the misfortune to be the victim of a no blame accident, it is essential that when notifying your company you make it clear that you are NOT making a claim, and pursue the other driver (don't get involved with their company - which will be looking after its own interests - that's for him/her). You will get a small claims court judgement while the insurance companies are still prevaricating.

Not always! I was rear ended in my Accord. The other parties insurance company sent out a clains adjuster within a couple of days and I had the cash in the bank by the weekend, completely painless and received the full value of the car - more that it was woth TBH.

When my Xantia was written off I went through the small clains court and it just ran out in the sand.

[superloopy]

Is third party only insurance still available these days? Would it be any cheaper given that in the event of a claim i'd not be too bothered about my own car. If i said this upfront would i get a cheaper premium i wonder?

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[elma]

Yes but when I tried that it was typically £100 more than fully comp. It's like your a higher risk for asking for less insurance so you pay more for less.

[superloopy]

Surely not.

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[elma]

Honestly true, I'm going to try again now. Having a boring day in again (not through choice).

[elma]

Right I got (from Admiral) these figures for Green.
Fully Comp £583
TPF&T £537
TP £543

Make sense?
Thats for a 14 year no claims, no points on license, no claims, all paid up front with a £500 excess on a car that cost £90 for a 32 year old living in the lowest risk area you can imagine. I actually worked out that since I started driving I've paid over £5000 on insurance, had nothing back ever and never owned a car costing over £500. They owe me 10 cars at least.

So I've disproved what I said today but proved I am not driving next year, these quotes take the mick. I was paying £180 fully comp on the same cars when I was about 21.