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Original poster

Car insurance said I have mislead them?

22 replies

Johnnylovesrosie · 25/01/2021 22:52

Hi all - hoping for advice. NC.

I recently took out a new policy with Admiral. Last year there was an incident where I was stationery and an old man reversed and hit me. It caused no damage, both parties fine. I wasn’t sure what to do but as per my documents I told the insurance people. I said I didn’t want to claim, it was nothing but wanted advice. They said they’d log it for reference if anything came up.

I received my no claims certificate and changed insurers to the cheapest - Admiral.

They’ve sent a letter saying I didn’t inform them of a claim - the one above. They’ve said this increases my policy by £7. They’ve then said I have to pay a £30 admin fee.

Has anyone come across this? In my mind, there was no claim, so when filling out the online form (compare the market) I didn’t put it - no claim!

Did I do it wrong?!

OP posts:

NoWordForFluffy · 25/01/2021 23:08

The question isn't just claims, it's: 'Have you had any motor accidents, claims or losses in the past 5 years, no matter who was at fault or if a claim was made?'

You had an accident which you should've declared.

Lou98 · 25/01/2021 23:22

As above. There was an incident that you never told them about when taking out the new policy, it doesn't matter who was at fault, whether you claimed etc they need to know of any accidents.

I used to work for a big insurance company in motor claims and this was really common, it's unfortunate that you now have the extra £37 to pay but at least you know for the future to include it

smoothchange · 25/01/2021 23:26

Yes, you did it wrong.

Ladybird69 · 25/01/2021 23:32

This is so unfair. Op didn’t have an accident, someone bumped into her. I’m going through something similar myself. You’re parked, a car smashed into you, you are in no way at fault yet it affects your insurance. Claim or no claim it’s not your fault. Mine was smashed into and the driver didn’t stop, that’s against the law. Yet I’m the one that is penalised and the idiot that drove into me gets to renew his insurance next year with no accident ticked off on his no claims.

makingmiracles · 25/01/2021 23:38

It sucks, I had similar last year- a tree branch went through my window, I started to go through then claim process online but abandoned it and decided just to claim for the window screen and forget about the cosmetic damage. When I went to change insurance I also got stung with extra fee and increased payments as I should of told them apparently even though I didn’t complete the online claims form it had since been logged by the insurance company that I’d started to fill it out.

Annoying thing now is, I’m not sure how long I have to keep declaring it for-if anyone knows please let me know!

Lou98 · 25/01/2021 23:43

@makingmiracles 5 years from the date of the accident it needs to be declared for

AdoraBell · 25/01/2021 23:45

The OP was involved in an accident.

OP you should have informed them, but chalk it up to experience and in future remember to inform the insurance company if you change company again.

DicklessWonder · 25/01/2021 23:49

@makingmiracles

Annoying thing now is, I’m not sure how long I have to keep declaring it for-if anyone knows please let me know!

3-5 years, depending on what individual insurers require.

makingmiracles · 25/01/2021 23:55

Ok thankyou, I’ll remember that in aug when I change again. Such a pain, was £70 extra fee I think and an increase of around £7 a month so not a small amount! Helpfully they didn’t inform me until a couple of weeks into the policy so if I had backed out I would’ve had a cancellation fee and struggled to get anything cheaper elsewhere as my renewal date had passed so I had to just suck it up and pay.

BackforGood · 25/01/2021 23:58

Ladybird - Whereas I agree it is incredibly frustrating, that isn't what the OP is talking about. What irks me about the situation is that, for 5 years, you have to put in information about the incident, and, because you weren't able to make a claim off anyone as they drove off, the insurance industry call it an "at fault" incident. I ALWAYS want to shout at them to ask how I was at fault when my car was legally parked and I wasn't even in it ???
The Insurance industry needs some new language.

SlopesOff · 26/01/2021 00:03

Admiral do this for anything. Read their reviews, the good ones appear to be written by staff or an agency or people that haven't even made a claim.

Personally, I had to make a claim, house related. They arranged a survey and then it turned out to be a different property in the same name, not the one with the problem.

It was due for renewal and the price was increased by more than double. They then notified that as there had been a claim it would be even more. The claim wasn't even on that policy. Property is now insured elsewhere.

They are appalling.

Ladybird69 · 26/01/2021 01:38

@BackforGood yes I understand that about Op, but as there was no claim made, the insurance company weren’t out of pocket in anyway so why should it affect Op in anyway. Same as me. I didn’t ask anyone to smash into me and drive off yet I’ve got to declare it on my car insurance for the next 5 years so I have to pay for it. Though I agree it’s time insurers get more up to date.

lifestooshort123 · 26/01/2021 07:34

I suppose if you hadn't 'seen' the other car hit yours and 'just returned' to find the damage then you needn't have reported it in the first place. Play the insurance industry at its own game.

BeautifulBirds · 26/01/2021 07:59

Vehicle insurance drives me nuts. I was unfortunate enough to be the victim of a motorbike theft, which I had no choice in claiming for as there was finance on the bike. The insurance didn't pay out enough to cover it, so I was out of pocket there.
My car insurance has gone up as a result.
What irks me is that I was a victim of theft, the bike was in a locked windowless garage, which had a chain, disc lock and tracker on (which was disabled by the scum).

Also, I can't transfer, what was, my 30 years car no claims to my bike, yet the theft of my bike affects my car no claims. Makes no sense.
Sadly, we just have to suck it up because it won't change!

Rillington · 26/01/2021 08:08

You have to declare any accidents in the last 5 years. They could have cancelled your insurance altogether.

BidensWingWoman · 26/01/2021 08:20

yes I understand that about Op, but as there was no claim made, the insurance company weren’t out of pocket in anyway so why should it affect Op in anyway

It's about risk. Even when an accident isn't your fault, statistics suggest having one increases your chances of having another.

Your insurance price is based on the chances of needing to claim, so an increased risk comes with an increased cost.

Why a 'no fault' accident is perceived as increasing the chances of another, however, is something I can't explain...

DicklessWonder · 26/01/2021 09:13

@SlopesOff

Admiral do this for anything. Read their reviews, the good ones appear to be written by staff or an agency or people that haven't even made a claim.

Personally, I had to make a claim, house related. They arranged a survey and then it turned out to be a different property in the same name, not the one with the problem.

They are appalling.

I’ve used Admiral for over 20 years. Had 2 or 3 non-fault and 1 fault claim in that time without issue.

I did work for them as a student in the 90s, so understand how it all works. As someone else said, it’s all about risk. When I started your premium reduced if you had kids, because it was believed that you would drive more carefully with kids in the car. When the stats started to show that kids were actually a massive distraction and therefore increased the chances of an accident the rating changed.

Similarly, in the 90s, it was cheapest to keep a car in a garage, then a drive, then on the street. With the increase in theft using the keys (stolen from the house) it’s now (usually) cheaper to keep a car on the street because it’s less likely to be obvious which house the keys are in. Also more claims from people scraping cars whilst driving them into garages.

It remains the case that having a non-fault accident increases the risk of you making a fault claim at some point (and fault refers to who pays, rather than who caused it).

ThereWillBeSun · 26/01/2021 12:23

@BeautifulBirds

Vehicle insurance drives me nuts. I was unfortunate enough to be the victim of a motorbike theft, which I had no choice in claiming for as there was finance on the bike. The insurance didn't pay out enough to cover it, so I was out of pocket there. My car insurance has gone up as a result. What irks me is that I was a victim of theft, the bike was in a locked windowless garage, which had a chain, disc lock and tracker on (which was disabled by the scum). Also, I can't transfer, what was, my 30 years car no claims to my bike, yet the theft of my bike affects my car no claims. Makes no sense. Sadly, we just have to suck it up because it won't change!

If you have it on finance you should have gap insurance. The insurable value of the bike will never be as much as the outstanding finance.

BeautifulBirds · 26/01/2021 13:11

I should have needed gap insurance as the market value of the bike exceeded the value given by the insurance company following the theft. I argued the toss and got nowhere.

BeautifulBirds · 26/01/2021 13:11

Sorry Shouldnt**

BeautifulBirds · 26/01/2021 13:14

I have realised in my vent about how poor insurance is I failed to give my point of view. Yes you should have declared as there was an accident. Your policy requires you to inform them of any bump, regardless of damage. Some people don't, if there is no damage. However, some people then claim against you, regardless of fault or damage, cos they are money grabbers. So you're dammed if you do dammed if you don't. Insurance will do anything to get money out of you. Sorry OP. On the plus side, at least they didn't cancel your policy, which would have big implications in the future.

VeniVidiWeeWee · 26/01/2021 13:35

Car insurance seems good value to me. An annual cost of a few hundred against a potential claim for millions.

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