Insurance help needed urgent

[Anksy]

Something doesnt seem right, I was involved in a car accident last week which written off my car, The accident wasnt my fault, I told the insurance company and all was well, I then went and purchased another car, I came home rang the insurance company and asked to change the policy over the the new car, The insurance company told me they cannot do that because it has a open claim on it because since i told them about the accident someone else mite come forward to claim (im not claiming, neither is anyone in the accident as far as i know) They told me what i had to do is take out a brand new policy for the new car while still paying for the old policy while the case was open, So i am now paying for two policies, They have also charged me three times as much for my new policy, They told me this was the only thing i could do to insure my new car, It seems very fishy to me, Surely this cant be right?

Any quick help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[200sols]

You wrote of your car and are not claiming?

 

[Maundie]

Something doesn't add up, did the insurance company write off your car and pay out?

There's nothing stopping you trying a different insurance company for your new car it doesn't have to be the same company you know.

 

[Anksy]

No we are not claiming, They said because we told them about the crash they have to keep it open incase someone else comes forward, It only happened last week, And then because my no claims are on the first policy they said they couldnt use them again on a second policy, so we had to just take the full hit on the second policy, After thinking about it all though it doesnt sit right with me

 

[tom_e]

I had an accident Dec 22 went into the back of somebody but there was basically zero damage to the other car and the guy wasn't interested in taking my details in case he later wanted to claim.

Obviously my fault so called my insurer told them all that, got my car sorted and I thought that would be that but the claim is still left open for 6 months (IIRC) in case a third party comes forward. I only know this because for some reason mine hadn't been closed come renewal time last September meaning they couldn't provide a renewal quote until I called and chased them to close it off.

Therefore doesn't sound incorrect from my experience.

 

[Hutch]

Been a while since I worked in insurance but the part about keeping the claim open rings a bell for sure.

What sounds really strange is them not allowing you to change your existing policy to cover a new car, I have no idea why they would require you to take out a new policy like that.

 

[Anksy]

I had an accident Dec 22 went into the back of somebody but there was basically zero damage to the other car and the guy wasn't interested in taking my details in case he later wanted to claim.

Obviously my fault so called my insurer told them all that, got my car sorted and I thought that would be that but the claim is still left open for 6 months (IIRC) in case a third party comes forward. I only know this because for some reason mine hadn't been closed come renewal time last September meaning they couldn't provide a renewal quote until I called and chased them to close it off.

Therefore doesn't sound incorrect from my experience.

So they will potential make me pay for the original policy for another 6 months? Theyve also said i couldnt use my 20 years no claims on the new policy because its a open case, Which is why this policy is costing a fortune, I just cant believe a accident which you arnt claiming for which wasnt your fault and being honest with the insuarnce company can bite you in the ass so much!

 

[Uther]

Why are you not claiming if someone wrote your car off?

 

[Anksy]

Why are you not claiming if someone wrote your car off?

Because it was a back to back pile up, 5 cars, we were the last car, 5 cars involved, we went into the one infront but he wasnt bothered, it was a land rover and it didnt have a scratch on it, we mainly hit the wheel they have on the back door, we went completely underneath it and missed his body entirely.

 

[Uther]

Doesn't that make it your fault though? I'm not surprised the insurance company might be expecting a claim.

 

[Anksy]

Doesn't that make it your fault though? I'm not surprised the insurance company might be expecting a claim.

The reason our car is written off you could say is potentially our fault, But the fact that no one elses car was damaged from a result of our car, No, The land rover infront had no brake lights, gave us his details and said he'd pay for everything, But our car wsnt worth the hassle, Hence buying a new car. Fact of the matter is they are making us pay for two policies, thats 600 pound a month.

 

[Hades]

Been a while since I worked in insurance but the part about keeping the claim open rings a bell for sure.

What sounds really strange is them not allowing you to change your existing policy to cover a new car, I have no idea why they would require you to take out a new policy like that.

I don't work in insurance so this is just a guess by me. But if you write off your car then the policy ends because the insurance company has paid out. In this case, while they have not paid anyone and it seems like a simple case of the customer wanting to change the policy to a new car, I guess there is the risk that they may need to payout due to the total loss. Until they know for sure that no-one is claiming (which will take six months) then they may want to avoid a situation where the policy continues when it should have ended.

That's just a total guess and it does seem odd. But it's the only reason I can think of.

 

[Anksy]

I don't work in insurance so this is just a guess by me. But if you write off your car then the policy ends because the insurance company has paid out. In this case, while they have not paid anyone and it seems like a simple case of the customer wanting to change the policy to a new car, I guess there is the risk that they may need to payout due to the total loss. Until they know for sure that no-one is claiming (which will take six months) then they may want to avoid a situation where the policy continues when it should have ended.

That's just a total guess and it does seem odd. But it's the only reason I can think of.

I can understand that for sure, My main problem is them keep the policy open and making us pay for it for what im reading could be upto 6 months, So basically we are being punished for writing off our car.

 

[MrRockliffe]

I find it really weird that the insurance company have “written off you car”, aka deemed it too costly to repair, but then you haven’t claimed for it.


If you’ve not claimed for the cost of repairs through insurance, surely it wouldn’t have been written off. It’s just not economical to repair. You’d still be the owner of that car, too.



But why would you not claim for it? Have you scrapped it? Dumped it?

 

[Anksy]

I find it really weird that the insurance company have “written off you car”, aka deemed it too costly to repair, but then you haven’t claimed for it.


If you’ve not claimed for the cost of repairs through insurance, surely it wouldn’t have been written off. It’s just not economical to repair. You’d still be the owner of that car, too.



But why would you not claim for it? Have you scrapped it? Dumped it?

Yes we scrapped it, It was taken off the road and taken to a yard and we paid 98 pound for them to scrap it, It was a £800 old BMW, not worth the time of day. We paid the scrapping fee the next day and told the insurance company, Its as simple as that.

 

[Hades]

I can understand that for sure, My main problem is them keep the policy open and making us pay for it for what im reading could be upto 6 months, So basically we are being punished for writing off our car.

If the policy is ended because the car is a total loss (and the insurer has paid out) then I think it's quite normal to have to pay the full amount for the policy. e.g. if you paid for it in one lump sum at the start of the policy and the car is written off in the middle of the policy then you don't get any of your money back. If you pay monthly then it's normal to take any outstanding premium amount from the payout.

In this case it does put you in a difficult position. Maybe the right approach is to ask the insurance company to confirm that you would get all of your outstanding premiums back after six months if there is no claim, because you would have voluntarily ended the policy. Get this in writing. Then take out a completely new policy either with the same company or a new one.

 

[snapdragon69]

Basically they will put your reported incident on an Insurance Claims Portal, where it will sit open for 2 years unless settled.

Portal Upgrades

www.claimsportal.org.uk

It will sit there waiting for another insurer to find and match with a claim from their insured.
I myself would work on the basis of a need-to-know and deny everything basis ... it's a dog-eat-dog world out there these days, and honesty goes severely punished!

 

[SGWills]

they will basically keep the claim open for a duration (this changes depending on the insurer) as the other parties would still have up to 3 years to submit a personal injury claim or 5 years to submit a property claim. They normally wont keep it open for the full duration of the claim life but will let a reasonable window of time pass.
As for changing the vehicle, they should still let you do a Change of Vehicle on the policy (this is what the majority of insurers do) might be an additional premium to pay but they should still be able to let you change it. its wierd if they say no

 

[tom_e]

As for changing the vehicle, they should still let you do a Change of Vehicle on the policy (this is what the majority of insurers do) might be an additional premium to pay but they should still be able to let you change it. its wierd if they say no

Could it be that the particular underwriter the current policy is with can't/won't quote for the new vehicle.

 

[SGWills]

Could it be that the particular underwriter the current policy is with can't/won't quote for the new vehicle.

will normally be decided by the type of insurer. The mainstream ones will likely cover the OP change unless they picked something completely different.
From a personal perspective, i had a crash in June (Non Fault) car was written off. Churchill insured the car. Just called them up and they changed it over and i had to pay about £60 difference i believe. Its only a daily run around so it went from a 2015 Clio to a 2020 Fiesta. As my renewal was about 4 months before, the new prices were crazy so i just paided the difference and will see where the market is 8 months down the line

but in answer to your question yes its possible the UW had some input but i would be surprised.