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car insurance claims take me to -6 years!

aaragon
#1
Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum and I decided to share my experience to see what advice I can get from people with a similar situation. I've been paying for my car insurance about 140 EUR/month over almost 2 years now. A few days ago my girlfriend had a small accident with the car while parking, creating a bump to the front (close to the spoiler) that costs about 1000 EUR to repair. So I decided I was finally going to use the car insurance that has costed so much so far. I also decided to replace 3 of the 4 wheels I damaged a few months ago while parking in a very narrow parking in Paris.

Well, it turns out that both claims will reduce my number of damage-free years to -6! So basically, each of these claims reduces the number of damage-free years by 5 years each. But it's insane to even think these were not even real accidents! So now the insurance says that if I claim 1 accident my insurance goes up a bit (to about 160 EUR/month) and if I claim both it goes up by a lot (to 310 EUR/month!). So I said to myself: well, if the insurance wants to do this, then I fix my car and then I terminate my insurance with them and find something else. Of course the insurance company claims that no other insurance will want to take me because everything related to my policy will be in the system. So at this point I don't know what to do. Does anyone have some advice on how I should proceed?
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Cynic
#2
Hi Aaragon and welcome to the Forum. :)

You're probably not going to like this very much, but this applies to all Insurance policies, not just car-insurance.  Any claim you make related to blame-worthy incidents related to any specific insurance cover are going to impact on your policy at next renewal.  The problem you have now is, having reported them, they are now on your record for the next 5-years and in the pink and fluffy world of Motor Insurance, there is no such thing as "unreal" accidents; they are either blameworthy, or not.

As to another company not wanting you, unless there is something else you haven't told us, they will, but it will be at a cost - that being reduced no-claims bonus (which is probably what they meant).

My advice; you can't "un-report" the accidents.  Next time, think before you make a claim.
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aaragon
#3
Hi Cynic, thanks for replying. I'm deciding on what to do now and I haven't made the claim yet. In this case, what would you advise I do?
Cynic
#4
Guess it would depend on the status of the car.  Do you own it, or is it under some lease deal.

If I owned it and had it repaired, I would probably pay for the repair myself.  When Insurance companies pay for repairs, you get 5-star, gold-plated work; you haven't said how old your car is, but you could probably get it done cheaper yourself, or buy a 2nd hand part from a car-breaker, or just perhaps accept that your car has a small dent at the front and the wheels look a bit tatty.  If the car is still roadworthy, why repair it; it's value is not going up?

If it's a lease car, then you have no option but to get it repaired and may have to go the Insurance company route.
1 member reacted to this post
aaragon
#5
It's an almost new Audi TT. I own it completely. 1000 EUR for repairing the dent, about 700 EUR for fixing the wheels.
Cynic
#6
I understand the pain; I'd be pi$$ed off if someone had dented my Audi TT.  I would do the sums; if the cost of repairing it yourself is less than going the Insurance route, with its subsequent loss of no-claims and you can afford it, then fix it yourself.  If it's cheaper via the Insurer, then do that.

I'm assuming it's the front bumper skin that's damaged; you can probably get one from a breaker yard and get it re-sprayed and fitted for less than 1k euro; half of RTA's are a rear-end shunt, so you've a fair chance of picking one up.  One word of warning, a small bump on a plastic skin can be hiding something much worse behind it.  If you've not had the bumper off to check; it may be worthwhile checking before you make a decision.
aaragon
#7
Thanks Cynic for the advice again. I'll definitely do the numbers. Have a great day.
Marijamo
#8
Reading this subject it crossed my mind that it seems to be better paying just basic insurance and do all repairs by yourself if they add -6 years for such a little thing!
Or I'm missing some calculation here?

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