Pothole damage and claiming on FC insurabnce

[didds]

Just seen a suggestion online that I'm unsure about.

regarding claiming off a local council for damage sustained by a pothole (usual caveats) somebody suggested rather than jump through the hoops of a claim just claim on one's FC insurance - and the insurance company will pay then will claim off the council concerned.

Is that really the case?

Strikes me the insurance will apply any excess still leaving the car owner out of pocket unless they themselves then still jump through hoops to claim the excess back from the council.

(And the potential I suppose of now having made a claim, and premiums being affected... yes its a no fault claim but as we all know these things seem to have a habity of somehow inreasing premiums anyway ... but that is not partof my DAK...)

DAK?

[bungeejumper]

Nice idea. Not so much a DAK answer as an attempt at getting to the logic of the situation, but if it was that easy everyone would be doing it.

One of the issues would probably be about wear and tear. Your busted tyre was down to 1.6mm of tread when you hit the pothole, your springs were cracked and hanging on by a thread, and your bent wheel had come off a van. All those things could be established in fact, of course, but I can't see an insurance company that's never laid eyes on your car wanting to get involved.

So yes, they'd jack up your premiums one way or another. No-fault mishaps can still cost you, and they usually do.

BJ

[DrFfybes]

I've never heard of this being done (and I worked in Council Highways depts for 12 years).

I think you've found the drawbacks - you get a payout but only get the excess back when/if the council pays up, also in the mean time lose NCD, and as you've made a claim (fault or non fault) your premiums will go up.

Which makes me wonder how many of the spurious claims put in (and thee are quite a few that seem a little unusual) would stop if the Council askedmfor insurance details

Paul

[sg31]

I've never heard of this being done (and I worked in Council Highways depts for 12 years).

I think you've found the drawbacks - you get a payout but only get the excess back when/if the council pays up, also in the mean time lose NCD, and as you've made a claim (fault or non fault) your premiums will go up.

]Which makes me wonder how many of the spurious claims put in (and thee are quite a few that seem a little unusual) would stop if the Council askedmfor insurance details

Paul

I don't think the Council would have the right to ask for that information. It's not relevant to the claim against them. I would certainly refuse to give it although many probably would.

[quelquod]

As regards future insurance premiums there’s generally an obligation to tell the insurance company about any claim/accident/incident whether you’re claiming from them or not. Claiming from the council certainly would be covered by that, and IME insurance companies will up the premium after any claim whether from them or not.

[sg31]

As regards future insurance premiums there’s generally an obligation to tell the insurance company about any claim/accident/incident whether you’re claiming from them or not. Claiming from the council certainly would be covered by that, and IME insurance companies will up the premium after any claim whether from them or not.

My experience is different. A few years ago a car pulled out from a parking bay into my car as I was passing. They were hidden behind a van so pulled out without looking and I had no chance to avoid them. They told their insurer it was their fault and I recovered my costs. I disclosed this to my insurers and my premium was not affected at renewal.

When my wife had a wing mirror to wing mirror accident with a car when she was a learner the other driver didn't stop. She disclosed the accident when getting renewal quotes. No claim was made. There was no difference in most when she disclosed the incident compared to when she didn't. (I got the quotes from Money Supermarket and tried both options just to see.)

I spent some years as an insurance underwriter for one of the big companies. Back then we would have ignored any disclosed 'non claim' unless there were a number of them. For most companies that still seems to be the case although this isn't universal.

It would be interesting to hear other posters experiences.

[bungeejumper]

My experience is different. A few years ago a car pulled out from a parking bay into my car as I was passing. They were hidden behind a van so pulled out without looking and I had no chance to avoid them. They told their insurer it was their fault and I recovered my costs. I disclosed this to my insurers and my premium was not affected at renewal.

Yes, it can be painless if the other driver owns up quickly. I was T-boned across my offside front wing by a transit van that was doing a dodgy U-turn, and my insurance company received notice of the other driver's liability within two hours. I got a courtesy car that afternoon, and it was all fairly painless. It may have helped that I had legal cover insurance?

When my wife had a wing mirror to wing mirror accident with a car when she was a learner the other driver didn't stop. She disclosed the accident when getting renewal quotes. No claim was made. There was no difference in most when she disclosed the incident compared to when she didn't. (I got the quotes from Money Supermarket and tried both options just to see.)

Getting your wing mirrors clipped (or broken) by oncoming cars is such a common occurrence in our narrow rural lanes that we've stopped reporting it at all. Of the five occasions when there's been damage, not a single one of the other drivers has ever stopped. (Most of them were driving either company-rep BMWs or really ratty old wrecks.) We just heave a deep sigh and order the parts, and get on with life.

BJ

[pochisoldi]

Getting your wing mirrors clipped (or broken) by oncoming cars is such a common occurrence in our narrow rural lanes that we've stopped reporting it at all. Of the five occasions when there's been damage, not a single one of the other drivers has ever stopped. (Most of them were driving either company-rep BMWs or really ratty old wrecks.) We just heave a deep sigh and order the parts, and get on with life.
BJ

Due to vandalism in my area, I've had to replace four wing mirrors.
The first time I had to go to the Peugeot Main Stealer - offside mirror completely decapitated - disappeared without trace.
The other times it was a case of gaffer taping the mirror in place as a temporary fix, and I found a company on Ebay doing a pattern replacement at a price which was proportional to the cost of manufacture, rather than the cost of the dealer's showroom.

Reporting such matters just makes my postcode area look like a car crime hotspot.
I came to the conclusion that parking my car in front of my house over the weekend on a side street which is a major walking route into town was asking for trouble - parking in a side street 20 yards away fixed the problem...

[bungeejumper]

Getting your wing mirrors clipped (or broken) by oncoming cars is such a common occurrence in our narrow rural lanes that we've stopped reporting it at all. Of the five occasions when there's been damage, not a single one of the other drivers has ever stopped. (Most of them were driving either company-rep BMWs or really ratty old wrecks.) We just heave a deep sigh and order the parts, and get on with life.

These days, of course, I have a dashcam which would nail the perpetrators' cars in an instant. (Although possibly not the driver, who might insist that somebody else was at the wheel.) I somehow doubt that my insurance company would be interested enough in my incriminating footage to want to pursue a claim for a relatively trifling (sub-£100) amount of money. And I'm more than sure that the police have better things to do.

The first time I had to go to the Peugeot Main Stealer - offside mirror completely decapitated - disappeared without trace.
The other times it was a case of gaffer taping the mirror in place as a temporary fix, and I found a company on Ebay doing a pattern replacement

Me too. You can get pattern-part mirror shells (including indicator repeaters) for forty quid or so, or £20 for just the top shell - although you've still got to spray it of course. A full motorised mirror unit can be had for about £100, all sprayed and finished, if the damage is that bad.

Compare and contrast with the £650 that my daughter had to pay for a kosher Audi mirror unit on her PCP'd A3. Sometimes there are advantages to owning your own car outright.

BJ

[didds]

It would be interesting to hear other posters experiences.

son stopped at red lights in a city he never vsisted by car except this one time.

rear ended by another driver who just drove into the back of him.

claimed on other driver's insurance fine.

disclosed to own insureres.

Premium incrased next renewal because {paraphrased] "He clearly drove in areas where there was a greater risk of a collision" And yes., he had already poinred out this visit was pretty much a one off, and certainly a rare occurrence (once every five years sort of thing ].

So basically "everybody" would have the same element of "risk" on that basis.

[sg31]

son stopped at red lights in a city he never vsisted by car except this one time.

rear ended by another driver who just drove into the back of him.

claimed on other driver's insurance fine.

disclosed to own insureres.

Premium incrased next renewal because {paraphrased] "He clearly drove in areas where there was a greater risk of a collision" And yes., he had already poinred out this visit was pretty much a one off, and certainly a rare occurrence (once every five years sort of thing ].

So basically "everybody" would have the same element of "risk" on that basis.

Direct Line by any chance?

[didds]

Direct Line by any chance?

no... not sure now but more likely (ISTR?) to have been admiral or hastings maybe that ilk. we as a family tend to avoid DL though I cannot recall why now! LOL.

didds

[bungeejumper]

Direct Line by any chance?

Strictly in the name of fairness, Direct Line was the ins co that treated me so well when their insured driver drove into my car. I haven't heard such good things about them in recent years, though. More's the pity.

BJ

[quelquod]

“ It would be interesting to hear other posters experiences.”

My wing mirror was clipped by a passing car while parked. Replacement cost was over £600 but I didn’t claim as my excess (compulsory plus voluntary) totals £500. My premium, admittedly low for the type of car, increased by nearly 50%.

As it happened a different company - Direct Line - ignored the no-fault incident in their premium so as you say, attitudes differ.

[yorkshirelad1]

Just seen a suggestion online that I'm unsure about.

regarding claiming off a local council for damage sustained by a pothole (usual caveats) somebody suggested rather than jump through the hoops of a claim just claim on one's FC insurance - and the insurance company will pay then will claim off the council concerned.

Is that really the case?

Strikes me the insurance will apply any excess still leaving the car owner out of pocket unless they themselves then still jump through hoops to claim the excess back from the council.

(And the potential I suppose of now having made a claim, and premiums being affected... yes its a no fault claim but as we all know these things seem to have a habity of somehow inreasing premiums anyway ... but that is not partof my DAK...)

DAK?

In case it's any use, I was checking something else out (in Which magazine), and stumbled across an article that might be of use. There's a 6-page article in Which Sept 2019 on pothole damage. One snippet says:

Before making a claim, it might be worth calling the council or the Highways Agency responsible for maintaining the road to check whether they will reimburse you if you undertake repair work. They may have a specific claims protocol that requires you to provide certain information prior to making a claim.