bit annoyed. got clipped by a bus today whilst i was stationary. very minimal damage to my van, do want it checked over though, but what annoys me is that i will have to notify my insurance company because the bus companies people are automatically involved and it will mean i will have to declare it for the next few years when buying new insurance and it will make the premiums higher for me.

is there anything i can do about this or is it just another example of insurance companies taking the proverbial?

I’m afraid it’s an example of insurance companies trying to assess their risk as accurately as possible – you’ve just become higher risk, and there’s nothing at all you can do about that.

I’m afraid it’s an example of insurance companies trying to assess their risk as accurately as possible – you’ve just become higher risk, and there’s nothing at all you can do about that.

Its just a case of someone whining about insurance companies without having spoken to them or otherwise knowing or bothering to find out the facts before hiting “send post”. But dont let reality interfere with your rant. People dont like being “wrong”, when its just easy to blame some faceless corp.

If you have been in an accident, then your policy t&c do say to report it. If you dont want to comply with a product t&c, dont buy it.

Secondly, bus drivers particularly, as its usually diciplinary, – lie. So your insurer will probably get a letter trying to hold you at fault, despite your assertion you were stationary. Be prepared for a counter allegation of your own wrong doing.

Indeed, people cling on to ideas like being “stationary” or “hit in the rear” to somehow try and avoid taking any responsibility. you were in the van, in the driving seat. What happened before? IF you pull out from a side road, slam on your brakes to be “stationary” you will still be at fault – Not saying thats whats happened hear, but just to explain why your insurers will not immediately just go “ok thats fine then”. Also remember that if th bus company insurer dispute liability, thats becasue of the facts they are told. They are simply the relay or conduit for untruth, rather than the fabricators of same.

But lets assume that all runs well, you call the bus co, who inform their insurers that their driver was at fault –

All insurers do work on the basis that until they know theres no claim against them, they will withhold ncd. However, I am not aware of any insurer who raise your premium for having non fault acidents. Ie when liability is found in your favour, and your insurer closes its file, your ncd is reinstated. You are not loaded for non fault, asit doesnt reflect on your risk for the future. There are caveats of course – you keep having several non fault hits in rear that makes it look like your a slam on compensation seeker, then they might review that.

When you go for future insurance, you declare it non fault, if thats how it resolves, and that a nil pay out was made, and you should be fine.

Is it Stagecoach? I got hit by a Stagecoach double decker, he stopped moved his bus and then started taking photos and trying to intimidate me, I was stunned I really had no idea what happened. luckily two army captains were in cars behind the bus and saw the whole thing. Still took 18 months..
Stagecoach are “self insured” whatever that menas, my mate who works for arriva in fraud detection says that they deny every single claim anyone makes agaisnt them and are universally reviled in the insurance industry.

I am not aware of any insurer who raise your premium for having non fault acidents. Ie when liability is found in your favour, and your insurer closes its file, your ncd is reinstated. You are not loaded for non fault, asit doesnt reflect on your risk for the future

Declare a non-fault accident when getting a quote for insurance and then get another quote for the same details. The first is more often than not higher. I was in an accident (non-fault) in a rental car so my insurers were not involved at all in any claim (in fact I don’t think i had my own car insurance at the time) but I still have to declare this and it still makes a difference to my premiums.

The logic goes something along the lines of “you have been in an accident that is not your fault, that is unlucky, therefore you are an unlucky person and more likely to have another accident!”

stagecoach are insured by lloyds.

Buses are big things, and they do very occasionally hit something, or somethings or somebody pretends that they got hit.

Most of the larger companies have cctv fitted inside and out, as if the bus hit you, a lot of the passengers may well try to claim for whiplash.

Its up to the insurance companies to sort out thats why you have insurance.

stagecoach are insured by lloyds.

in sept 2009 they werent, I have the letters from stagecoach to prove it.

The logic goes something along the lines of “you have been in an accident that is not your fault, that is unlucky, therefore you are an unlucky person and more likely to have another accident!”

It really doesnt.

Care to explain then why my premiums are approximately 200 quid more expensive when I declare a non-fault accident than if I didn’t?

you havent protected your no claims discount.

The crash wasn’t on my insurance, it was in a rental car, I didn’t have my own insurance therefore I didn’t have any ncd to lose. I still have to tick the yes box when it asks if you have been in an accident in the last 5 years and it still affects the premiums even if I’ve since built up NCD

Change insurance comps, or just tell them it was not your fault.

They know it’s not my fault, it’s marked down as a non-fault accident on my insurance policy, it still affects the premiums. It was so clearly non-fault that the rental car company didn’t charge me the 400 quid excess that I should have paid (normally you would have to pay the excess and claim it back from the other party’s insurance company)

I’m sure there are some insurance companies that don’t adjust premiums for non-fault accidents, these are also the same insurance companies that charge three times as much in the first place.

The logic goes something along the lines of “you have been in an accident that is not your fault, that is unlucky, therefore you are an unlucky person and more likely to have another accident!”

Luck doesn’t come into it – ins cos don’t do luck. It’s because people who’ve been involved in one accident that isn’t their fault are statistically more likely to be involved in another accident that isn’t their fault (and possibly also more likely to be involved in an accident that is their fault), and next time the guilty party might be uninsured or hit and run. The reasoning behind the stats as I understand it is that some people drive more in situations where people have prangs than others.

I had a no fault accident last year and when I renewed with another company shortly after it had no impact on my premium. Indeed, the SP50 I picked up but managed to miss out on the quote process actually reduced my premium by £30 when I told them about it. Funny old game insurance.

School bus hit friend’s car. Minor damage only. Their own coachworks/body shop repaired the damage FOC, very professionally and quickly too… its probably not recommended but it actually seemed to be a good old fashioned solution to a problem!

thanks for the helpful posts. just spoke to my insurance company so at least i’m covered in case the bus driver decides to fib.

for whats its worth though, a few years back my car, parked and empty, was hit (by my wife’s freind) so about as no fault as you can possibly get, and it did make a difference (generally 50 – 100quid) to any car or bike insurance that i bought during the period i had to declare it. hence my annoyance.

you havent protected your no claims discount.

Why would you need protected NCD on a non-fault incident? A claim isn’t made against your insurance in that case, it’s wholly the responsibility of the third party insurer (or the MIB in the case of an uninsured driver).

A non-fault incident shouldn’t affect your premiums. If it does, I’d suggest changing insurer to one who isn’t taking the proverbial.

A non-fault incident shouldn’t affect your premiums

in my experience it does not affect current premiums but does affect any new policies.

Can insurance premium increase be recovered under ‘uninsured losses’ (as per excess) when in a no fault biff?

just as a follow up post, i’ve been on the phone all morning with my insurance company and have to say i’m very glad i did because according to them a bus company will always dispute a claim no matter how black & white the fault is.

so cheers toys19 for mentionning that earlier, if i had’nt read that i would have just waited for the bus insurers expecting them to play fair.

A non-fault incident shouldn’t affect your premiums

I explained above why it should.

I’ve got 3 points and a non-fault accident that cost about 2k, claimed entirely from the other party. It added about 30 quid to my insurance of my next car (group 17 insurance as well) so it often doesn’t make much difference.

I have (had, more than 5 years ago now) a non-fault head-on accident with two vehicles written off and about 30K’s worth of claims (total). My premiums didn’t change.

I moved from a main street parking on the road next to a pub and a chinese to a side street, parkign on my drive behind gates away from the pub (about 200 yards away) and my premium went up £36.

Insurance companies make it up as they go along, but some times you win.

Working in insurance sales, and having had a couple of non-fault claims a few years ago I can answer this both as an insider and a ‘victim’

And it most assuredly does affect the renewal premium when you have a non-fault accident.

aracer’s explanation is pretty accurate.

Most insurers who I’ve dealt with over the years will load the premium. Some will even lie and say they don’t.

Maybe I just missed out on a bigger discount then, because mine have gone down by about the same amount every year for the past 8 years, until this year when they stayed static. But my next renewal was certainly lower than the year I had the non-fault crash in.

coffeeking, I haven’t checked every insurer obviously so there must be a few who don’t load. But ime most do.

I have noticed that a lot more insurance companies now want to check if you have a claim in the last 5 years instead of 3. It was normally 3 years for claims, regardless of blame, and 5 years for points. We’ve been with Admiral for years and they still apply 3 years.

When you have a no fault claim and have to keep declare it for years and it does increase your premium.

Coffeeking – I spoke to admiral when last quoting and when I said I parked the car I’m my garage the chap said “really? Because it’s cheaper if it’s on the road”‘his logic was if it’s in a garage then a theif has plenty of cover to work in AND the garage could fall on it or burn down or anything, private driveways are often secluded and on the road is least risky because of passers by. Mental, but clearly Based on some weird claims experience.

coffeeking, with all due respect, you’ve already shown your sum knowledge regarding insurance (i.e. could be written on the back of a small postage stamp leaving room for the glue) in the SORN thread.

😉

Bus companies dont always dispute , what a crock of shit. Whats that based on ??