My wife twice had someone go into the back of her car. Claimed, no fault.. In my different car, I was nearly killed in a head on collision with a car that was on the wrong side of the road. (The other driver was banned for a year.) I got a replacement car. The other driver's insurer admitted liability. My claim is ongoing, as my injuries were severe. When I insured the replacement car and when I renewed my wife's insurance, in both cases, the premiums went through the roof. (I am the registered keeper of both cars and both cars are insured for both of us to drive.) The broker said that this was because between us we have had three claims in 5 years, although they are all non fault. I had no claims bonus protection. A complete scam.

Insurance companies are notorious for having one-way pockets

My elderly neighbour reversed his car at full speed across his drive into my car pushing it sideways into my wifes car. Both our cars were not in use. My car was written off, and my wifes car needed repair. We both claimed against his insurance and now both our premiums have gone up because statistically its more likely to happen again - its essentially an accident black spot. Insurance is a licensed scam.

Car insurance is one of the biggest scams going. You pay for a service and when you need to use it (once maybe twice in a life time) they try to get out of it using any technicality.

Licensed racketeering

Anyone surprised? They have no trouble taking your money..

I work in the accident repair industry and dealing with insurance companies is the biggest problem we have. They dictate the paint we use which is much more expensive than other brands because they get a kick back from the paint companies and they constantly try to cut estimates and pay as little as possible regarding hourly rates. The bodyshop I work in does thing’s properly and we often have to fix repairs from other garages where they rush and bodge things because they have signed an unworkable contract with a insurance company . One bodyshop chain has a fixed price contract with insurance companies so it’s in their interest to glue and smash things back into shape rather than replacing broken and heavily damaged parts. It’s actually hard to find staff now where people are leaving the industry quicker than they can train them because they’ve simply had enough of it.

They've always said that "No claim" doesn't mean "No blame". You are always blamed to some degree. and that "degree" is financial.

The UK insurance industry is a rip off! It’s like a closed shop.

Remember, insurance companies are beholden to their shareholders, *not* their policyholders.

See, this is the worst part of motoring for me, yet it apparently gets least notice. The press cover bus lanes, LTN's, cyclists paying no taxes etc but never insurance. Your car could be fully paid off, sit on your drive all year, go nowhere and you'd still need to pay a great whack of money for insurance. Yet I've never heard any politician say "yeah, it's a rip off, let's get on that".

Exactly right. You HAVE to pay to drive legally, but if you claim you’re premium will go up! Even if another driver was at fault. Worse than that 2 years ago I called my insurance company to query replacing my windscreen due to chips. They advised the windscreen replacement would NOT be branded, but generic. So I did not continue through the insurance company. Instead I paid for it outside of the insurance. The following year when my renewal quote arrived it had nearly doubled! When I called to query this they said I had made a claim! Even tho I hadn’t! Insurance companies are a scam and I hate the fact that every year I have to move my house, car and bike elsewhere cause you are penalised for loyalty! 🤬

If ever an industry needed regulation.

Absolute scam artists. Numbers plucked from the air when quoting prices. Wriggling out of claims. Non fault claim hikes. Price increased on renewals as opposed to a new policy. Writing off cars over something totally ridiculous ( See Saving Salvage when he bought a brand new still in transport mode smoke damaged Golf R). Bunch of See you next Tuesdays!

I've never once thought car insurance was "a bit of a rip off". It's obviously fkng massive.

I’m 78 years old, had full licence since 17 years old, passed police London cab test at 46, have always owned a vehicle since 19 years old, never had a fault claim. I’m now told by insurance companies that my premium carries an “age loading” (similar I suppose to being under 21 or 25) but no credit/allowance for driving blame free for over 60 years. They just seem to keep thinking up new excuses to make more money!

Im a driving Instructor and a few years ago I went through a period where I was rear ended three times within a years period all whilst sat at a red traffic light and none of them my fault. One was just as I was waiting for a new car to be delivered and the next 3 days after receiving the new car. All cost recovered from the other parties and as I said no fault of myself. None of the car were leased, all paid for and owned by myself. But after the third claim, I received a warning that if there should be anymore claims then I would be refused insurance cover WHAT! Thank god I have now gone seven years without any further accidents. What are we supposed to do ? insurance as someone once said to me many years ago insurance legalised robbery! how true that statement was!

This happens when Insurace becomes obligatory by law when companies are stock market players - all about money not about you

Great video Jack, keep up the good work !!! My Mother had he car bumped on the street while it was parked up and the person drove off. Fortunately someone took his Reg and we reported him. He got in touch and claimed on his insurance to have her car repaired and all sorted so we thought. When my Mum renewed her insurance her premium increased by £150 for a 'no fault claim' that was placed on her file history. We were double shocked as they said that 'fortunately on this occasion her NCB would not be affected' OMG !!! This is an absolute disgrace and clealry the PRA and FCA are not doing their job regulating these 'fraudsters'. Because we have to have insurance it's a license to rip us ALL off !!!!

I was told by an ex when she worked for an insurer, "Premiums are loaded 10% non fault, 20% at fault and 25% for 50/50 as neither insurer knows which policy holder lied"

“You are more likely to claim again “ however if you have never claimed in say 30 years then they class you at a higher risk of a claim basically because you are due an accident. You can’t make this stuff up but it’s true.

So if the whole idea is that the insurance company is aiming at no out of pocket, hence they have no risk, then it’s not really insurance….

NL (EU): Even worse; your insurance let's you pay coverage on the value of the car when new. All those years. But when there is a claim then the insurance looks to today's value. The same counts for when you buy a €/$2000 car. Not the value of buying it counts but the value new of dealer. That's a scam. And if you have an accident they try to confiscate the car. Giving you a small amount of money and raising your insurance but in the meanwhile they sell your wrecked car tithe highest bidder! ...so garages or what ever can bring back your car on the road and the insurance company benefits from both, even multiple, sides! And what ever way they rip you off, this should be brought to court!

I have never understood why so many drivers don't know that there are companies out there that deal with no fault accidents for this reason, because it's them dealing with the claim and not your insurance you don't loose your no claims bonus. They will do the same and probably more for you than your insurance would, yet people keep taking no fault claims to their insurance

Insurance companies in the uk have been ripping off the British people for decades. You only have to look at the reason insurance companies up the price year on year. We have had the following over the last 50 years, keys fit other cars so easy to steal, then you need an alarm, then immobiliser, key fob locking, then the post code you live in, area you live in, age, keyless entry, many more reasons. What they don’t tell you is that almost all British insurance companies have sister companies or subsidiaries in Europe, and the British people subsidies that. A Germany mep years ago did an experiment got drivers the same age in the uk and Germany, passed tests in the same week. So the male and female drivers in Germany went to a Mercedes dealership both got an A class, drove out on the same day fully insured via British insurance companies. The two British male and female went to Mercedes dealerships for an A class couldn’t get insurance. When the insurance companies were questioned by the mep they didn’t have an answer to why and wouldn’t answer. It’s funny that Insurance in the uk keeps going up, yet in Europe it doesn’t. Insurance companies in the uk state loads of different reasons for upping the price, which is all crap. For example stolen vehicles, the uk if people don’t realise is an island, Europe is not. The uk has less stolen vehicles than in Europe. Most vehicles stolen leave the uk via a port ferry or in a container on to a ship. Yet no insurance company or the police tells the ports to to bring in technology like ampr to check on the vehicles entering the ports. Why is that? Because the insurance companies will just pass on the price to the British people instead. It’s the same when it comes to an accident one person is at fault, yet the person not at fault will pay the following year or the next time they get insurance because of the accident which was not their fault. The insurance watch dogs and regulators setup by government are in the pockets of the insurance companies. So insurance companies can and do as they please. Notice how the insurance companies still payout to share holders year on year, yet the insurance companies keep stating all different reasons for the prices to go up year on year. But the share holder get paid out more year on year. Insurance in the uk, needs to change asap. It shouldn’t be on the person and vehicle, it should only be on the vehicle. The police need to stop being the ones who act on behalf of the insurance companies, with the stopping of vehicles with no insurance, the insurance companies as an industry should be paying the police for that service. As an uninsured vehicle if in a crash or accident costs the insurance companies. So the police should be paid by the insurance companies for saving them money. More needs to be done by the insurance companies when dealing with the ports letting stolen vehicles go through them. Insurance for vehicles needs to be a fixed price set by if need be government in the budget. So all vehicles are £500 per year max, lorries are also done at a set amount, motorbikes should be £250 a year max. Then those that have not had an accident or stolen vehicle know they will be paying less than the max year on year. An new driver or rider pays the max set ie £500 or £250. An the same when it come to a vehicle repair, now the insurance companies just right the vehicles off, instead of repairing them. Mainly because they go by dealership pricing for parts and labour. When everyone knows the local garage and body shop works out to be close to half the price. So insurance companies should be forced to use these local garages and body shops. They should also have to prove the right off of a vehicle is the cheapest option, before they can right it off.

High time insurance companies were brought to heel. They are there to protect us at all times but they seem more concerned about protecting themselves. It's, a typical example of where free market competition doesn't work.

Tim mentioned 3rd Part Fire and Theft insurance - the trouble is, they charge you MORE for that than they do for Fully Comp !!

My friend had a funny one. He has 10 yrs NCB and has his truck insured but decided to buy a little run around. He rang up his insurance company to get the car insured and they told him he couldn't use his NCB on his new car because they were being used on his truck. He said that is fine and that he will drive the new car like he's just passed his test, with no experience, hesitant etc. The insurance company asked why and he said that his driving skills and experience are obviously somehow stuck inside his truck

Happened to me! My new Cupra Formentor (6 months old) was hit by a bus WHILST I was sitting in my house watching TV! The bus driver accepted full responsibility but the bus company (sounds like sage post!!) refused to pay a penny (total bill £6550) for over 6 months! My insurance was then up for renewal 7 months later and even though my insurance accepted that my claim was a no fault claim because they hadn't received "full reimbursement of costs" my new policy went up from £225 to £650!! They eventually paid up days before I had to pay for my new policy and i eventually paid the lower amount! Very few people realise that this happens...you are totally at the mercy of the system and even though you are totally (as in my case) faultless you still can get penalised! Thank you for making people aware of this....

You have opened the Pandora's box with this video! I'm sure there could be hundreds of videos on this subject. Insurance of all kinds needs to be reformed and made more transparent and fair.

Imagine being a private company driven by profit and shareholders, where people have to pay you whatever you want them to every year just to avoid breaking the law, but when it comes to you paying them, it's entirely at your discretion and you face zero consequences for refusing to do so, you can however use their attempted claim as a perfect excuse to raise your prices for them again with no consequences. It's so broken.

A few years ago my son left his car in a tube station car park for the day while he went to work as he always did. In the middle of the day there was a short burst of heavy rain, the car park temporarily flooded and the water went above wheel level and got into the car. By the time he collected the car the ground was dry again but the car was full of water and smelled awful. He phoned his insurance company to ask about the possibility of them having them pay to have it cleaned. They told him the car was a write off. He said there was nothing wrong with the car itself it just needed a clean, but they did not want to know. Eventually we cleaned it ourselves and left the windows open for a bit in the hot weather and a couple of weeks later all was back to normal. His next premium went up because they said he had made a claim although they did not pay him a penny.

My premiums go up every year anyway . No claims gains another year .premium goes up.. it's a massive scam .

well done for making it public - there should be a public enquiry into Insurance companies - they are now closed shops and you have absolutely no options but to comply with their demands even if no fault situations occur. Its a typical British Rip off....

Excellent video Jack. A couple of years ago my son had his car stolen from outside his house. We lent him one of our cars while he got a replacement His insurance company were great on that and he had a new car in 2 weeks. However in adding him to my car insurance they wouldn't class his claim as a no fault as the vehicle hadn't been recovered so we had to pay a higher premium. Just seems non-sensical

My Son-In-law had his motorbike stolen. As a matter of course, the insurance company was notified. The bike was recovered, and my son-in-law decided to deal with the damage himself, therefore the insurance company paid nothing. When his insurance was due for renewal, he was surprised to discover that the premium had increased. When he questioned this, he was told that it was due to the theft of his motorcycle. He argued that he had not made a claim. However, the insurance company stated that the incident had been reported to them, therefore had been recorded on his policy as a theft!

Incredulous behaviour. ETA, someone drove into my TVR in a car park, I wasn't in the car, he admitted liability, I got the car repaired, his insurance then tried to take me to court for an excessive repair cost, I counter claimed and won, I got a small fee of compensation from his insurance company and the driver at fault was so embarrassed by his insurers that he also gave me a small fee. No fault of mine, it was absolutely incredible behaviour.

As someone who is dealing with the insurance company for the last 4 years, for an accident that wasn’t my fault, I can attest that insurance companies are scum, and the people they hire would make Darth Vader seem polite and kind!

They are total robbers. This guy is lucky his mates Volvo wasn't written off. A claim of circa £600 on a £2k car, quite often gets written off. The amount for the write off as often as not is far less than you paid for it. QED, you don't claim, even when its not your fault.

OK,. An 83 year old man crashed the red traffic light and hit my car writing it off. His car is turned upside down at the lights. Who's to blame? According to my insurance company it's a 50 50 claim! And my insurance premiums increased.lucky there just happened to be 3 witnesses, one of which was a police officer. I would have thought it would have been a dangerous driving charge but it was only a due care and attention according to the police! Upon my insistance he be charged and plead guilty to the offence ( (80 pound fine and licence withdrawn). Eventualy I was able to reclaim my increased premiums and the excess etc but it took a while and had I not bothered to chase them up I would still be paying more than necessary. What a scam the insurance industry is!

This is because you have compulsory insurance in the UK.. Here in New Zealand we do not have compulsory insurance and these insurance scams do not happen as there is so much competition from the insurance company's to TRY and get your insurance

And the insurance company says, "Two for me and none for you. Three for me and none for you. Four for me and none for you. . . ."

My father was in an occupation that 'loaded' his insurance and was very careful to avoid letting his insurers know about any damage to his car from a 'no fault' collision. I can remember an occasion in the early 70's when someone reversed into him (having being forced to stop and back up for an oncoming car in a quiet, residential street), he was having none of the "OK, let's exchange insurance companies", left it for the other driver to sort out with _her_ (sic) insurance. However, that was then this is now, I know that for many years insurers have worded their contracts to stipulate that you inform them of any and all 'no fault' claims on pain of invalidating your cover, but I've always wondered how that would stand up in court, because I don't believe it's mandated _by law._

I had been driving for more than fifty years without an accident or claim when someone reverser into me when I was driving at 2 mph. Despite being an advanced driver, an ex driving instructor and an hgv driver, I was charged extra for my premium when renewing. Why I asked the rationale for this I was told that there is now more chance of me having an accident in the coming year. I have never heard anything so ridiculous in my life. This, I believe, is tantamount to theft.

Hi Jack. I had this happen to me last year. I WAS insured with Admiral on my £500 vw polo and someone hit me from behind while I was stationary at a roundabout. I got the guys insurance details I informed Admiral about it and said I'd take it to a body shop to get an idea of the cost (only minor damage). 1 week later I left it on the road outside my house to let it dry after washing it before taking it to the body shop, I was inside the house when door bell rang and it was a friend of the neighbours who lived opposite and he said "sorry I've just reversed into your car". They admitted liability and I got their insurance details (more serious damage this time). I informed Admiral about it and they said that the last claim is the one they use as you can't process 2 claims on the same vehicle at the same time. Admiral would write the car off so I agreed with the guy who caused the second damage to pay me privately. I informed Admiral that I'm no longer claiming and they said it would only be noted down as an informed incident and not a claim. 3 months later my renewal came through and it had literally doubled since the year before. I phoned Admiral and after hassling the agent for an answer he admitted that the double recorded incident (not a claim) would be the main reason why the renewal had doubled. The motto to this is DO NOT put in no fault claim unless you have major damage to an expensive car that the 3rd party isn't willing to pay for privately! There is a real danger now that people with low value cars will not bother taking out car insurance at all because they know they won't use it anyway if someone hits them and they'll take the risk that they won't hit anyone. This is a really sad state of affairs and insurance companies need to held to account about this. Thanks for this video Jack and bringing this scam to people's attention 😊

Insurance companies= "Licence to print money!"

Wife was in a village for an annual meeting. Stationary waiting for a tractor to pass, the tractor clipped her. Admitted liability (later denied, but had witnesses and cctv) this added 40% to her next policy. Not her fault, nothing she was doing, nothing to do with the area. Her no claim bonus (protected) was not affected. Put the risk and the cost where it belongs. In this case, the farmer alone should stand the cost.

This makes a mockery of the no claims bonus. They should disclose that all claims including the ones you are not liable for will reduce your no claim bonus and in turn increase your premium. At least be up front about all claims having a direct effect on premiums in the advertising and marketing materials used to help people make up their minds prior to purchasing an insurance policy.

About 35 years ago, I got wiped out by a drunk driver. Totally his fault. I had 3rd party fire and theft insurance. My insurance company wouldn't lift a finger to help me deal with the other driver's insurance company. His insurance company did everything they could not to pay. I had to accept a very low "offer" just so I could get something to afford to buy another car. When I went to insure my "new" car, my insurance company stung me for an extra 10%. When I asked why, I was told "well, because you've had a crash". Total scumbags, basically a licence to print money.

I can do one better than this. I had a young kid (17 ish) drive into the side of me, I felt sorry for him and said just give me your excess as it was £500 and minor damage. But after his dad found out they tried to blame me so i though i would just go through the insurance. After i told his dad it was on CCTV that his son was indeed at fault he became my best friend and wanted to settle in cash so i told my insurance we were dealing with it on our own and thought that would be that. But a few months later when i came to renew my premuim went up! This was due to the incident even though not a single insurance company paid a single penny but the fact i registered the initaial claim was enough for them to increase it. Insurance in the UK is just a ticket to ride anything more and you will loose out.

Yep. I had a someone drive into the back of my car while I was waiting at a junction. I was completely stationary and was entirely innocent of any blame. Later that year I was discussing renewal with an insurer and after giving my details and history I was quoted a price. Then I remembered that I’d been hit earlier in the year and I told them, and my quote went up. “Hang on, it wasn’t my fault! She drove straight into the back of me, why has my quote gone up? “Because you were involved in an accident.” “But it wasn’t my fault! I did nothing wrong!” “It doesn’t matter. If you’re involved in an accident, your premium goes up.” So for the next five years I paid extra because of her inability to drive safely.

Just heard of a young guy, works with me, passed his test, bought a VW Polo 1.2 and they charging him 5grand for insurance, the motor only worth 3.5 grand. Legalised extortion. How much does the government get in kickbacks. It's gotten out of control, we are all being ripped off by these greedy thieves, our system is ridiculous.

A bit like a complete stranger coming up to you in the street punching you in the face and you get charged with assault.

If the insurance industry spent as much on paying out claims as they spend on figuring out ways to avoid paying out they would be a lot richer.

Government need to sort this my insurance has gone up over 300% WTAF my pension has gone up nowt

I had similar situation - Deal with the 3rd party insurance only, not your own. Its in their own interest to deal with you directly to keep costs down.

This is exactly why the government and the opposition are promosing to look into car insurance,in the last few years premiums have rocketed and they have inserted these no risk to themselves clauses. They are out of control and need overhauling.

32 years NCB, a lady reversed into my (parked legally) car with me a mile away visiting my terminally ill Mother in hospital and despite her insurers paying everything and advising that I did not have to go through my insurance at all it just cost me £350 more to insure my car because the third party insurer reported it to the MIB as a No Fault accident. The Motor Ombudsman should do something about this scam as it will follow me for up to 5 years.

I worked in a dealer, and we looked after a large fleet of vehicles for a company. They paid for any body work repairs directly and even arranged for the third-party vehicle to be repaired if it was damaged. They rarely made a claim, as previously they found themselves not being able to get insurance from any company due to the number of claims they made per year. They still paid a hefty sum, but the insurance company was always quids in.

Been there and worn the T shirt a few times on this one The other scam is when they try to get knock for knock and again you lose !! Great and informative up load !!! Well done and well said Sir !!

The fact that if you get points for, say, speeding, it affects every car you insure equally, but no claims bonus can't be used on all vehicles.

Here's one I was told by my INS co "premiums have substantially increased due to inflation, increased parts and labor costs, and more claims by other people, increasing our costs, which we gladly pass to you to cover our costs. Thank you for your business." Never had a claim, yet price goes up.

I've had 4 non fault claims since 2012. One claim made no difference to my insurance but two in the same 5 year period did. I have never lost no claims bones and I always go though the third party insurance company as I have a camera on my helmet, sent them the footage and I get a phone call in a matter of hours. I never use my own insurance company, the first claim I did use them and when I went to renew my insurance they listed it as a fault claim because it hadn't been settled yet. Luckily the third party insurer wrote me a nice letter explaining that it was definitely there fault and I was completely innocent of any fault. Delayed my insurance by over a week.

I live in America. I insure 4 cars, my BMW i3, my wifes Audi Q5, my daughters $800 Honda element and my 1987 VW Camper. overall my insurance bill is almost $10,000 a year for the 4 cars (I also have a 1979 MGB insured on a classic policy that costs about $300 a year). My insurance company is actually quite good. The big issue we have in the US (and I am British) is that the insurance has almost nothing to do with the car, it is how much a person can sue you for for injuries even if you had nothing to do with the accident which can be many millions of dollars. At this point I do need the insurance company to fight for me, which obviously costs them money. However for no fault claims in the US i have never experienced them changing my my no claims status unless it was our fault so I am stunned this happens in the UK.

I can tell you that this damage would cost 1000£ for sure in Switzerland. If you can get it fixed for 600£ you are lucky. I was standing at a red light in Italy. An idiot who had a car for 24 hours hit the rear ofmy big van and caused a damage of about 2500£. I waited nearly half a year, nobody paid for the damage. My insurance and myself tried many times to settle the case. Then I had to involve a lawyer and even he needed many attempts until the inurance of the guy finally accepted that they had to pay. At the end they did. They had also tried the: "Let our body shop fix it" trick. The car had been repaired many months before after a professional apraiser had inspected the damage. And as a former body shop employee I fixed most myself. Only the paintjob on the rear bumper was made by someone else. Some insurances try every trick possible to escape their responsability. To make matters worse, I had been a good customer of this very same insurance for many years until I had finally realized that they were much to expensive.

I have 11 cars. They range from seventies classics to a modern Skoda fabia. Most are all classic cars I've completely rebuilt over the years. I can't afford to have them all on the road at the same time, so what I normally do is I'll pick out two cars I will insure along with my daily runabout which is the Skoda fabia diesel. So I have three insurance policies going at once. If I want to take one of the cars that's not insured to say a car show i'll do day cover on it. I have never made a claim since 1988 when I started driving. My issue with the insurance companies is that when I get the insurance I have to tell them if I had made a claim in the last 5 years. I have to do this for each insurance policy. My no claims bonus is unique to each policy yet if I ever did make a claim it would affect all three policies. My other issue is the no claims protection. I have never had this because in my opinion it's useless. With no claims protection if you have an accident, you will still have the same percentage no claim you had before the accident, but when you actually check your renewal you'll find that the premium has increased. Insurance companies have become a complete scam.

As a personal injury solicitor I can confirm this is correct. Even if you are 100% not at fault the fact you have been involved in an accident is recorded on your record. You are therefore deemed a higher risk and insurers will bump up your premium as a consequence. And don’t get me started on injury claims, you can’t argue about a dent in your car but insurers will say you are lying about your injuries and refuse any payout!

In such a case don’t involve your insurers - just clam from the other drivers insurers directly.

Motor insurance in this country is a racket. A government backed racket. No question. An example not covered in your video.... A few years ago (maybe three) a woman coming in the opposite direction in a single track lane refused to give way by reversing. This IN SPITE of the right of way being mine as I was the vehicle going up hill. A queue soon built up and another driver explained this to the crazy bint (er, I mean 'woman') and she eventually had to reverse three car lengths to a passing place so that I could proceed with my car and trailer. With me so far? Well she must have reported the (non) incident to her insurance company because according to their database some sort of claim was made and I am duty bound to acknowledge it, raising my premiums. There was NO collision, NO damage to private or public property and obviously NO injuries to anyone involved. You work THAT one out !!!

I look forward to Part 2: 'How to deal with it'.

Hastings insurance is apparently contacting it's customers three or four months after they have paid and started the insurance on the vehicle. Asking, Demanding that you send a copy of your driving license front and back, a copy of your v5 for the vehicle, all pages. So they can cross reference with what details they have and if it is wrong you would have to pay to have the policy changed plus admin fees ! And a code for your driving license so they can check what points you have and/or convictions. Surly this can not be right ? It's easily open to explotation from the insurance company, making more easy money after the deal/start date vehicle insurance was first made. How can this be allowed to happen, this must be against the rules ? What would be the name of the body that over sees these companies , what laws?

Another one with insurance is to make sure you check your documents; my policy was cancelled, and I was to be reported for fraudulent activity, what I had actually done was, I was one day out on the birthdate i.e. put the 28th as opposed to the 29th, the policy was cancelled my premium went up by £500 whilst I agree to the letter of the law I was at fault but there was no actual financial gain on this oversight. I actually managed to go through a broker who explained the situation to the underwriters and I actually ended up with a cheaper insurance premium

I've news for you Jack... it's even worse than that. Even if no claim at all is made and you've been involved in an accident [fault or no fault] you need to disclose that to your insurer who will see you as an increased risk and up your premium at renewal !

It's basically "wrong place, wrong time" tax! About 10 years ago I had parked my 300ZX in a carpark and came back to see a large Elgrand reversing out of a space then start to drive off. When they saw me walking towards the car they sped off screeching out of the junction narrowly missing a car. On checking my car it had some damage to the bumper (I think the parking sensors had missed the front of the car with it being so low and they bumped it). I spoke to my insurance company to notify them and they reached out to the council who advised there was camera footage, but it was "too grainy to make out the number plate". I told my insurance company I didn't want to pursue the claim on my own insurance. Fast forward a few months and on taking out a new policy on my main car I was told the system was showing that I had made a claim in the past 3 years, which I had not. I'm not sure if it is still the same, but it turned out both insurance companies told me that if you report an accident it goes down as a claim on your policy, even if you don't make a claim!

2 points - (1) If you dont notify your insurance company because its not worth doing so, you're in breach of your insurance and it becomes invalid (2) my late mother-in-law contacted her home insurance a couples of times to check if a ceiling crack was covered under her policy and they logged both as a "claim" even though it wasnt covered and then loaded her policy at renewal for having 2 "claims" in 1 year

2 weeks ago Sunday just gone, my wife's car was from stolen from outside our house between the hrs of 00.30 and 03.30 . it was recovered by the police but it was damaged, therefore recovered to a repairer, after 3 days it was cleared by SOCO, meaning that I could examine it, I am retired but was a panel beater for 48 yrs, therefore totally capable of making the decision that it was an uneconomical repair, insurance claim made, insurance confirm non repairable, insurance company pay out as per policy BUT it now goes through as a FAULT claim. No courtesy car over the 2 weeks and there will of course be an increase at the renewal date of the replacement car, that I have had to purchase. Reason given, no one the recover the cost cost from.. Not a happy bunny.

my car was parked in a company car parking space. a 13 car transporter reversed over the pavement + clobbered my car, then tried to drive off, but i saw him out the window, stopped him, he admitted liability + he got a claim form for me out of his truck. this claim [which took 4 months to sort] is now recorded on my history, seemingly it was my fault to park in a car park where HGV trucks are banned from entering, after paying the extra premium for travel to + from work, + parking in a car park...

I used to be an insurance assessor The minimum level of cover required by law is Third party the lowest level of risk to an insurance company yet almost none will do it. This the insurance industry actually wants you to claim because it can use those statistics to charge higher premiums and prevent people building a NCB. When you car is repaired they insist on original factory parts making the repair far more than it needs to be and so again this can be used to increase premiums .... There is profit in paying out I've been driving for 45 years and never made a claim

You only have to ring your insurance company and ask advice, it goes down as a claim!!! My wife’s friend got stung by this, she bumped her car, rang them and asked about claiming, but someone repaired it for a few hundred pounds so she didn’t go along with the claim she paid out of her own pocket, the next time she looked for insurance, she changed companies, 3 weeks later they rang her and cancelled her policy, the reason? She didn’t tell them about the claim…what claim? She didn’t go through with it but because she’d enquired about it, it was registered as a claim…..absolute rip off.

Indeed outrageous, it's like telling any driver: "It's your fault for driving or even being there at that particular moment" . Sad but true reality

I wanted to cancel my car insurance (we sold the car as we didn't need it) I had paid the premium up front in 1 hit, I had 5 months insurance left on the policy. Spoke to them (aviva) and was sort of expecting some money back, what I actually was told was. To cancel the insurance policy incurs a penalty payment, so I would need to pay them £86 to cancel the policy😮😮😮 I told them that's daft, they have no further liability or risk. In the end I told them to let the policy run, but had I known this I would have " accidently hit a post and done a few quids damage (fully protected no claims and due to my wife getting a motability car,and my company van) I won't be insuring myself for the forseable future. And insurance companies wonder why we don't trust them.

If you don’t plan on claiming then don’t ring your insurance and asked them about claiming once you have rang them they note it on your account so even if you don’t claim they still have the info to work on renewals.

I discovered this when a taxi passenger opened the door into my passing car, gouging the wing and ripping off the mirror. I'd never had an accident before so I had no idea how to react. The driver offered a private settlement but since the damage looked quite bad and I was perhaps in a state of shock I didn't know what to suggest. As it turns out a cup of coffee would have been worth it, but I suspect the offer would have been a couple hundred. I asked someone with "more experience", and I was given the incorrect advice to claim unless the price offered was identical to the repair cost, so I got a quote and then politely turned down any offer under 500. I then phoned the insurance company (tedious). When I asked for reassurance that my premium would be unaffected I discovered that no guarantee of that would be offered. So that was that. Having heartlessly turned down any offer below market value made by the taxi driver I simply forked out 50 quid for an aftermarket mirror and retained the dents.

This happened to my wife when a car jumped a red light and totalled her car. Not only did she lose no claims and had a raised premium (even though full recovery was made from the third party). Her premium was raised because she was seen as a greater risk even though she did nothing wrong. Not only that but as she is named on my insurance for my car my premium was also increased next time I renewed. Unbelievable.

Hey Jack, I got hit in the back at a roundabout last year and never went near the insurance as i have three cars and all of the insurances would go up. Insurance is a total joke!

I had a Landrover stolen from a repairer forecourt. Inurance was advised. Police recovered the vehicle. No claim was made, zero cost to insurer, but insurer (Tesco) recorded it insurance dstabase and we were forced to declare a 'stolen vehicle claim' for 5 years! Car insurance is tantamount to extortion.

A friend of mine was sat in his house, van parked on the road, and a motorcyclist drove into the back of it. He came out to male sure the guy was OK ( broken leg ) but he'd creased the body work of the van. 3rd party insurwr admitted liability and all costs but my friends insurance company quoted some clause or other and de-insured him, and walked away, leaving him to fight the other insurance company on his own... he lost 1000s....

Rules are simple in the UK. There's only 1. Don't have a crash. And if you do fix it yourself

I think that most people are under the misapprehension that if you behave reasonably and honestly, you'll be treated reasonably and honestly. Unfortunately that's not the way things operate in this day and age: your insurer is there to punish you and squeeze you until the pips squeak- just like your utilities provider or your local council or your vet, etc, etc

My wife was hit from behind while stationary causing a sizeable amount of damage. The other driver accepted responsibility and his insurer settled the claim without quibble. We had NCP on that policy so that was unaffected but our premium did rise at renewal. We have another vehicle insured by a different company on which she’s a named driver and I noticed in the t’s & c’s on the renewal for that vehicle that they said they needed to be informed about any accidents or claims made by any of the drivers named on the policy. It wasn’t clear if that meant other vehicles, so I called them and queried it. I was told that it did include other vehicles and was asked for details. After providing that they recalculated the renewal quote and it had risen by almost £200. Insurance has to be one of the biggest cons. There’s no protection for the consumer whatsoever.

Can confirm. My premium went up after I was hit by another driver whilst I was parked and the engine was off. Had fully comprehensive insurance with claim protection. It made no difference. I wish we had arranged to settle it privately, for all the damage that was done. The insurance company also gave my number to the 'ambulance chasers' who have been pestering me for years since.

I've always said that insurance companies are legalised gangsters. They're loan sharks with a licence. With it being legally mandatory for us to have insurance, is it any wonder why those companies get away with what they do. The insurance database they all share "for fraud" purposes, is more used for profit than anything. I detest them all.

For the years post-Compare-the-market, insurance companies have taken a bit of a spanking, since it makes financial sense to change your policy each year for the cheapest. So these sorts of insurance Co scams will continue as they claw back their profits.

Yep, happened to me. A car drove into me, no fault, full responsibility of the other driver. My premiums went up for the next 3 years. Ridiculous!

A couple of things. A) the statistics show that if you have a non-fault collision, then the next one you have will be fault so insurance companies will be loading your premium in anticipation of having to pay out next time. B) if your insurance premium goes up at renewal, the change (or part of it) may or may not be due to any collision. An insurer may use hundreds of rating factors in calculating the premium, any one of which may show a different risk to when the premium was calculated the year before and that’s ignoring the fact that an insurer might just decide that they don’t want to insure you and so out price you. This isn’t healthcare or housing, we live in a capitalist society and have freedom of contract. If you don’t like the price, don’t buy it. C) two people may have answered the questions exactly the same and got the same premium at the beginning of the year, but one driver is the type that parks in the middle of a car park near all the other cars and one parks away from everybody. The one that parks close to everybody gets bumped in the car park, not their fault this time, but it demonstrates a riskier behaviour. Similarly, one driver has a riskier route to work, may not be their fault on that particular occasion but shows riskier behaviour. Rating on non-fault collisions refines the pricing so that they can be cheaper for people that don’t get into collisions in the first place. D) you raised the possibility of not telling your insurance company. You HAVE to tell your insurance company, even if you don’t claim. It’s a term of your contract of insurance and failure to do so is insurance fraud for which you can be barred from financial services (including a mortgage or bank account) for 6 years. E) your description of it as a “scam” is a little excessive. You read the terms and conditions. It’s there in black and white. Policy books are available online before purchasing and you can read them before deciding on an insurer. Likewise, distance selling regs mean you have a cooling off period. If you don’t like what you read, you can pick a different company. Motor insurance in the UK is one of the most heavily regulated private businesses (as opposed to state). F) excesses. I’ve dealt with loads of people with a £1,000 excess on an £800 car. When they complained that the xs was more than the car was worth, I pointed out that the compulsory XS (the part the insurer had mandated) was £100 and the customer had increased it to £1,000 to save themselves £20 on their premium.

its worse than that. I was hit in the rear by someone but thankfully the damage was reasonably light. They admitted the fault, gave me all their details and said they would prefer to pay me out of their pocket. I phoned my insurer (stupidly) to discuss this. The guy on the other end was of little help basically said "do what you want - its up to you" but then proceeded to tell me that this conversation would go on my file as part of my "claim history" and sure enough 9 months later I was hit with an increase which they said was because of that even though the guy was as good as his word and paid up and the car was repaired. They are a terrible terrible industry that is a long way away from being properly regulated.

Yes, insurance companies in general are a bunch of thieves! My wife had a stone thrown into the windscreen of her car by a passing lorry. The damage done required a replacement screen. This was recorded as a claim by my wife's insurance company, and sure enough, come renewal time, the claim did affect the premium....

I hit a open drain cover on my way to work one morning. Wrecked both nearside wheels and tyres. I contacted my insurance company and they said I should claim directly from the local council responsible for the location of the incident. This was a lengthy process but I eventually received compensation from aforementioned council. My insurance premium increased simply because I had made my insurer aware of the incident even though I never submitted a claim through them!

That's what you get for living in the UK. Like most things in the UK, you are forced to use the service and pay for it, but when needed, you find you have wasted your time and your money.

Insurance companies can get away with this because politicians don’t regulate the insurance industry, politicians probably getting an incentive not regulating them.