I got a courtesy call from my new insurers to tell me that my policy had started, the guy ran through the benefits and pointed out to me to how I could contact them in the event of a claim. He then thanked me for my payment which had been processed but then added that there would be an extra £50.00 taken from my credit card next month! This apparently was for a claim I had made in 2013 which I had no knowledge of.
"Hang on a minute, what claim" says I. He then explained that the national database that holds insurance data had shown that the charge related to a claim that I had made in 2013. This didn't ring any bells with me as I certainly had never received any compensation or anything like that. Then the penny dropped.
May 2013 I was sat watching the TV when I heard a commotion and a lot of shouting and banging in the back street, my car was parked on the gable opposite. I went out into the street to see a couple of my neighbours chasing a bloke in an estate car that was weaving its way past all the parked cars colliding with quite a few on the way. When the bloke who was clearly drunk reached the bollard at the end of the street down into Valley Gardens he shoved it into reverse and continued the mayhem backwards. Eventually one of the lads on the street managed to reach in through the window and snatch the keys from the steering column and bring the joy ride to a close. He tried to get out of the car but he could hardly stand up let alone do a runner. Someone had called the police and they turned up a few minutes later. It transpired that the bloke was Polish, no licence, no insurance, car wasn't taxed and he was 6 times over the limit.
He had damaged six cars, mine included but no one had any recompense, we were all advised to notify our insurers of the circumstance and it was up to ourselves if we wished to claim on our own policies. I notified but did not claim, the damage was cosmetic only with a slight dent and scuff marks on the rear quarter. There was also the possibility that if I did claim, daft as it seems the insurers may have written it off. The car was 5 years old at the time but a single owner low mileage diesel (28k) and was worth more to me with the scratches.
So the fact that I rang my insurers to advise them that my car had been damaged while parked has turned up 5 years later as a claim and an excuse to charge me more money. That information has been on the database for 5 years and has never impacted my policy before.
The insurance company still intend to take the money, the circumstance is of no concern just the black mark. I cant refuse to pay or the policy will be cancelled for non payment of premium. I will also get a penalty if I cancel the policy. I will let them take the payment then take them to task.
I'm afraid I lost my rag on this call and remember mentioning pirates and con men during the conversation. I didn't directly abuse the bloke that called me though and did say that I appreciated that it was not his fault just the system that he worked in, he was somewhat sympathetic to my tone and I'm sure I'm not the first to "lose it" on the phone, all recorded of course so fairly sure there is some rule somewhere that they can invoke to shaft me a bit more if they want to. I think my original judgement of the types that I am dealing with was about right. I had to terminate the call to calm down before I started hyperventilating!
I'm sure your'e right about getting rid of the car but I'm not ready yet.
Pleas don't quote Harold Macmillan.
) and one claim on the house (when our internal hot water storage heater ruptured and flooded the entire bottom floor of our home).