Insurance Premium Increase after an at Fault Accident?

• 

  Hybroid on 12/02/2023 - 19:04

  +5

  There's no set answer. Your insurer will assess the risk/reward ratio based on their own algorithms. It could be anything from no increase to doubling your premium to being refused renewal.

• 

  IceCreamBandit on 12/02/2023 - 19:09

  I was involved in an accident today

  Hope everyone's ok!

  I was wondering how much would my insurance premium go up by if I decide to use my NRMA comprehensive insurance to pay for the scenario?

  Too many variables. I'd say the other party would prefer to get everything done through insurance as opposed to cash so that repairs are guaranteed.

  • 

    djsweet on 12/02/2023 - 19:12

    +1

    Doesn’t really matter what the other party prefers. OP has no obligation to make a claim. But they should. This is the reason why you have insurance.

  • 

    Rician distribution on 12/02/2023 - 19:16

    Thanks all for the comments.

    The other party will go through insurance. I presume their insurance will contact me somehow, then I will have to decide to tell my NRMA or not (pay the $850 excess and bear the annual increase in premiums, but don't know how much). Or, just purely pay out of pocket 100% to avoid the annual insurance premium increases.

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 12/02/2023 - 19:20

    I'd say the other party would prefer to get everything done through insurance as opposed to cash so that repairs are guaranteed.

    Why wouldn't repairs be guaranteed irrespective of payment type or whether done via insurer?

    • 

      IceCreamBandit on 12/02/2023 - 19:27

      Why wouldn't repairs be guaranteed irrespective of payment type or whether done via insurer?

      Some repairers do cash jobs for minor things, so it may be harder to go back to the repairer later on if something is wrong etc.

      I know someone who got rear ended and had heaps replaced and the job had a lifetime guarantee through the insurer. Years later, the spare tyre well in the boot was found to be flooded after heavy rain, they took it back to the repairer. Repairer inspected and repaired for free because the leak was related to the original job, and provided free hire car for the duration as well.

      Edit: Probably misread/misinterpreted the OP, as I thought OP was just offering the other party cash to settle it privately, rather than paying the other party's repair bill via their insurer so that OP's own NRMA comprehensive wasn't involved.

      • 

        [Deactivated] on 12/02/2023 - 19:33

        If 'cash jobs' is another way of saying no tax invoice/no service guarantee then why would the other party agree to it?

        • 

          IceCreamBandit on 12/02/2023 - 19:34

          @[Deactivated]: If it was a very minor job/the other party didn't care to actually repair it and was happy to take the cash to do whatever they wanted with it?

• 

  SF3 on 12/02/2023 - 19:28

  Please hold the line, pulling through to NRMA-Actuaries.

  Please note, your call is monitored to help increase your premiums improve our support.

  hangs up

• 

  Kib33 on 12/02/2023 - 19:31

  +1

  Why not do an online quote and see for yourself how much it goes up using correct details.

  • 

    Rician distribution on 12/02/2023 - 19:34

    +1

    Good point - I did that in fact.

    Comparing two exact quotes (where one ticked yes to claim in past 3 years, the other quote no ticked), the difference was $50.

    Thag is a smaller difference than I imagined.

• 

  avoidfullprice on 12/02/2023 - 19:53

  Likely 10-20%, on top of losing any no claim bonus

  Mindful other insurers will ask you if you have made at fault claims, not just nrma of you decide to renew.

  • 

    pharkurnell on 12/02/2023 - 21:26

    on top of losing any no claim bonus

    Is there such a thing anymore?

    • 

      avoidfullprice on 12/02/2023 - 21:48

      Yes

  • 

    Rician distribution on 13/02/2023 - 01:23

    Thank you for your comment, cheers.

• 

  pjetson on 12/02/2023 - 20:36

  There will be a clause in your insurance policy with NRMA that obliges you to report the accident to them.

  It's up to you whether you claim on your insurance policy or not, but NRMA will likely increase your premium anyway, since you had an at-fault accident.

  • 

    Eeples on 12/02/2023 - 22:10

    I think you would be required to declare any damage to your own car to NRMA but I don’t think you need to inform them if you had an accident and there was no damage to your own car.

• 

  Euphemistic on 12/02/2023 - 21:25

  First thing to do is find out how much it’ll cost for the repairs. If it’s near the excess, pay cash. If it’s well over - that’s what insurance is for regardless of the increased premium.

  • 

    Rician distribution on 13/02/2023 - 01:24

    Thank you, appreciate your input here.

• 

  Tricon on 12/02/2023 - 21:31

  It's interesting to note that a premium increases after an at fault accident. The parallel is buying insurance after a disaster. The occurrence of an identical disaster to that which triggered the purchase is low and purchasing insurance could potentially be delayed. Similarly would it not be that after an accident the likelihood of a second identical accident be lower due to those little creatures whispering in your ears saying don't do it again.

  Let's say you have two accidents in quick succession. Accident prone is what would come to mind. However, that these accidents are likely to be randomness that someone tries to align with a story. And results unfortunately in a higher premium.

  The small increase noted above is likely the insurer clawing back some money. It would be really useful to learn how actuaries do assess risk.

  • 

    avoidfullprice on 12/02/2023 - 21:52

    The small increase noted above is likely the insurer clawing back some money.

    Doesn’t work that way. The increase comes when OP renews its insurance with same insurer or goes with a different insurer, because the risk associated with OP

    • 

      Rician distribution on 13/02/2023 - 01:24

      Cheers for your contributions

  • 

    Euphemistic on 13/02/2023 - 04:50

    Similarly would it not be that after an accident the likelihood of a second identical accident be lower due to those little creatures whispering in your ears saying don't do it again.

    While this is true for ‘natural disasters’ for a motor vehicle crash, the cause is most likely a drivers actions. It stands to reason that if a driver has caused a crash what they were doing was something they have learned. Humans are difficult to reprogram and it is likely they will encounter the same situation and do it again. Having avoided a crash in the last may be down to some innate luck.

• 

  Kandrew on 13/02/2023 - 16:44

  I had a minor at-fault accident in October 2022. I would have preferred to deal with the repairs myself, even letting the other vehicle's owner choose her own repairer.

  She demanded insurance company action and contacted her company (AAMI) within about 5 minutes of getting my details. I, therefore, had no choice but to proceed with lodging a claim through my insurance (Shannons).

  My insurance renewal is due in 2 days' time - 15 February. I was stunned at the increase in my premium. Shannons offers monthly instalments at no extra cost and for all of our vehicles, the monthly instalment went from $125.xx to $153.xx!

  Last week, I contacted Shannons about another matter and 'casually' asked about the premium increase. The agent looked at the details and said that in his opinion, Shannons should not have penalised me like that for such a minor accident. He then said, and I quote, "I've seen them let much more serious things go unpenalised.". He asked for a couple of minutes and then came back to me with a revised premium instalment of $132.xx per month. That seems much more in line with the general rise in insurance premiums and I'm okay with paying that. Well, much more okay with that amount than I was with the $153.xx!