Non-Fault Claimants Face Increase In Premiums

No motorist likes to get caught up in a road traffic accident especially if it is not their fault and they have to claim on their car insurance policy. uSwitch, the price comparison website, has carried out some interesting research in this respect.

Apparently, 64% of car drivers who made a claim on their motor insurance policy were not responsible for the accident. However, it may well have come as a surprise to a number of those claimants to discover that when their car insurance policy comes up for renewal their premium may well have gone up.

Such claimants face an increase in the cost of their cover by an average of £102 per annum – that is, on average, an extra 26%. Yet, research by uSwitch also revealed that those making claims on their policies who were at fault for a road traffic accident saw their premiums rise, on average, by £136 per annum. You do not need a calculator to work out that there is not much of a difference in the increase in premium cost between at-fault and non-fault claims.

It is interesting that the research found a staggering 24% of motorists did not realise that, even if they are not at fault for a road traffic accident that they are involved in, they should still notify their insurance company. Presumably there will be some motorists who are aware that they should let their insurer know but choose not to do so perhaps because they do not want to be faced with an increase in their car insurance premiums and/or want to protect their no-claims benefit.

The implications could be quite severe if an insurer discovers that one of their policyholders has not declared either a non-fault or at-fault road traffic accident. For instance, the insurance company could decide not to pay out should the motorist claim for an accident at some date in the future. So, although some motorists may feel it is unfair that their premium may rise should they submit a non-fault claim, that is the correct thing to do.