Why is car insurance so expensive?

[Paul-B]

This is just amazing!
Two weeks ago I had the MR2 parked in a local pub car park. It was about 7pm. A bloke came in asking if anyone owned a red MR2 which was in the car park, and when I said it was mine he told me he'd caught the drivers-side wheelarch when he was backing his own Ford Focus out (honest bloke!). I had a look at the damage, which was a bit of paint removed and a crease in the wheelarch rim. No problem, he admitted it was his fault entirely, and we exchanged details etc. On Saturday I took the MR2 out to the bloke who is rebuilding my Celica convertible, he's a great panel-beater and his work is first class. He had a look and said it would cost about £220 to fix, that is by beating the dent out (no filler!) and respraying the wing. No problem, I called the guy who told me he was doing it through his insurance company who would contact me. And on Monday they did. They weren't interested in the quote I had, but insisted their own claims department would deal with it. So I was then contacted by their claims people, who had arranged for a bodyshop to collect and repair the MR2, and had also arranged for Enterprise to bring me a hire car for 10 days while the MR was being fixed. Since the MR2 is classed as a "sports car" (their terminology) my replacement car would be a Mercedes C Class which would be delivered to me the morning my MR was being collected and would be mine for 10 days. The total hire charge was £150 per day plus VAT, a total of £1800 for the 10 days. I spoke to the bodyshop who told me they would be charging the repairs to the insurers a total of £530 for collection, repair and return to me.
So
The insurance people had to pay out £2330 for a repair which I could have got done for £220
Madness!
Here's a pic of the damage:
No wonder premiums are so high and increasing every year!
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[redcarblackhorse]

 s:scared: :scared: s:scared:   madness. He prob paid more than £220 on his excess too.

[AckersMR2]

Obviously the rental was the majority of the expense but if this is included in the overall damage cost then (although I don't know the age or value of your 2) I'm surprised they didn't write your car off!

Edit: I do now know the year of your car and definitely can't believe they didn't write it off!

[The moneypit]

Why would you pay a panel beater £220 to beat the hell out of your car and then paint it when you can buy a front wing in the same colour and unbolt/bolt on for £70 tops?
Strange but just a thought.

[AckersMR2]

Why would you pay a panel beater £220 to beat the hell out of your car and then paint it when you can buy a front wing in the same colour and unbolt/bolt on for £70 tops?
Strange but just a thought.

Because seeing as its not your fault why should you change the wing and therefore a change of the security serial number sticker which any future purchaser could pick up on and suspect its been in a smack?

[Paul-B]

Why would you pay a panel beater £220 to beat the hell out of your car and then paint it when you can buy a front wing in the same colour and unbolt/bolt on for £70 tops?
Strange but just a thought.

Can you really? That's amazing, that is so much cheaper than a wing for my Celica... Toyota quoted me £1200 for a rear wing in primer for my UK Celica Gen 6 convertible.

[Paul-B]

Obviously the rental was the majority of the expense but if this is included in the overall damage cost then (although I don't know the age or value of your 2) I'm surprised they didn't write your car off!

Edit: I do now know the year of your car and definitely can't believe they didn't write it off!

My car is a PFL Chilli-Red X-reg 2000 model, which cost me £1600 on Ebay and a further £1200+ spent on it getting Mattperformance to rebuild the engine and fit a new clutch. I certainly wouldn't have had it written-off, it's really like new, not a mark on the body. In the end I would have coughed-up the £220 myself rather than see it scrapped.

[AckersMR2]

The thing is the insurance company will just value it against other similar models and I believe if the repair bill is more than two thirds their valuation of the vehicle then they generally write if off.
Even including your expense with Matt that's well beyond their two thirds threshold?

I agree I would have taken the agreed value and then bought it back off them and got it repaired.
And I think £70 is the value of a secondhand wing not a new one from Mr.T?

[tomaky]

I dont understand why the hell ob things like that people dont cough up! Far cheaper!

[Markb]

I dont understand why the hell ob things like that people dont cough up! Far cheaper!

I would happily pay someone the cash (probably go up £500 tbh) for a minor bump rather than bother with insurance.

[Flipside]

Just proves how much  insurance companies make.  As soon as a garage see insurance job the price will go up, bet if you went to the same garage with cash it would be half the price

Insurance companies are the biggest crooks in the world, legal crime!

[tomaky]

I dont understand why the hell ob things like that people dont cough up! Far cheaper!

I would happily pay someone the cash (probably go up £500 tbh) for a minor bump rather than bother with insurance.

EDIT Was supposed to be paying £440 for a micra i reversed into (thought it was my good deed hitting one of them heaps) luckily we ended up  doing a deal with the guy (tax free) and cheaper at closer to £340 i was happy to pay the £440 than claim. EDIT

[markiii]

the best bit is now its official you have to declare it when you renew your premium

now just wait for your premium to go up

[cabbydave]

Just proves how much  insurance companies make.  As soon as a garage see insurance job the price will go up, bet if you went to the same garage with cash it would be half the price

Insurance companies are the biggest crooks in the world, legal crime!

If a garage is doing a job for insurance the insurance screw the time to repair down to the bone and insist on the garage having thousands of pounds worth of equiptment. The guy doing it for £200 wouldnt have been using water based paint which is the law now hes only a small company so a lot less over heads and I bet not fully insured.The big bodyshops only make 1% profit once all the bills etc are paid out on the whole Im sick of people who dont know what they are talking about putting down bodyshops. I have worked in various large bodyshops for the past 30 years and its hard work for little wages ok some people make mistakes but who doesnt nobodies perfect. The only two people making money out of this claim would be the insurance and enterprise that wouldnt have been charging the insurance £150 a day because they get different rates we used to hire Corsas for £12 a day because Enterprise had deals with bodyshops.
Insurance is so dear because of dodgey whip lash claims staged crashes and dodgey accident management solicitors not forgetting dodgey Doctors who like back handers

[AckersMR2]

And the irony in all that is to make back some money they sell their clients claim details to the very same accident lawyers they complain about. And on goes the merry-go-round  s:-D :-D s:-D

[tomaky]

And the irony in all that is to make back some money they sell their clients claim details to the very same accident lawyers they complain about. And on goes the merry-go-round  s:-D :-D s:-D

I just blame Ackers as he doesnt have a MR2 any more. hehe