INSURANCE PREMIUMS, READ THE SMALL PRINT

Insurance premiums… we all know the feeling when the renewal letter comes through the post. But what about the extra costs involved.

Just recently my car needed a replacement windscreen, so I got on the phone to my insurers and asked about the cover on my policy. They said I was covered and it would cost an excess of just £75. I wasn’t so sure on their wording ‘just £75’ but started the process of organising someone to come and replace the glass.

I was put through to various departments before somebody could help me and was told I would need to wait 4 days before someone could come out. Any driver knows that 4 days without a car is torture, so I took to calling around for some private quotes.

I got various prices all rather high so went back to my insurers. I had spoken to friends who warned me that claiming for the replacement windscreen would affect my future premiums so thought I would double check. The surprisingly pleasant lady on the phone (I have not had great experience before) said: “no, no, it won’t affect your premium”. I asked her if she was sure and could send me something in writing quoting this, so she said she would double check. She came back apologising for misleading me and said it has to go down as a claim for the next 5 years, but shouldn’t affect the price greatly.

As you can imagine I got straight back on the phone and called one of the private companies again. So I guess the point to this article is to warn drivers to check their policy carefully, to ask questions if you are not sure and to not be afraid to ask for a second opinion.

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