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Sep 13th, 2002, 02:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dietcokeplease
...The funny thing is that insurance co's are remarkably ageist. They would be more likely to refuse a claim made by a 17 year old with an aftermarket exhaust and would be unlikely to do so with a 50 year old male.

Don't take offence at this but I think you're wide off the mark. They aren't ageist, in the way I think you're trying to portay them, e.g. prejudiced for no apparent reason. Statistically the youngest, least experienced drivers have the most accidents, and within that, the most serious kinds of accidents. As our Motor Manager told me the week I started (I've worked for a UK general insurer now for many years) 'cars are cheap to repair, people aren't'. £10k's worth of damage to a BMW or MERC is nothing in the grand scheme of things. It's the injury claims around of half a million per person, when kids roll/stack or total their cars, loaded up with all their mates in, that's what hurts our bank balance. Those are the ones that are affecting your premium and influencing insurers opinions of young and inexperienced drivers. There's also an argument that says you've don't get many Max Power'd Pensioners either (but then again, I've had a claim for a total'd Impreza where the owner - aged early 50's - non-disclosed £9k worth of Prodrive mods, so there's always an exception to the rule!)

I don't mean to have a pop, it just annoys me that insurers get a lot of negative press, and that people don't appreciate them. There's not many people who could afford to stand the (not inconsiderable) financial risks on their own (not unless you were David Beckham!).

DBK.

Sep 13th, 2002, 02:28 AM	#10
dietbruking Posts: n/a	Quote: Originally posted by dietcokeplease ...The funny thing is that insurance co's are remarkably ageist. They would be more likely to refuse a claim made by a 17 year old with an aftermarket exhaust and would be unlikely to do so with a 50 year old male. Don't take offence at this but I think you're wide off the mark. They aren't ageist, in the way I think you're trying to portay them, e.g. prejudiced for no apparent reason. Statistically the youngest, least experienced drivers have the most accidents, and within that, the most serious kinds of accidents. As our Motor Manager told me the week I started (I've worked for a UK general insurer now for many years) 'cars are cheap to repair, people aren't'. £10k's worth of damage to a BMW or MERC is nothing in the grand scheme of things. It's the injury claims around of half a million per person, when kids roll/stack or total their cars, loaded up with all their mates in, that's what hurts our bank balance. Those are the ones that are affecting your premium and influencing insurers opinions of young and inexperienced drivers. There's also an argument that says you've don't get many Max Power'd Pensioners either (but then again, I've had a claim for a total'd Impreza where the owner - aged early 50's - non-disclosed £9k worth of Prodrive mods, so there's always an exception to the rule!) I don't mean to have a pop, it just annoys me that insurers get a lot of negative press, and that people don't appreciate them. There's not many people who could afford to stand the (not inconsiderable) financial risks on their own (not unless you were David Beckham!). DBK.