Look before you leap to claim Irish Independent
Rather than risk seeing your insurance shooting up at renewal, you may have decided to cover the cost of the damage yourself, instead of making a claim.
But with hundreds of thousands now on the dole queue, and pay cuts being bandied about like there's no tomorrow, many of us simply cannot afford to pay willy-nilly for that few hundred euro of damage any more.
"People are claiming more and more today, and for smaller incidences," says Jonathan Hehir , director of insurance brokers CFM Group. "About two years ago, they may not have made such claims as people could afford to cover the damage themselves."
Even if you make a tiny claim, many insurers will hike up your premium when you renew, particularly if you have not bought no-claims protection insurance -- a type of cover which ensures you don't lose your no-claims bonus (or you lose only part of it) if you make a claim.
Depending on the size of the claim, your insurance could triple or quadruple on renewal. You could also be shunned by insurers, making it impossible to get a cheaper quote elsewhere. If you have had a claim in the last three years, you'll find it very hard to get a car insurance quote from Hibernian Aviva, for example (unless you already have your insurance with them).
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