No claims bonus question...

mrboswell

Unlucky me hit a patch of ice/frost on Friday morning and wrote my car off.
Insurance is due for renewal in 2 weeks.

Anyway wondering if anyone can tell me if I will be allowed the 5 years of no claims or will the insurace company not allow for the 5th year as I'm 2 weeks short of the 5th year.

Thanks for any help!

P.C.

Did you make a claim?

If you did, the your NCB is gone.

mrboswell

Not yet - notified the Insurance of the accident but told them I wasn't def claiming. Assessor was out today and its a write off.
I have step back so the full NCB is not gone - I'll lose 20% of it.

Basically I'm wondering if I will be allowed the full 5 years or will they not give me the 5 years as I had an accident after 4 years and 50 weeks?

Alternatively should I just pay the new policy before I formally make the claim?

cabrwab

Depends if you made a claim, and depends if you had no claims protection or step back protection on top of that.

Your NCB will be back at zero and you'll have to start all over again.

Your policy will be loaded and if you had either of the above protections it will be deducted.

I know it sucks, and i know how it feels!!
May as well.... eh just.... well enjoy

EDIT:
If you make the claim, your policy will go back to 20%

But you'll pretty much have to stay with them now if you claim, unless you pay them back.

Surely you had the renewal notice quick pay say nothing, deal with it next year!

mrboswell

cabrwab wrote: »

Surely you had the renewal notice quick pay say nothing, deal with it next year!

Not so sure this will work...

Anan1

mrboswell wrote: »

Not so sure this will work...

Me neither, my guess is they'll step back your bonus on the basis of a pending claim.

thebiglad

You only achieve the year's NCB when your policy actually reaches its renewal date, a crash 2 weeks before renewal may as well have been 6 months.

The early issue of the NCB proof and renewal premium is as a result of pressure from Government to allow people time to shop around, it is assuming you can get through the last month of the policy unscathed.

As the claim is notified you premium will be recalculated unless you formally withdraw the claim.

You could of course just pay the premium they have presented you with for renewal and hope their admin is poor.

If you take your NCB proof to another insurer there is a reasonable chance they will check with your current insurer to confirm.

Anan1

thebiglad wrote: »

If you take your NCB proof to another insurer there is a reasonable chance they will check with your current insurer to confirm.

Even if they didn't check themselves, the onus is on the OP to inform them of the accident.

mrboswell

thebiglad wrote: »

You only achieve the year's NCB when your policy actually reaches its renewal date, a crash 2 weeks before renewal may as well have been 6 months.

The early issue of the NCB proof and renewal premium is as a result of pressure from Government to allow people time to shop around, it is assuming you can get through the last month of the policy unscathed.

As the claim is notified you premium will be recalculated unless you formally withdraw the claim.

You could of course just pay the premium they have presented you with for renewal and hope their admin is poor.

If you take your NCB proof to another insurer there is a reasonable chance they will check with your current insurer to confirm.

Just to clarify as it states "no claims bonus" can't I just wait untill the renewal date before formally making the claim (I doubt it but I'm just playing on the wording! )
?

oldyouth

You haven't completed 5 years of claim free driving, so you have 4 years of NCB. Now that you have put in a claim on a step back contract, you will probably lose 3 years of that back to 1 year's discount

mrboswell

thebiglad wrote: »

If you take your NCB proof to another insurer there is a reasonable chance they will check with your current insurer to confirm.

Anan1 wrote: »

Even if they didn't check themselves, the onus is on the OP to inform them of the accident.

Not interested in going down that route

mrboswell

oldyouth wrote: »

You haven't completed 5 years of claim free driving, so you have 4 years of NCB. Now that you have put in a claim on a step back contract, you will probably lose 3 years of that back to 1 year's discount

I havent formally made a claim - only notified them of an accident and made sure to say I wansn't def making a claim. They said they would send an assessor anyway.

si_guru

mrboswell wrote: »

I havent formally made a claim - only notified them of an accident and made sure to say I wansn't def making a claim. They said they would send an assessor anyway.

But now you have told them of your accident, your premium will go up if you claim or not.. just the NCB will remain the same if you don't claim.

mrboswell

Ok - didn't know it was relevant - Thought it was only if you claimed.

B00MSTICK

Ask them how much the premium will be if you do claim?

The claim will load your premium but if the payout is enough to warrant it then its obviously the best option.

si_guru wrote:

But now you have told them of your accident, your premium will go up if you claim or not.. just the NCB will remain the same if you don't claim.

They don't care if you have an accident as long as they don't pay out.

The wording is "Have you made a claim in the last 5 years?"

mrboswell

B00MSTICK wrote: »

They don't care if you have an accident as long as they don't pay out.

The wording is "Have you made a claim in the last 5 years?"

So going on the above if I don't actually make the claim within the 5 years then I'll retain the 5 years no claims bonus?

B00MSTICK

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by that?

If you don't claim you keep your NCB. I've had a few dings (both my fault and others) when learning and never went through the insurance co. If an accident caused premiums to rise I'd be goosed.

Of course if you claim in 5 years you'll lose your NCB and the car will have depreciated alot too.

mrboswell

It's a given that I'll claim.

What I mean by the above is presuming that I stay with the same company if I wait until after the renewal date, which would have afforded me 5 years of NCB in the event of no accident, will they allow me the 5 years of NCB while calculating the new policy or will they go by the date of the accident and only allow 4 years of NCB?

CoDy1

Your insurance premium for this year has already been issued and the claim, if you make it, will not affect your current renewal premium if it was only 2 weeks before renewal. It will be affected for next years.

mrboswell

CoDy1 wrote: »

Your insurance premium for this year has already been issued and the claim, if you make it, will not affect your current renewal premium if it was only 2 weeks before renewal. It will be affected for next years.

Prefect Coady1 - that was exactly what I was looking for.

Cheers

oldyouth

CoDy1 wrote: »

Your insurance premium for this year has already been issued and the claim, if you make it, will not affect your current renewal premium if it was only 2 weeks before renewal. It will be affected for next years.

Not necessarily, if the OPs insurers have been notified of an incident, they have the right to remove/reduce the NCB at any stage prior to the actual renewal date. If the incident is eventually closed as no claim, they will refund the difference in what you paid and what it would have been with 5 yrs NCB.

PeakOutput

oldyouth wrote: »

Not necessarily, if the OPs insurers have been notified of an incident, they have the right to remove/reduce the NCB at any stage prior to the actual renewal date. If the incident is eventually closed as no claim, they will refund the difference in what you paid and what it would have been with 5 yrs NCB.

if the renewal notice has already been issued they wont change it, if it hasnt then his policay wil be affected this year either weather he claims or not because he has an open claim on his file. if he decides to not claim then they will refund the difference

patrickc

the renewal quote etc is supposed to be issued 15 days prior to renewal date due, and the insurer is obliged to stick to this under contract.

thats from a mate whos a manager in an insurance company

dudara

CoDy1 wrote: »

Your insurance premium for this year has already been issued and the claim, if you make it, will not affect your current renewal premium if it was only 2 weeks before renewal. It will be affected for next years.

An insurance quote is not binding, so the insurance company can change it if other information comes to light.

NCBs are generally on the basis of complete years of insurance. In your case, as the fifth year is not yet complete, your current NCB is for 4 years. I had this explained to me when I wanted to cancel a policy a month before it expired.

CoDy1

They can but the generally don't. If you were to get a quote from an other insurer it would make a difference as you have to declare the accident/claim.

But as your insurer has already issued you your bonus and renewal quotation (which is done upto 60 days in advance), and know that you won't be changing insurer, they will renew as is and take away bonus at next years renewal.
It will be a nil bonus even though a years claim free driving has been earned.

mrboswell

Thanks for the info folks - either way I'll get nabbed.

At least the assessor was realistic and agreed a fair price.