Am I stuck with current insurer?

ifeelstupid

Hi - this has probably been asked before but here goes.....
Just received my insurance renewal. Premium gone up by about €250/300, not sure until I check last yrs documents.
I had a claim 2 years ago, hit a rock on the road and car was written off, there were no injuries and I had NCB protection so renewal was ok so just stayed with current insurer.
My question is does the protected NCB transfer if I shop around or am I pretty much stuck with current company until I have my 5 yrs built up again?

Thanks

Alanstrainor

Protected NCB does not transfer.

Worth checking for quotes anyway, if the current crowd are the cheapest then best stay with them until next year.

Liam McPoyle

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Protected NCB does not transfer.

Worth checking for quotes anyway, if the current crowd are the cheapest then best stay with them until next year.

That's incorrect.

He still has his full bonus as he had protection at the time of the claim.

It would be completely unethical if insurers could say to people you only have a bonus with us as you had a claim, what would be the point in protection.

Because he had a claim some insurers may not quote because of it but his full bonus is absolutely transferrable to insurers that will.

Jesus.

Business Cat wrote: »

Because he had a claim some insurers may not quote because of it but his full bonus is absolutely transferrable to insurers that will.

But don't you just transfer your bonus over to the new insurers? Doesn't that mean he's "claim free"?

coylemj

Business Cat wrote: »

That's incorrect.

He still has his full bonus as he had protection at the time of the claim.

It would be completely unethical if insurers could say to people you only have a bonus with us as you had a claim, what would be the point in protection.

Because he had a claim some insurers may not quote because of it but his full bonus is absolutely transferrable to insurers that will.

Complete nonsense.

NCB protection is an illusion, you cannot transfer it and you are still at the mercy of your existing insurer.

As far as another insurer is concerned, you have had a claim - that's all there is to it. You paid insurance company 'A' for NCB protection, why should insurance company 'B' give you a reduced quote or even give you any quote after you've had a claim?

ASOT

In simple terms you still have your bonus, but you will also receive a loading from any company for having had your claim. So essentially it's a load of bollox's and that's coming from someone who works in the industry.

To Elland Back

Business Cat wrote: »

That's incorrect.

He still has his full bonus as he had protection at the time of the claim.

It would be completely unethical if insurers could say to people you only have a bonus with us as you had a claim, what would be the point in protection.

Because he had a claim some insurers may not quote because of it but his full bonus is absolutely transferrable to insurers that will.

Because you paid extra premium to a competitor to protect your bonus does not mean other insurers have to adhere to it. Nonsense.

To Elland Back

Jesus. wrote: »

But don't you just transfer your bonus over to the new insurers? Doesn't that mean he's "claim free"?

Absolutely not, if you have had a claim, you are not claim free and must disclose the full details to any potential insurer

ifeelstupid

I would most definitely be giving full disclosure to any insurance company when looking for a quote. I think my best bet will be to hand it over to a broker and see if they can get me any better deal. I kind of figured this when I had the claim but I hadn't figured for the big jump in premiums all round this year. God help us when the house insurance comes up after all the floods��

Liam McPoyle

Ah lads.

The driver had a claim and had full NCB protection. With said protection he did not lose his bonus, that's why he paid an extra premium, that's why its called NCB protection, not NCB protection while you keep your policy with us.

When he is getting quotes from another insurer he will be asked

A) How many years NCB do you have?

His answer will be I have a full NCB

Have you had Any accidents, claims or convictions in the last 5 years / ever?

Yes, I had a claim 2 years ago but as I had full NCB protection I did not lose my bonus.

The new insurer will say either

A) as your claim was in excess of €x we are not in a position to quote you at this time

As you had a claim in the last 5 years we are not in a position to quote you at this time

C) continue with the quote as normal

That's how it works.

Phone any insurer and go through the scenario above, you will not be told that you do not have a bonus.

You are not claims free but you retained your bonus because you paid additional premium for, you guessed it, bonus protection!

passremarkable

Business Cat wrote: »

Ah lads.

The driver had a claim and had full NCB protection. With said protection he did not lose his bonus, that's why he paid an extra premium, that's why its called NCB protection, not NCB protection while you keep your policy with us.

When he is getting quotes from another insurer he will be asked

A) How many years NCB do you have?

His answer will be I have a full NCB

Have you had Any accidents, claims or convictions in the last 5 years / ever?

Yes, I had a claim 2 years ago but as I had full NCB protection I did not lose my bonus.

The new insurer will say either

A) as your claim was in excess of €x we are not in a position to quote you at this time

As you had a claim in the last 5 years we are not in a position to quote you at this time

C) continue with the quote as normal

That's how it works.

Phone any insurer and go through the scenario above, you will not be told that you do not have a bonus.

You are not claims free but you retained your bonus because you paid additional premium for, you guessed it, bonus protection!

Bang on
It's all about the new insurers criteria whether they will accept you or not
Your NCB Is fine just whether the claim is within their new business criteria to get a quote

To Elland Back

The point is that a full bonus without a claim is far more valuable than a protected bonus with a claim. Alternative insurers will quote you as per their own criteria, no matter what you present to them on paper. E.G. If the claim you had would normally lose one of their existing customers 3 points on their bonus scale, that's the position they will place you when quoting. We're in to semantics here at this stage

ifeelstupid

Just a quick update to this. I got in touch with a broker i Know and got them to price around for me. Best they got was over €200 more than my renewal premium - funny thing was that the best quote broker got was from my current insurer!!

coylemj

In your first post, you asked ....

ifeelstupid wrote: »

My question is does the protected NCB transfer if I shop around or am I pretty much stuck with current company until I have my 5 yrs built up again?

Today you supplied the answer ...

ifeelstupid wrote: »

...I got in touch with a broker i Know and got them to price around for me. Best they got was over €200 more than my renewal premium ...

Which if I'm not mistaken proves what a few of us have been telling you - NCB protection does not give you the same mobility you would have with zero claims. Your current insurer is the cheapest and will probably remain so until you have built up a real NCB again. The other insurers may not have refused a quote outright but quoting you over and above your own insurer is the same thing.

ATMatm

Lads, rates are rates. 50% off whatever their rates are including loading for claims etc no matter what company or broker you go to.

As someone who has worked consistently in new business and renewals over the last few years, I have both poached custom from other companies and lost some in renewal in the same circumstance.

Some companies will load you to hell to get rid of you after a claim but some others will want to take you on with better rates. There's no one company that's always one or the other.