No claims Query

englander

I had an accident a year and a half ago whilst avoiding cows on the road. Car written off and I had broken bones. Farmer admitted liability and I claimed car damages etc through his insurance.

At the time of the accident I had 4 years no claims and was half way through my 5th year.

I notified my insurance company at the time of the accident as to what had happened - and made no claim through them at all. I did this in case the local council would bill me for damage to crash barriers.

I am wondering whether my no claims will have been affected by this accident even though I did not claim. Most insurance forms ask you to detail any accidents, whether your fault or not, whether claim made or not..

I did ask my insurance company at the time (while I was on trying to get my money back from unused insurance) will this accident affect the premium they quote me on the next car. The girl on phone said she couldn't be sure and she would get someone to phone me back. Which did not happen.

I didn't chase this up as I haven't really thought about getting another car until now.

a) Should my premium be affected by an accident that I did not claim against my insurance and that wasn't my fault ?

b) Do no claim years have an expiry date ? Can I still say I have 4 years no claims even though I have not been the main named insurnace owner (just a named driver) for a year and a half ?

Misticles

i recently got insurance and i was told i should get my own insurance not be a named driver beacuse when you are the years that you drive accident free arent counted as a no claims bonus cos your just a named driver.
as for your premium going up, i doubt it, this only happens when someone makes a claim through your insurance or its lost from an act of god. a tree fell on my sisters car and it was classed as an act of god and she lost her bonus. since the farmer claimed liability there should be no problem.

stevenmu

I've heard that some companies will suspend your NCB if you've been in an accident untill it has been fully resolved. They then reinstate it if everything gets settled without you being claimed against. Just check with them that they're aware the incident was resolved to everyones satisfaction, they may want to see some bits of paperwork, maybe something from the farmers insurance company saying they payed out or an accident report or something.

kluivert

You didnt make a claim against your own insurance neither did anyone else therefore you should not lose your NCB.

Should you have any further problems with your insurance company please contact the insurance omibusman.

When you speak to an operate on the phone with a quiry such as that ask for the phone number of the claims officer for your region. I think thats the proper title for them. I share a house with one and its her job to run around the country settling claims, so this is the person you should taking to as the people on the phones have limited knowledge.

seamus

stevenmu wrote:

I've heard that some companies will suspend your NCB if you've been in an accident untill it has been fully resolved. They then reinstate it if everything gets settled without you being claimed against. Just check with them that they're aware the incident was resolved to everyones satisfaction, they may want to see some bits of paperwork, maybe something from the farmers insurance company saying they payed out or an accident report or something.

Afaik, the NCB is only suspended when a claim is by/against the insurance company. If the insurance company don't get involved, then they shouldn't suspend the NCB. You'd want to doublecheck it with them though.

jayok

seamus wrote:

Afaik, the NCB is only suspended when a claim is by/against the insurance company. If the insurance company don't get involved, then they shouldn't suspend the NCB. You'd want to doublecheck it with them though.

You're right. I had a crash two years ago and wrote off my car but no one else was involved and no-one was hurt. After the crash I rang my insurance company and informed them of the crash and they informed me that they would be suspending my NCB until the matter was closed. I left it 4 weeks to make sure that I'd no medical problems, etc.which overlapped with my insurance quote (i.e. it went up by 100%), however once I agreed to not claim, by signing a form there was no claims and I maintained my full NCB.

Also, five years is the maximum that they can hold a record on you for.

seamus

jayok wrote:

Also, five years is the maximum that they can hold a record on you for.

Is it though? Or is that just the norm? I emailed the IIF a while back to ask them whether insurance companies were only legally allowed to ask for 5 years history, since some ask for 3, and others ask for 5. Rather insultingly, their reply was simply "You are obliged to provide all details requested by an insurer". It's correct, but it didn't answer my question, instead it assumed that I was considering lying on my insurance application :rolleyes:

jayok

seamus wrote:

Is it though? Or is that just the norm? I emailed the IIF a while back to ask them whether insurance companies were only legally allowed to ask for 5 years history, since some ask for 3, and others ask for 5. Rather insultingly, their reply was simply "You are obliged to provide all details requested by an insurer". It's correct, but it didn't answer my question, instead it assumed that I was considering lying on my insurance application :rolleyes:

Yep, that's why they can only offer 5 years NCB, I believ they are legally not allowed to consider beyond this. Also seems to apply to a criminal record as well!

stevenmu

seamus wrote:

Afaik, the NCB is only suspended when a claim is by/against the insurance company. If the insurance company don't get involved, then they shouldn't suspend the NCB. You'd want to doublecheck it with them though.

Come to think of, the friend who told me about this had been involved in a crash where the liability wasn't very clear.

NUTLEY BOY

a) Fault has no bearing on No Claims Discount.

If the insurers have to pay money the discount is reduced or stepped back.

Suppose you are 100 % in the right but the other guy sues you and loses but the insurers incur legal costs. In this case the NCD will be affected unless the insurers recover their entire outlay.

So, insurers like to be sure that they will not be caught for payments before allowing NCD at the next renewal date.


b) Do no claim years have an expiry date ?

No.

As you reach each year's renewal date claim free that is another year's NCD earned.


You will probably not get NCD credit from insurers in your own name where you have been previously driving under someone elses policy. Insurers are interested in NCD earned in your own name i.e. under a policy in your name. However, haggle with them as some might give you discount to reflect your driving and claims record.

Do not forget that there is a distinction between NCD earned and your accident/claims history as a driver.