Direct Line car insurance - open claim affecting premium

alimc62

Ive recently received my car insurance renewal and had a bit of a shock. Ive spoken to the insurance company who say there is nothing they can do to help but im wondering if the moneysavingexpert forum members might have some helpful advice.

So here is the long winded bit
In May last year i received a letter from Direct Line to tell me that someone had made a claim aginst me. I telephoned and told them that i had not been involved in an accident, they said the person had probably go the wrong reg plate and they would let the other insurance company know.
Two months later i received another letter to say they had previously sent a letter and i hadnt replied. So i telephoned again and explained i hadnt been involved and i had already phoned them about it, this time they sent me a letter to confirm that they had contacted the third party solicitors and were awaiting a response. That was back in september and i assumed as i hadnt heard anymore it had all been sorted.

Last weekend i received my renewal letter checking down it showed my no claims discount as 0 years. I have just telephoned them and was infomed that the old claim was still open and therefore they had to change my NCD to 0 years.

My problem is that this open claim that i had nothing to do with has now doubled my premium which im really going to struggle to pay. I cant look for a cheaper company as i will still be stuck with 0 years NCD. I assume that Direct Line will refund the money once this is all sorted but according to the person i spoke to this could take three years as it relates to a medical claim.

Is there anything i can do?

thank you very much for your help

ali

dacouch

There is nothing stopping you transferring to a new company providing you declare the "Accident" as being a fault claim and you have nil no claims bonus. Once / If Direct Line close this claim without making any payments they willl reinstate what no claims bonus you were entitled to. You can then send this to your new Insurer who will refund any extra premium you paid.

To ensure you find the bext value you need to run quotes through with nil no claims bonus and a fault claim and then try the same process with no claim and whatever no claims bonus you will have and weigh it up as hopefully at some point in the future you will get your no claims bonus reinstated so you need to take note of what the premium is will approximately reduce to.

P.S This is standard practive for an Insurer to reduce your no claims bonus until a claim has been settled in your favour or proved to be a non claim

zkw29

Have you spoken to the claims department since you got your renewal notice? I would suggest speaking to them (not the renewals people) if you haven't already to see if there's anything they can do to chase it up for you.

lisyloo

Start jumping up and down with the claims people.
Why haven't they established you weren't there since May !!
Make a formal complaint.
Do you have any proof you were elsewhere on that day/time?
If so have you submitted it to them?

I would find this a totally unacceptable response from my insurance and would be "jumping up and down" on them, asking top speak to managers, asking for a foraml complaint to be made etc.

I would also be looking to prove I wasn't there is there is possible.

Oscar_The_Grouch

Errm... Did you actually make a claim?? If not, then you are entitled to insist that Direct Line close the claim. Here is what you do:

Send a letter to the Claims Department advising them that:
a. you were not involved in an incident
b. you have not invoked the protection of your insurance and any actions they have taken have not been authorised by you.
c. you require them to close the claim and provide you with copies of all correspondence as you will be taking the matter over
d. you are not seeking indemnity from your insurance.

Send a copy of that letter marked for the attention of the Underwriting Manager at the Direct Line address in Croydon. Advise them that you require the immediate reinstatement of your NCD, together with a revised renewal quotation.

The Road Traffic Act says that you MUST have car insurance. At no point does it say you actually have to USE your car insurance. In other words, you can be involved in an accident and settle the matter privately and you are acting within your rights. To force your insurers to step in and deal with a claim, the other party would actually have to get an unsatisfied county court judgement against you first.

From memory, most of this is covered somewhere around Section 154 of the Road Traffic Act.

If Direct Line refuse your request, you can complain to the FOS as well as informing the FSA that they are breaching Principle 6 (treating customers fairly) of the Principles Handbook as well as the Claims rules contained in the sourcebook ICOBS 8.

Sorry to ramble on here!!

raskazz

Oscar_The_Grouch wrote: »

To force your insurers to step in and deal with a claim, the other party would actually have to get an unsatisfied county court judgement against you first

Not any more - the Fourth EU Motor Insurance Directive created a direct right of action against insurers.

The insurer might not have dealt with the claim as expeditiously as may be expected but they are within their rights to keep the claim open and reserved until the third party confirms to them that any claim against the insurer is withdrawn.