Accident my fault - will I lose NCB?

Stu666

A few months back I reversed into a parked car causing minor damage to both vehicles. I have fully comp insurance with Direct Line, and did not make a claim. The other driver, also with Direct Line, did make a claim and I believe DL ruled in the other party's favour. As I did not respond in time, I believe they classified me as being at fault, which I was anyway.

Does this mean I will lose my no claims bonus? I had about five years up until this point.

mattymoo

Yes, 2 years ncd will be lost unless you had a protected no claims bonus.

You can work out the monetary difference like this.
1) check the NCD scale in your policy.
2) Assuming 5 years = 65% (a typical scale) then you are currently paying 35% of the base premium.
3) Divide current premium by 35 then multiply by 100 to get the base. e.g. £350 annual premium would mean a base of £1000.
4) 3 yrs NCD is typically 50%. This is what you will roll back to. So in the example above, the new premium will be £500.
5) at the renewal after next you will hopefully earn another years NCD, typically taking you to 60% and £400 premium.

Over the next 2 years, on my example above the accident will have cost you £200 in lost NCD.

It is not quite this accurate since premiums fluctuate (current industry talk is of rising premiums) and a small loading may be applied to the base premium to reflect the claim history.

Stu666

Thanks for the reply mattymoo, that is very helpful.

A couple more questions on my mind:

When I come to get car insurance quotes from now on, do I have to declare the above incident? All of the comparison sites ask if you have made a claim recently. What is confusing me is whether my accident counts as a claim, as I did not make a claim myself.

Secondly, should I have a further incident (lets say I reverse into another parked car) what is the procedure for the remaining NCD? Will they knock another two years off, or is it not as simple as that?

charliee_3

yes, you need to declare this accident as a fault claim against you with new insurers even though you didnt claim for yourself- the other party made a claim agaist your policy.

if you have another accident that is deemed to be your fault you will lose another 2 years NCB and 2 claims in a year will probably put a big loading on your policy too so drive carefully!!

mattymoo

Most insurers ask whether you have had any accidents or claims so they cover all the bases. It would be classed as a claim in any event, but only under the third party section of the policy with nothing paid out under own damage.

Another claim will lose 2 further years ncd - in your case, back to 1 yrs NCD. The typical industry scale is like this.
1 yr = 30%
2 yrs = 40%
3 yrs = 50%
4 yrs = 60%
5 yrs = 65%.

As you can see, another claim would be fairly expensive since you would nearly wipe out the NCD. In the example in my earlier post the premium would go from £500 to £700. The first yrs NCD at 30% is a biggy so try not to lose that one.

AdamHopper

I have was just approaching 8 years NCB and I had an accident. If i make claim does this now take me down to 6 years or, as most companies stop at the 5year threshold, 3 years? My insurance company (Swift) takes me to 3years but was wondering what would happen if I change my insurance company.

Thanks

Quentin

It will make no difference.

(Were you to move company, your proof of NCD will show 3 years.) Were you currently insured with any other company the situation would be the same, ie a claim would result in you dropping 2 years from the max of 5.)

AdamHopper

Thanks Quentin.