Why am I looseing two years no claims for something that is not my fault?

jcgwakefield

Hi there,
I recently woke up one morning to discover my car had been very badly keyed by vandals. I have had to make a claim with my car insurer (Yes, it's that bad) who have told me I am going to loose two years no claims bonus, essentially because there is no one else to blame ( We are not going to catch the people that did it). I was not even at my home address, just staying somewhere for one night.
So sure, I'll pay my excess, but loose my no claims when its not my fault? Are insurers really allowed to do that, is there any way round it?
It strikes me as not even making sense for them, as it just gives me an incentive to change insurers, (Although I do that every year anyway, since every insurer seems to hike up its price after one year, why?).
Incidently, if I were to discover that the damage was below my excess, am I allowed to withdraw a claim to protect my no claims?

Thanks in advance

James

somethingcorporate

In future it would be worth you getting a protected no claims bonus policy to prevent that from happening.

Whilst it was not your fault it's a no 'claims' bonus, not a no blame bonus. If you make a claim, you lose the bonus for not making a claim!

You should get the repair quoted before handing it over to the insurance company to repair, otherwise you would unlikely see the value of the repair so your last point would be impossible to do.

gordikin

It's a no claim discount/bonus. You have claimed...you lose your NC.

Sandoval

So you lost your no claims bonus because you chose to claim?

You do know what a no claims bonus is don't you? A bonus given to you for not claiming.

Now you've claimed and lost the bonus you get for not claiming.

You see where I'm going with this don't you?

adamc260

It's a no claims bonus not a no blame bonus

stator

If you had protected your no-claims discount you wouldn't have lost it, but your premium would have gone up next year anyway, just by not as much. They should allow you to withdraw the claim as long as they haven't paid out for anything yet. Whether or not you claim is up to you, 2 years no claims isn't huge anyway, plus the total value of this claim is likely to be relatively low, ie in the hundreds, not thousands, so I doubt your insurance will go through the roof. If you can get it fixed for less than £100 then do it yourself, otherwise it's a judgement call.

Quentin

jcgwakefield wrote: »

I have had to make a claim with my car insurer (Yes, it's that bad) who have told me I am going to loose two years no claims bonus.............Incidently, if I were to discover that the damage was below my excess, am I allowed to withdraw a claim to protect my no claims?

You lose two years plus none is awarded for this current year, so the effective loss is 3 years NCD.

You can withdraw your claim, but any costs (admin costs etc) already incurred over the claim would have to be reimbursed to your insurer before your NCD was reinstated.

jcgwakefield

Thanks,

I will find out the cost tomorrow, though my initial reaction was this is going to cost more than my excess which is why I claimed, that's interesting about protecting my no claims, will look into it.

lisyloo

I don't think it's been mentioned so far, but you can only protect your no claims when it reaches a certain level.

jcgwakefield

Thanks,

Any idea how much? Incidently, cost of repair through the insurers garage is £1000, I only pay £250 excess, though the turn-a-round time is two weeks! Ridiculous. I am going to find another garage, with quicker time, though can anyone tell me, if I find a cheaper garage does that have any influence on how much my insurance will go up?

jcgwakefield

In fact can anyone recommend a better way of getting rid of scratches in a car that are down to the primer?