15 Years NCB - Should I make a claim or not?

ding_dong

Hello,

Thanks for all your responses - now I am deleting this thread as purpose of this thread is over and I dont want this information about me to be published anymore.

Thanks.

dazza.mk

Some insurers will increase your premium due to having had an accident (whether at fault or not), but you won't lose any NCB (or get 1 strike against your protected No claims) unless your insurer actually has to pay out any money in respect to the claim.

ding_dong

The insurance company is Admiral for both me and the other party.

lisyloo

Or will it ?

If you do some quotes you can find out for sure.
Get some quotes with zero claims (a comparison site is easiest as you'll get lots of quotes).
Then edit and add in 1 "non-fault" claim in the correct category (car damge, no injuries etc.).
Then see the difference.

Use a false email and phone number.

Of course no-one can guarantee the situation won't change over the next 3-5 years, but it should give you a good indication.

My gut feeling is that you won't be badly affected (from personal experience of someone with your profile).

Quentin

If you make a claim, be prepared that it might end up as a write off.

lisyloo

Yes, this is certainly a problem with older cars which have a low value.
My FIL had a car written off.
The first valuation was £180 and then they pushed it up to £280, but there was a £120 excess.

Obviously you need any broken lights fixed, but do you really need the rest brough up to high st dealer standard? or could you compromise?

vaio

R reg car will be written off if you make an insurance claim and you’ll almost certainly suffer a base premium loading in future.

If you claim on your insurance policy they will also end your policy but you will have to pay for the whole year (if you haven’t done so already) so as well as sourcing a new car you’ll also have to get new insurance.

They will also (probably) deduct your excess from your payout together with any outstanding premium instalments although you will get your excess back later.

Basically, you’ll get nothing and might even end up owing them money.

If you claim on his policy then yours will continue as normal, your excess doesn’t come into it, you’ll get paid what the car is worth.

In both cases it might be possible to buy the salvage back, this normally costs 10-20% of the payout. You can then get it repaired yourself (or just carry on using it if it’s safe & roadworthy)

Frankly, I’d go for the cash in hand and then get it repaired to a level you are comfortable with. Obviously it needs to be safe & roadworthy but does perfect (or even matching) paint really matter on a car that age?

Tammer

Hi,

Be aware that the risk you face in not claiming through your insurer is that your insurance policy or a future policy may well ask a question along the lines of:

"Have you ever had an accident or suffered a loss, whether you claimed or not?" or your current policy must say something about telling them if your car is damaged.

If you declare the accident you have, you will suffer an increased premium.

If you do not declare it and, in the future, have an accident, you're insurer may not pay out for not disclosing a loss. You will then have an insurance claim voided and future insurers will not insure you.

garycroton

Here is my situation
With Admiral - have 8 years no claim bonus - have claim protection
Non fault accident in October 2010, car written off - only worth £600 payment
Premium to 30/01/2011 £350 for new car
Quote for year to 30/01/2012 £770
Queried new quote - 'claim registers against you even though no fault' - 'you will retain your no claims bonus' - I told them it was pointless having the no claims bonus if the effect was not to protect my premium. They offered £670.
Moaned and moaned on the phone to them - eventually someone took pity and reduced premium back down to £350 but I think this was just one sympathetic at Admiral who had the authority to waive what his screen was telling him.
Unless the amounts are substantial try to settle privately.

lisyloo

I told them it was pointless having the no claims bonus if the effect was not to protect my premium.

Your wrong it's not pointless because it protects your discount.
If you had a premium increase AND lost some of your discount then you'd be worse off, so it isn't pointless (but it doesn't do both jobs either).

mikey72

lisyloo wrote: »

Your wrong it's not pointless because it protects your discount.
If you had a premium increase AND lost some of your discount then you'd be worse off, so it isn't pointless (but it doesn't do both jobs either).

Oddly enough, I ran some quotes, for various options on this. I posted the results a while ago.
For me, if I made one claim every three years, from full ncd, it was break even to protect the ncd. All renewals went up, but the difference was about equal to three years protection cost. If I didn't make a claim, or it was every four years, I was paying more overall for the insurance.
If I made a claim, I couldn't renew protection the next year, so making a claim every two years cost more overall as well, as the protection went.