Lost my NCB but haven't made a claim

magicfairy

Just received my renewal quote for my car with an additional £1000 and lost 3 years NCB.

Last December our car was keyed really severly, quote for work to be done is almost £1500. So I phoned the insurers to find out our excess, when speaking to insurance person I was told that I need to tell them even if I don't want to claim, so I did.

We didn't claim (excess too high and losing NCB and premium going up added up to too much) and still haven't had the work done as we can't afford it.

We had 6 years NCB.

Just spoken to insurers and she has said that as there is a 'claim' on file the NCB has been reduced! When I pointed out that no claim has been made she has had to apply to the underwriter to get NCB reinstated, but she can't guarantee that they will. This will take four working days.

If no claim has been made then surely they can't take our NCB?

lisyloo

Why don't you wait 4 working day?

Obviously a call center person cannot commit herself to something outside her control so she's just covering herself.
But if you've not made a claim then I wouldn't worry and would wait for the answer.

You should try to get a renewal notice rather than just a letter as this is what other insurers accept.
If you don't get the "standard" renewal notice then make sure you establish the new insurer will accept that proff you have.

Lots of people come on here having taken policies only to find out their NCB proof is not acceptable so I'd advise you check up front if they can't give you a new renewal notice for any reason.

magicfairy

I am waiting the 4 days, but just wanted some piece of mind really that they couldn't take away my NCB and put up the premium over something that wasn't claimed for.

I have the renewal notice (I think, it says renewal premium) and it says 3 years NCB. I know that I need adequate proof of NCB if I plan to change insurers but I just want my NCB back up to 6, well it should be 7 now.

spike9

I had a similar experience when involved in a mutiple shunt which wasn't our fault but difficult to establish whose. I phoned our insurance company for advice but ended up making no claim. The incident was still recorded as an accident by my insurer and stayed on my record. I guess the answer is not to report it unless you are going to make a claim although not to may well be illegal ?

lisyloo

I guess the answer is not to report it unless you are going to make a claim although not to may well be illegal ?

You are meant to report any accident/incident to your insurer and if you deliberately don't tell them then that can get you in hot water if they later find out something you didn't mention.
Many of us would not report stone chips or tiny sbumps and scratches but being severely keyed does not fit into the "I didn't even notice" category.

I know that I need adequate proof of NCB

I was just advising that to most insurer that's an original renewal notice.
If (for admin reasons) that cannot now be repoduced and you end up with a letter, then I'm just advising to make sure it's acceptable before taking a quote rather than proceeding on the assumption that it is.
Hopefully they can reproduce your renewal notice, but I'm just thinking ahead.
Being forewarned about thes problem is better than making an assumption, going ahead and then facing an unacceptable increase or cancellation fees later on because the proof is not acceptable. They can be quite intransigent on it and very quick to cancel policies.

magicfairy

lisyloo wrote: »

I was just advising that to most insurer that's an original renewal notice.
If (for admin reasons) that cannot now be repoduced and you end up with a letter, then I'm just advising to make sure it's acceptable before taking a quote rather than proceeding on the assumption that it is.
Hopefully they can reproduce your renewal notice, but I'm just thinking ahead.
Being forewarned about thes problem is better than making an assumption, going ahead and then facing an unacceptable increase or cancellation fees later on because the proof is not acceptable. They can be quite intransigent on it and very quick to cancel policies.

Ahhh, I see, thanks for the tip. I am hoping to get a new renewal but I won't hold my breathe!