no claims bonus lost for just reporting it?

fartington

my mum has done a very bad scrape/dent on her car and damaged a friends garden fence when she lost control of the car a bit when entering the drive.

she reported the damage to the car insurance company, but clearly said that she is just reporting it 'in case' she needs to claim but will be seeing her trusted mechanic, who is currently away, and he most likely will fix it without claiming, but she needs to see the costs in case it is more complicated/costly than it looks.

the car insurance company then wrote to her saying she would lose her 10 years no claims bonus and be charged an extra £200 ish on her renewal! Is this allowed, it is not a claim yet, it may never be, the clue is in the name 'no CLAIMS bonus'.

I told her I would get advice but that she should call again and clarify it is not a claim, just a report at this stage. She accepts that in the event of a claim she would lose no claims bonus, although to be honest do you lose it just for one incident? My company says 3 strikes and you are out for no claims bonus, so if I get one more I will lose it.

also how does the house insurance claim which is seperate work out. Who pays for the garden damage, the house insurance or the car insurance or is it 50/50.

Quentin

A claim won't mean she loses 10 years NCD. Either the letter is wrong or she has misread it.


If a claim ensues from this then the worst case scenario is she has 3 years NCD at renewal.


A claim may come from the owner of the fence she damaged.


So the insurer has this incident as "open". If ultimately no claim at all is made then her NCD will be reinstated.


The incident will remain on her record and she should disclose it when applying to insurers for quotes over the next 3/5 years, depending on the length of history required.


If she wants her car insurance to pay for the fence repairs then she will lose her NCD.


(As she caused the damage, and a fence is inanimate how can it be 50/50?)


To get her NCD reinstated she should pay the fence repairs then tell her insurance, and confirm to them she won't be claiming for her own damage and ask them to close the claim.

fartington

50/50 - what I meant was, is the car insurance responsible for the garden damage or will the house insurance be, or is it shared 50/50 between insurances?

I have not seen the letter, but from the bits she read over the phone, the letter seems to be giving her an amount that she will pay extra on renewal. It is not clearly stating it is an 'if and when' a claim comes through scenario.

the owner of the fence is a friend of hers and will not put a claim in to the her car insurance unless told by her it is the best way to do it. The homeowner wants to claim from their own insurance, but knows the car insurance may have to be involved, hence the 50/50 question.

tberry6686

As she hit the fence with the car the car insurance will be responsible for the fence repairs

fartington

I think the homeowners insurance were planning to come and take a look, why did they not just refuse outright and refer them to the car insurance in that case?

vaio

they might fix the fence and them reclaim the costs from the car insurer

Downside is having reported it the home owner will now need to disclose the incident on in future to her home insurer and likely get a premium loading as a result

fartington

do you get a future premium loading on home insurance just for reporting it or only if there is a claim is paid?

what is the difference premium-wise for;
1/just reporting and no claim made
2/making claim and it is turned down
3/making claim and it is paid

vaio

depends on the company, dummy quotes is the way to go but as it has been reported then it is on the database and must be disclosed

fartington

It seems then from what you are all saying, there needs to be a claim made by the car insurance for everything, car and garden and take the NCB and premium hit.

Also it seems that a claim should not been made on the home insurance, as it may get turned down, but still be counted against future premiums.

Quentin

If she wants to make a claim for either car or fence, then she may as well claim for both as the effect on her NCD will be the same (she should have at least 3 years at renewal - check her policy wording to see what happens to her existing NCD after a claim)


Both repairs will count as one claim.


It sounds that the homeowner has already reported the incident to their insurer - so this needs disclosing to any future insurer they approach (just as your Mum needs to disclose the car damage as mentioned in #2, irrespective of whether or not this ends up with a claim)

chanz4

be cheaper not to claim