Cheaper to cancel my non-fault claim?

Wyc01

Hi all,

This is my first post here, sorry that it's so long but the situation is quite complicated and I'd appreciate any advice!

I was involved in a minor car accident last week where another driver reversed into me without seeing me. A week has gone by and my insurers are finally at the stage where they have contacted the other driver's insurer and confirmed that he has admitted liability. I am due to book my car in at an approved garage to be assessed for damages, though I'm 99% certain that it will be written off as uneconomical to repair and I will be lucky to get £400 for it (about half its market value).

My insurer has informed me that they will cover the up front cost of any repairs / write off and then look to reclaim this from the other insurer. However, they said that it is not guaranteed that they can reclaim all of the costs, so I MAY be required to stump up any remaining amounts through my own insurance (excess etc) in the meantime I assume I cannot say for certain whether I retain my NCB or not.

Now for the problem... As I am almost certain that my car will be written off I am planning to purchase a new one this weekend so I can continue to get to work etc. But to insure this new vehicle with a different provider I will need proof of NCB! I will not be taking out this new insurance with my current provider as their level of customer service is shockingly bad and their quote is no longer competitive for the type of vehicle I'm after.

Question: would it be better (and possible) to:

a) Get my insurer to confirm my NCB now before the claim is settled because it wasn't my fault, so i can go and buy insurance with another provider and benefit from my NCB?
b) Approach another insurer and buy insurance with zero NCB now, and then once my claim has been settled, cancel my existing policy and show my NCB to my new insurer to receive a discount?
c) Cancel my claim entirely (as if it never happened, as I'm not at fault anyway and I'm sure both insurers would agree to that) in which case I can then cancel my insurance policy, paying the admin fee of course, but retaining my NCB? As I'm cancelling my policy with 6 months left (I paid annually) could I even reclaim half the premium minus the admin fee? Obviously this way i forfeit any compensation but I could even sell my car for scrap so could this option actually save me nearly the same amount as I would've got back for the write off? I could do without all the stress and I know that once my car is deemed a writeoff my insurance policy is cancelled anyway so I lose the rest of the year's cover. For your info my premium this year was around £500.

Thanks in advance for any help, and if anything is unclear about my situation I'd be happy to clarify!

Quentin

a) They won't do that (they will actually now reduce your NCD until your claim is concluded and they get reimbursed in full by the third party insurer)


b) You would need to explain the situation to any new insurer and see if they will amend your premium if your NCD is reinstated


c) In your OP you say your insurer cannot "guarantee" getting full reimbursement. This may be because they are not as certain as you say that the third party are 100% liable. If that is the case then you won't be given any NCD proof/refund if you cancel etc until the claim is closed (and no claim comes from the other side).


You would need to find out why your insurer is taking this stance (not guaranteeing the other side is liable).


Are you sure your policy ends on a write off?


Even if you can cancel your claim you cannot remove the incident as if it never happened and it must still be disclosed to new insurers as part of your claims and losses history


You don't have to use your own insurance to claim over this and could consider claiming directly off the third party if you are certain regarding the third party being liable.


(When a car is written off you get it's pre incident market value, not half of market value!)

Wyc01

Thanks for your reply Quentin.

a) That's fair enough I didn't expect to be able to take this route

b) I think this may be my best option then given that I have to disclose my accident anyway. It allows me to get a new car asap and insure it with some chance that I could eventually receive a refund (if they agree to it) once my claim is settled. I don't think the other driver is making any claim against me as I've done no damage to his van.

c) The person on the phone said they would not offer their 'credit agreement' where they pay upfront and look to reclaim, if they were not confident they could reclaim it all. However he was clear in stating that it is not guaranteed. I think this is more to do with potential dispute over the cost of repairs rather than whether the other driver may not be 100% liable. Either way, the issue is more the fact that I cannot use my NCB until this is all settled.

I havent checked yet but my insurer isn't one of the better ones, so I doubt my policy would continue after a write off. The fact is I can get £100 for scrapping my car, plus £200 if its possible to cancel my policy and reclaim the unused months. If this is close to what I would get through a write off I consider it worth it to avoid the stress of transporting my car around in this state etc. If there is several hundred pounds difference then I would pursue the claim.

As for the valuation I would say it is worth £800 if I part ex'ed it, and I'm expecting the valuation to be disappointingly low, hence why I said £400!

In your opinion what would be my best course of action regarding the claim/NCB if I am to buy and insure a new (used) car this weekend?

Thanks

Quentin

First of all read your policy wording regarding what happens after a write off.

If you cancel now you may still have reduced ncd (if your insurer thinks a claim against you is possible or they have already started dealing with your claim and incurred any costs.)

Also inquire into the full cost of cancelling now. There may be no refund due to your claim, and cancellation costs are usually more than just the admin fee to pay

If your car is a write off then you get the market value not the trade in value. (Less any excess which you would have to get off the third party)

Have you tried contacting the third party insurers to claim directly off them?

Wyc01

I haven't tried approaching the third party insurer directly. I'm at the stage where I am about to book my car in for assessment, is it too late?

Thanks

Quentin

Talk to your insurer and find out if it's too late to cancel the claim (which should only be if they already have some costs involved).


You can always go back and resume your claim if you find you cannot claim off the third party.

rs65

Wyc01 wrote: »

plus £200 if its possible to cancel my policy and reclaim the unused months.

If you do cancel, you're going to have to pay for a year for your new car.

Whatever you do about your claim, considering just changing your existing policy to your new car.