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1st Central Car Insurance
svgh2657
Posts: 2 Newbie
Hi guys,
Have been with 1st central for a year on the 28th of January and came to them with 1 years no claims bonus. Decent reviews at the time and good quote (not the cheapest either). All well and good until a few months ago when a car mounted the pavement and scraped our wing mirror while we were sitting in traffic. This was all caught on dash cam and he failed to stop despite being given 3 opportunities. He can even be seen mounting the pavement again to avoid more traffic. Damage minimal but black paint scraped against our red wing mirror. As this was all caught on dash cam so we contacted 1st central who were happy to help and said because we had video footage this was clearly not our fault at all and would be pursued. Even told no excess to pay as we had it on camera clear as day.
All well and good until we receive the renewal quote 3 weeks ago. 0 no claims bonus instead of the 2 years expected and insurance has gone up by £240 this year. Several phone calls later we have been told that they have contacted the drivers insurance but will not chase them at all, not even once and this is our responsibility now. Also been told that as long as the claims open and unless the other drivers insurance accept liability and make full payment of 1st centrals costs we will lose our no claims bonus.
Now first of all, why we are expected to chase the other insurers I have no idea. I have asked around and this is definitely not common practice at all. We also feel cheated as when we first called to notify them of the incident we were assured this was not our fault and would not result in a claim on our policy. We even stressed at the time that this was not a claim on OUR insurance and they agreed completely due to the footage provided. Certainly at no time were we informed of the risk of losing our no claims bonus. When we asked if we could close the claim saying we no longer wished to pursue at the risk of losing no claims bonus we were told that isn't possible as they now need to keep it open in case the other driver makes a claim against us! Not to mention that no repairs have been carried out to the car at all and 1st centrals involvement has been limited to say the least. I can understand if we had sent the car in for repairs at their cost but how can we have made a claim against our insurance if no repairs have been carried out at all!
We have cancelled our direct debit and informed them by email twice now that we will not be renewing our policy due to their poor handling of the situation but still at a loss of what to do now. Obviously the loss of what should have been two years no claims is going to affect our quotes significantly now and we have no choice but to pursue the other drivers insurance ourselves. We just can't believe that despite this not being our fault and their insistence that this would not affect us it has had the total opposite effect. For the sake of a bit of a paint on a wing mirror we have now lost quite a bit and still have no idea how much of a financial burden this will cause now. If they had told us our no claims bonus would be taken when we called them we never would have notified them in the first place let alone carried on! Disgusting practice.
Has anyone had any similiar issues and if so, how did you proceed? Can anyone advise at all as to what our next move should be with 1st Central?
Have been with 1st central for a year on the 28th of January and came to them with 1 years no claims bonus. Decent reviews at the time and good quote (not the cheapest either). All well and good until a few months ago when a car mounted the pavement and scraped our wing mirror while we were sitting in traffic. This was all caught on dash cam and he failed to stop despite being given 3 opportunities. He can even be seen mounting the pavement again to avoid more traffic. Damage minimal but black paint scraped against our red wing mirror. As this was all caught on dash cam so we contacted 1st central who were happy to help and said because we had video footage this was clearly not our fault at all and would be pursued. Even told no excess to pay as we had it on camera clear as day.
All well and good until we receive the renewal quote 3 weeks ago. 0 no claims bonus instead of the 2 years expected and insurance has gone up by £240 this year. Several phone calls later we have been told that they have contacted the drivers insurance but will not chase them at all, not even once and this is our responsibility now. Also been told that as long as the claims open and unless the other drivers insurance accept liability and make full payment of 1st centrals costs we will lose our no claims bonus.
Now first of all, why we are expected to chase the other insurers I have no idea. I have asked around and this is definitely not common practice at all. We also feel cheated as when we first called to notify them of the incident we were assured this was not our fault and would not result in a claim on our policy. We even stressed at the time that this was not a claim on OUR insurance and they agreed completely due to the footage provided. Certainly at no time were we informed of the risk of losing our no claims bonus. When we asked if we could close the claim saying we no longer wished to pursue at the risk of losing no claims bonus we were told that isn't possible as they now need to keep it open in case the other driver makes a claim against us! Not to mention that no repairs have been carried out to the car at all and 1st centrals involvement has been limited to say the least. I can understand if we had sent the car in for repairs at their cost but how can we have made a claim against our insurance if no repairs have been carried out at all!
We have cancelled our direct debit and informed them by email twice now that we will not be renewing our policy due to their poor handling of the situation but still at a loss of what to do now. Obviously the loss of what should have been two years no claims is going to affect our quotes significantly now and we have no choice but to pursue the other drivers insurance ourselves. We just can't believe that despite this not being our fault and their insistence that this would not affect us it has had the total opposite effect. For the sake of a bit of a paint on a wing mirror we have now lost quite a bit and still have no idea how much of a financial burden this will cause now. If they had told us our no claims bonus would be taken when we called them we never would have notified them in the first place let alone carried on! Disgusting practice.
Has anyone had any similiar issues and if so, how did you proceed? Can anyone advise at all as to what our next move should be with 1st Central?
0
Comments
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3rd party cover or comprehensive?
Do you have legal protection also?Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...0 -
Full comprehensive cover but unsure about legal protection. Will have to have a read and find out.0
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1st central have not been asked to deal with your repairs so have no loss to pursue from the third party. In view of this they have no reason or obligation to chase the third party insurers. Your options are as follows.
A. Claim from 1st central who will then pursue a recovery from the third party insurer.
B. Ask 1st central to activate your legal expenses cover (if you have this add on) to pursue a claim against the third party insurer.
C. Obtain third party insurance details from ask mid and approach them directly.0
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