Lost NCD and claim on my insurance over fitting a spare wheel

Icarus01

Back when it snowed in Feb my car got a puncture, and due to the weather and my car being lowered I called AA to come fit the spare wheel for me. Long story short due to a shortage of vans they sent out a lorry from the nearest breakdown center. He had nothing low enough (and he barely looked, probably didn't want to be out in the snow) to jack the car up, so he ended up taking my car back to my house - where I would wait for the snow to clear then change it myself.


I just got my renewal quote through today to find i've lost 4 out of my 5 years NCD and an 'incident - no claim' marked down on my record. I spoke to AA and they said it's because the vehicle got towed to another location, and all they can do is restore my No claims if I pay the £210 for the tow, but the incident cannot be removed from my record.


My insurance has gone from £600 to just over £1000, with the big hike mainly due to the incident on my record. I don't feel i'm at fault, as I only called my breakdown to come and fit a spare wheel. Can I do anything to reverse this?

AdrianC

Icarus01 wrote: »

Back when it snowed in Feb my car got a puncture, and due to the weather and my car being lowered I called AA to come fit the spare wheel for me. Long story short due to a shortage of vans they sent out a lorry from the nearest breakdown center. He had nothing low enough (and he barely looked, probably didn't want to be out in the snow) to jack the car up, so he ended up taking my car back to my house - where I would wait for the snow to clear then change it myself.

I just got my renewal quote through today to find i've lost 4 out of my 5 years NCD and an 'incident - no claim' marked down on my record. I spoke to AA and they said it's because the vehicle got towed to another location, and all they can do is restore my No claims if I pay the £210 for the tow, but the incident cannot be removed from my record.

My insurance has gone from £600 to just over £1000, with the big hike mainly due to the incident on my record. I don't feel i'm at fault, as I only called my breakdown to come and fit a spare wheel. Can I do anything to reverse this?

This all sounds very odd.

Are the AA also your insurer? What do they have to do with your NCB? Why would your NCB be impacted over a "no-claim" flag?



The only way I can make any sense of this is if the "puncture" was because of hitting something in the snow - in which case, it's probably been logged as recovery after impact damage rendered the car undriveable. Which would be accurate.

Ant555

'm confused - Is this a car breakdown policy included in an insurance policy? Possibly AA car insurance and AA breakdown insurance all rolled into one?

I am surprised to hear that a claim on a separate add-on car breakdown policy affects the car insurance in any way but can you not simply go to another car insurance provider for a quote on a comparison site.

When asked 'have you had an accident or claim in the last 5 years' then surely the correct and truthful answer is NO (I assume at this stage that you have no accidents as you mention 5 years NCB) so your premiums could stay the same or even be reduced.

Also, what specialist equipment is needed to change a wheel on your lowered car? - I would have thought changing a wheel is bread and butter work for pretty much anyone in the car industry unless there is something non-standard about yours.

AdrianC

Ant555 wrote: »

Also, what specialist equipment is needed to change a wheel on your lowered car? - I would have thought changing a wheel is bread and butter work for pretty much anyone in the car industry unless there is something non-standard about yours.

It's most likely the standard jack simply didn't fit.
(Or the OP didn't fancy grommitting around in the snow)

neilmcl

C'mon OP, you need to explain why your car insurance has anything to do with this?

onomatopoeia99

Ant555 wrote: »

Also, what specialist equipment is needed to change a wheel on your lowered car?

Maybe by "lowered" he means "Slammed" or "VIP look" and it has 1/2" ground clearance at the sills, or 15 degrees of negative camber on all the wheels.

The whole thing doesn't make much sense and until the OP comes back with more information it's all just speculation.

Icarus01

AdrianC wrote: »

This all sounds very odd.

Are the AA also your insurer? What do they have to do with your NCB? Why would your NCB be impacted over a "no-claim" flag?

The only way I can make any sense of this is if the "puncture" was because of hitting something in the snow - in which case, it's probably been logged as recovery after impact damage rendered the car undriveable. Which would be accurate.

AA are my insurer and I have their roadside assistance as part of the plan. It's stated that my car is lowered, and I know the standard AA breakdown vans have low profile jacks. It was a just a normal puncture with no impact damage. My car was recovered as the breakdown lorry that was called out (not AA) didn't have one.

Ant555 wrote: »

I am surprised to hear that a claim on a separate add-on car breakdown policy affects the car insurance in any way but can you not simply go to another car insurance provider for a quote on a comparison site.

When asked 'have you had an accident or claim in the last 5 years' then surely the correct and truthful answer is NO (I assume at this stage that you have no accidents as you mention 5 years NCB) so your premiums could stay the same or even be reduced.

Also, what specialist equipment is needed to change a wheel on your lowered car? - I would have thought changing a wheel is bread and butter work for pretty much anyone in the car industry unless there is something non-standard about yours.

I would not risk doing that in case my insurance gets cancelled/void with the new insurer, and I wouldn't be able to provide them the proof of NCD anyway. There's a £100 difference in premiums between 1 and 5 years NCD and a £300 difference having to declare a no claim incident.



The jacking point is 3-ish inches off the ground with a fully inflated tyre. When flat its just not possible to get a standard or scissor jack underneath.


Edit 1: by 'lowered' I mean 'lowered'. 25mm all the way round. I thought it was obvious I meant AA as my insurer as I said i rung them to discuss my renewal quote

AdrianC

Icarus01 wrote: »

AA are my insurer and I have their roadside assistance as part of the plan. It's stated that my car is lowered, and I know the standard AA breakdown vans have low profile jacks. It was a just a normal puncture with no impact damage. My car was recovered as the breakdown lorry that was called out (not AA) didn't have one.

Then there should be absolutely nothing to bother the insurance side with.

What did the paperwork you got from the recovery say about the situation?

neilmcl

Icarus01 wrote: »

AA are my insurer and I have their roadside assistance as part of the plan. It's stated that my car is lowered, and I know the standard AA breakdown vans have low profile jacks. It was a just a normal puncture with no impact damage. My car was recovered as the breakdown lorry that was called out (not AA) didn't have one.






I would not risk doing that in case my insurance gets cancelled/void with the new insurer, and I wouldn't be able to provide them the proof of NCD anyway. There's a £100 difference in premiums between 1 and 5 years NCD and a £300 difference having to declare a no claim incident.



The jacking point is 3-ish inches off the ground with a fully inflated tyre. When flat its just not possible to get a standard or scissor jack underneath.

But again what has that got to do with your no claims. You haven't made any claim, you've simply used their optional breakdown cover. You need to read your policy documents fully and speak to the claims department.

Norman_Castle

What do the T&Cs of the insurance say about using the breakdown service and its effect on ncb?

Ant555

FWIW I just rang the AA as I had a spare moment and asked them about a car insurance policy with breakdown added on.

I asked if a claim on the breakdown affected the insurance and they said categorically NO as it is two completely separate policies. Even though breakdown might be an add-on, you have simply got preferential pricing as its a separate policy.

I would definitely query the AA again as they appear to have got something wrong in the admin. If you called the breakdown number for your breakdown policy then its absolutely nothing to do with the insurance policy and should not affect your extra years no claims.

Hope this helps.