Car Insurance. To claim or not to claim

pjbennett

Hello All

We recently had the catalytic converter stolen from our Mazda Bongo Camper Van. The van is insured in my wife’s name. 

The cost to repair and replace was £430 plus VAT. 

We have a £100 excess. 

We have Maximum no claims which we use against our other car, which is also insured in my wife’s name. 

The insurance company are happy to proceed with our claim as we have a crime reference number. 

What I am trying to understand is the likely impact on the insurance on our camper van and our other car and whether it is worth making the claim. 

The insurance company are not able / wiling to guide us on this. 

I have never made a claim on any kind of insurance so apologies in advance if any of this sounds a bit daft!

Thanks in advance. 

Phil

Altarf

pjbennett said:

We have Maximum no claims which we use against our other car, which is also insured in my wife’s name. 

Either you have two no claims bonuses, one for the car and one for the camper van, or you have a problem as a no claim bonus is specific to one vehicle at a time.

Jfk1988

If you have already told the insurance company about the incident you will have to declare it for the next 3 to 5 years whether you make the claim or not.

It would not affect no claims discount on the other car but as was said above you generally can't use ncd on more than one vehicle at a time (some insurers may mirror ncd as an introductory offer). 

pjbennett

Thanks Jfk 1988. When you say that I will have to declare the incident for 3-5 years. Would that declaration relate to any vehicle under my ownership, or just the vehicle which was involved in the incident?

chrisw

The NCD belongs to the vehicle but accidents, incidents, etc belong to the individual driver history. Vehicle ownership is irrelevant. So as the policyholder at the time of the incident your wife would have to declare it on any car or camper insurance she's named on, whether as policyholder or named driver. If it's only you on an insurance you would not have to declare it.

Ditzy_Mitzy

pjbennett said:

Thanks Jfk 1988. When you say that I will have to declare the incident for 3-5 years. Would that declaration relate to any vehicle under my ownership, or just the vehicle which was involved in the incident?

The circumstances are a little convoluted, but essentially the claim will go in your wife's name as she is the one insuring the camper van.  This will then affect her insurance for her car, the other vehicle you mention, at renewal.  She will have to declare the theft to the car's insurance company at that point and again with any subsequent changes of insurer or new quotes.  The same goes for the camper van; she will have to declare the claim, or incident if no claim is made, to any new insurer if she changes.  The current insurer knows about it, so that's covered at least. 
You personally, as I assume you are a named driver on both policies, probably won't be affected.  As a general rule, with secondary drivers, any insurance claim goes against the policyholder, but if the secondary driver is at fault he will have to declare the matter to an insurer if he takes out or renews any policies held in his own name. 
Where a claim isn't dependent on the driver, as is the case here with the theft of the catalytic converter, it will default to the policyholder.  In this circumstance, it's nothing really to do with you.  

csgohan4

sadly this will be an at fault claim, purely as no other Third party to claim off , rather than blame. It is the insurers nomenclature which is poorly used

nottsphil

Jfk1988 said:

If you have already told the insurance company about the incident you will have to declare it for the next 3 to 5 years whether you make the claim or not.

Surely you have to declare it as a loss whether you have claimed or not? 

dignat

Hi All, I had a car accident and the insurance company is likely to writeoff the car. I do have also a gap insurance. My worry is that when my husband bought the insurance he did not know that ( neither do I)  I have  a fix penalty (had no idea that fixed penalty  means I have penalty that I forgot to re-new my insurance) as I  forgot to renew my insurance 2 and half years ago. I just have recently find out as the insurance asked me for driver summary. My question is,  as the car is insured for two drivers me and my husband, and he does not have any penalties, does the insurance company has rights to invalidate the insurance and whether the gap insurance will cover the finance ,if the main car insurance is invalid?

Thank you all

missile

Now that you have declared the incident, you wife should claim. Your premium may increase on any vehicle where your wife is a named driver.

dignat

Hi, Yes , thank you. I am aware of that now, but my question is more what would likely  happen with my claim, when the insurance company find out that I did not mention my wife's fixed penalty. Would they use this to invalidate the insurance , or  there is a chance because the policy is 2 drivers that they will  pay the claim?

Thanks