No claims discount removed after I reported an incident without claim

saunaboy

Hi,

Yesterday I was sitting in a queue of traffic waiting for a level crossing to open. There is a road on the left that means you need to allow cars to turn right, so I left a gap. Big lorry starts to turn and looks like he'll hit me, so I reverse a foot or so to make sure he doesn't.

Motion sensor tells me I'm close to car behind so I stop there. Few secs later, tap on window and driver behind claiming I nudged him. I get out & see about 6 inches between the cars. Both were filthy after recent weather & there's not even a smudge in mud. He starts saying I hit him & I'm saying I didn't. He takes pics of my reg so I do same of gap between cars etc.

When I got home I thought I best let insurance know in case he pulls any stunts. They say thanks for letting them know etc.

I got an email last night saying due to nature of claim I will have my NCD reduced from >10 years to 3 years.

But I haven't claimed anything - I was telling them that I didn't think anything happened. 

I've lost a load of NCD that will cost me a fair few quid....for reversing a foot,

What can I do here??

elsien

Did you tell them that it was information only? 

It does seem rather premature otherwise given that if the other driver has whacked in a claim there’s been no chance yet to assess it. 

Aretnap

They have likely opened a claim on their file in anticipation of the other driver coming forward and making a claim. It doesn't mean that they will be paying out to him - just that from their perspective there's a possibility that he'll present evidence that conflicts with your story and shows that you did actually hit him. There are regulatory accounting reasons why they have to do this - insurers have to show that they have the funds to pay claims which they reasonably anticipate might be made, not just ones which have already been made.

Reducing your NCB is likely an unfortunate side effect of opening a claim on your record. The insurer should reinstate if if no claim appears from the other driver within a reasonable period of time (typically 6 months). Unfortunately this can make life complicated if you need to renew in the meantime - of you change insurers it's with checking whether they'll refund the difference in price if/when your NCB is restored.

saunaboy

elsien said:

Did you tell them that it was information only? 

It does seem rather premature otherwise given that if the other driver has whacked in a claim there’s been no chance yet to assess it. 

I did. I said hey just letting you know this guy claimed I nudged him, but I didn't think so and there were no signs of it.

DullGreyGuy

The NCD will be reinstated if at the end of it no claim is paid out.

This ultimately is how insurance works, you say someone is alleging you are at fault for an accident so the insurer opens a file. Your denying liability and so they will just diary the file on for a month or two to see if anyone approaches them with any allegations. If they do, they'll defend the case, if they don't they'll diary on for a total of 3-6 months (varies by company) before closing the file non-fault