Claiming on Scratch and Dent insurance?

throughtheblue

I have a relatively new car and I'm looking at cosmetic car insurance with Motoreasy. 

The offer is 24 months for £220, which covers 12 repairs (6 per year), with a £25 excess. There is obviously limitations and exceptions, but where I work I'm likely to pick up door dings and small scratches. 

My main question is about how claiming affects my no-claims bonuses on my regular car insurance? I see some comparisons outlets say it won't affect your no claims bonus, but I can't get a clear answer on what information is passed on or accessible to my regular insurance and its future impact. 

In an article comparing cosmetic vs standard insurance from Motoreasy, I did find this.. 
"Often does not significantly impact the no-claims bonus even after making a claim for minor repairs."

This would imply that it does have some impact on future no-claims? I spoke to an agent at Motoreasy and they said no information is shared with my regular insurer unless I was to, but didn't feel completely confident and couldn't find anything in there policy explicitly saying that?

Car_54

That is a really interesting question, and I'll await input from our resident insurance experts with interest.

All I can add at this stage is that the onus is on you to tell your (motor) insurer of anything their terms require, whether or no Motoreasy grass you up!

Nobbie1967

It won’t affect the NCB on your main policy as you won’t be claiming on this. However, you will need to tell your insurer about any claims you make on this additional policy. I’ve no idea what effect it would have on your premiums though. Some insurers may consider you more likely to make a claim on your main policy if you make regular claims for minor damage on this other policy.

throughtheblue

Nobbie1967 said:

It won’t affect the NCB on your main policy as you won’t be claiming on this. However, you will need to tell your insurer about any claims you make on this additional policy. I’ve no idea what effect it would have on your premiums though. Some insurers may consider you more likely to make a claim on your main policy if you make regular claims for minor damage on this other policy.

The main policy is in my partners name, with me as a named driver (shared car). I'd be looking at taking the scratch/dent insurance out in my name as she's not as bothered about dings and I'd be handling any potential claim. Would that still mean she would need to inform the insurer if it's not her making the claim on the scratch/dent insurance?

She's always used the car one day more each week than me, but also has protected no claims bonus, so I'm trying to establish if it's worth it for peace of mind.

ThorOdinson

Seems like for £220 plus several lots of £25 excess you could just pay someone to do a few fixes once a year instead. Your insurance company will never know.

DullGreyGuy

Motor insurers require you to inform them of any incidents in which you have sustained a loss irrespective of blame and irrespective of if you made a claim or not. 

In principle therefore if you have 12 claims on your Cosmetic Damage insurance you'd have to declare those claims on every policy on which you are a named driver or policyholder. It won't impact the NCD of that vehicle but will impact the premiums... in most cases mainstream insurers won't want to offer terms to someone having 6 incidents a year!

Obviously lots of people have minor dings that they "forget" to report and either live with the damage or get it fixed once a panel has accrued a few of them. Having claimed on an insurance policy however there are much higher chances of the data being in a counter-fraud database and so much higher risk to "forget" to mention them. 

throughtheblue

DullGreyGuy said:

Motor insurers require you to inform them of any incidents in which you have sustained a loss irrespective of blame and irrespective of if you made a claim or not. 

In principle therefore if you have 12 claims on your Cosmetic Damage insurance you'd have to declare those claims on every policy on which you are a named driver or policyholder. It won't impact the NCD of that vehicle but will impact the premiums... in most cases mainstream insurers won't want to offer terms to someone having 6 incidents a year!

Obviously lots of people have minor dings that they "forget" to report and either live with the damage or get it fixed once a panel has accrued a few of them. Having claimed on an insurance policy however there are much higher chances of the data being in a counter-fraud database and so much higher risk to "forget" to mention them. 

Thanks for the clarification. 
Doesn't seem worth it overall.