insurance history

brentwood_boy

Hi - i am new to the site & have a quick question about renewing car insurance.

I have been with direct line for years and based on what i have read on Martin's website I'll look to change insurance company this year. Does anyone know if existing insurers are obliged to provide customers with information such as the number of years no claims bonus they have accumulated and what the full costs of any claims were?

I have protected no claims bonus but made a claim a couple of years ago for a small accident (i was able to do this without affecting my NCB). I am not sure what the full cost of the repair was as i only paid the excess charge but i guess I will be asked what the full cost was in any quote process with another insurer. Can anyone offer any advice or guidance?

many thanks

Brentwood_boy

shelly

When your insurance is close to its renewal date, Direct Line should send you out a quote, your years NCB will be on that letter. When you change to another co they will want that letter as proof of NCB. So keep it!

I had a claim in 06 and have changed co's twice since then and have never been told what the cost to repair was. When you do get quotes they will ask what the cost was and I just told them I had no idea as I was never given that information.

Hope that helps.

jeanette251978

brentwood_boy wrote: »

Hi - i am new to the site & have a quick question about renewing car insurance.

I have been with direct line for years and based on what i have read on Martin's website I'll look to change insurance company this year. Does anyone know if existing insurers are obliged to provide customers with information such as the number of years no claims bonus they have accumulated and what the full costs of any claims were?

I have protected no claims bonus but made a claim a couple of years ago for a small accident (i was able to do this without affecting my NCB). I am not sure what the full cost of the repair was as i only paid the excess charge but i guess I will be asked what the full cost was in any quote process with another insurer. Can anyone offer any advice or guidance?

many thanks

Brentwood_boy

Just phone up and ask them, they cant refuse the information! All companies will ask for the value of claims etc and where as some may accept that you dont know, some companies will not quote without such information. For example if you had a claim with £30k this might have an impact on the decision made! if it was only a £500 claim then this would be less of an issue.

Ask them, its not sensitive information - if you need the info to obtain quotations then you need it. Its no big secret :j

brentwood_boy

Thanks for the response, much appreciated.

Steve1981

jeanette251978 wrote: »

All companies will ask for the value of claims

some will, some wont - many view all fault claims in the same manner - ie it doesnt matter if its £10 or £10,000

jeanette251978

Steve1981 wrote: »

some will, some wont - many view all fault claims in the same manner - ie it doesnt matter if its £10 or £10,000

Well if they dont then they must be mad, would you really not want to know the claims details? what if it was £100k claim? i know id want to know about it as thats a huge factor to take into consideration.

Maybe its best to find out just incase you come across a company that does want to know.

raskazz

jeanette251978 wrote: »

what if it was £100k claim?

That's actually pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. If a third party is left needing medical care for the rest of their life then a claim can run to £1mill+. Someone who has had 1 fault claim for £100K isn't particularly a greater risk then someone identical to them who has had 1 fault claim for, say, £10K.

The main risk factor is simply the fact that the insured has had a fault claim. There isn't really a significant correlation between increased size of settlement and the future risk.

jeanette251978

raskazz wrote: »

That's actually pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. If a third party is left needing medical care for the rest of their life then a claim can run to £1mill+. Someone who has had 1 fault claim for £100K isn't particularly a greater risk then someone identical to them who has had 1 fault claim for, say, £10K.

The main risk factor is simply the fact that the insured has had a fault claim. There isn't really a significant correlation between increased size of settlement and the future risk.

Well we obviously work for companies with different views. It maybe pretty minor but it was an example! i could have plucked any figure from the air. Im not here to debate the ins and outs of insurance. I think we can see that the op's question has been answered.

raskazz

jeanette251978 wrote: »

Well we obviously work for companies with different views. It maybe pretty minor but it was an example! i could have plucked any figure from the air. Im not here to debate the ins and outs of insurance. I think we can see that the op's question has been answered.

Well, just because I find the subject interesting: Who would you consider a higher risk:

Driver A, who shunts a third party's 1990 Ford Fiesta, writing it off. The settlement to the third party was £100.

Or driver B (who is otherwise identical to driver A), who shunts a third party's vintage Ferrari, writing it off in the same type of incident. The settlement to the third party is £500,000.

?

Steve1981

raskazz wrote: »

Well, just because I find the subject interesting: Who would you consider a higher risk:

Driver A, who shunts a third party's 1990 Ford Fiesta, writing it off. The settlement to the third party was £100.

Or driver B (who is otherwise identical to driver A), who shunts a third party's vintage Ferrari, writing it off in the same type of incident. The settlement to the third party is £500,000.

?

valid point however often its not asked

would not want to be the insurer of example b though

brentwood_boy

Folks

Thanks for all your feedback, the accident I had was minor (I reversed into a bollard and needed a bumper repair) the cost was not massive (a few hundred pounds I think) I just wanted to guage how big an impact my lack of detail with regards to the full cost would be in terms of the renewal quote. I think I will play it safe and explain what I know when I go for a quote.

thanks again