lost no claims on house insurance without claiming?

fluffy stuff

Can anyone tell me, should I lose my 40% discount with my insurer when I accidentally damaged something (and replaced it myself, at my own expense without putting in a claim)?

I happened to ask them what my excess 'would' have been, when renewing my insurance, and was promptly told that because I had a 'loss' I would lose my 40% discount.

I argued that I didn't claim and that I paid to replace the item myself, but no matter what I said, I was told that I answered the question incorrectly - have I had a loss or claim in the last 5 years? According to the agent, I'd had a loss, even though the insurer wasn't out of pocket, and I paid for the replacement myself.

It put my premium up 160 euro... I was gobsmacked, upset and quite frankly puzzled... Do I follow this up? Was the agent wrong, or have I misunderstood something? As I see it, most of us would damage something at some point and replace it, so does this lose our no claims discount?

Very confused here...

Kristopherus

fluffy stuff wrote: »

Can anyone tell me, should I lose my 40% discount with my insurer when I accidentally damaged something (and replaced it myself, at my own expense without putting in a claim)?

I happened to ask them what my excess 'would' have been, when renewing my insurance, and was promptly told that because I had a 'loss' I would lose my 40% discount.

I argued that I didn't claim and that I paid to replace the item myself, but no matter what I said, I was told that I answered the question incorrectly - have I had a loss or claim in the last 5 years? According to the agent, I'd had a loss, even though the insurer wasn't out of pocket, and I paid for the replacement myself.

It put my premium up 160 euro... I was gobsmacked, upset and quite frankly puzzled... Do I follow this up? Was the agent wrong, or have I misunderstood something? As I see it, most of us would damage something at some point and replace it, so does this lose our no claims discount?

Very confused here...

Tell your insurance provider to take a hike. There are several providers who will give an online quote, and need never know what you did.

mada82

If you didn't claim it's none of their business. I'd say the agent was incorrect.

Go to another company or deny ever you ever had a loss

Call centres are very difficult to deal with.

mr67stag

I feel your pain , six years ago i was hit by an unisured driver.
I had comp insurance with no claims protection up to five thousand.
To cut a long story short the driver was drunk , underage , uninsured driving on the wrong side of the road hit the side and full collision was avoided by me stopping.
my car was 14 mounths old
When the process of insurance claim came around the insurance company told me i had to claim the repair cost from MY insurance, (i tried to get the car made into a write off but no luck). why so as 10% of policy premimum go into mib for uninsured drivers. As i had comp i was told mib did not cover me but my comp policy covered the accident.
If i had third party only it would be covered and still have no claims bonus.
Went to insurance obudsman waste of time Lost 19 years no claim bonus and car value.

But in this instance first thing is get the insurance company to put it in writing their position hard to get but possible.
Take it to onbudsman i would imagine that you have a pretty clear cut case company taking the pi:s big time.
Sorry for the big rant but i still feel the pain.
Regards

fluffy stuff

Thanks guys for your help - and I've heard about awful situations like that with your car insurance - that would be a hard one to get over!

I'm going to ring them again tomorrow anonymously and speak to a different agent and see what they say when I ask the question about the item. If the agent is incorrect (and they surely have to be!!) then I'll be putting in a complaint about it.

braddun

which insurance company

fluffy stuff

I don't know if I should/can say, but it's a big player in the Irish market.

To Elland Back

fluffy stuff wrote: »

I don't know if I should/can say, but it's a big player in the Irish market.

The clue is in the word 'claim'. You didn't claim, so you shouldn't lose your bonus. In fact, insurers like it when their clients take care of the small stuff themselves, it is called good moral hazard.

Call them again, perhaps you got an inexperienced handler (not a valid excuse really). If they don't rectify it, name and shame

fluffy stuff

I'm going to call them again right now. I said exactly what you said, I didn't 'claim' she said I had a 'loss'... I asked her to explain what that meant to them and she said I had an out of pocket expense when I broke the item, so it was a 'loss' and the question is whether you've had a loss or claim. It's utter nonsense as why would any of us bother repairing ourselves when we'd lose our no claims discount either way?

Off to call them now!!

ScouseMouse

You are having a laugh!

You lost your no claims, but you didnt claim? I wouldnt ring them, I would go in there and politely demand to see a supervisor/boss/MD

beauf

Ask for it in writing so if you need to name and shame you can forward that to whomever.

Ridiculous.

Had this with car insurance. So I switched insurer.