No claims bonus

Mrsweasley

Hi

I hope someone can help.

I reported a small accident to my insurance company a month ago . I wasn’t claiming for anything as it was just a scrape.
I have ten years No claims bonus.

I just received a letter to say I would receive a settlement letter and my no claims bonus has been affected accordingly.

Can anyone tell me if this means the other person claimed and if I lose all ten years of discount ?

I keep getting cut off when trying to ring and they are now closed

colm_mcm

Who scraped who?

punisher5112

They paid out to the other side.....

Did you cause it? If not I'd be chasing this big time....

No claims is gone...

Mrsweasley

Yes I caused it .

Thank you for reply . At least I know now about no claims.

Really appreciate answer .

Bikerman2019

The devil is in the detail. If you had no claims bonus protection, you should not see any increase. If you have step back, you may lose a year or two off your no claims bonus.


If you had neither, you may lose all of your no claims bonus and could have a horrific renewal premium. Does the letter say how much and what for? If it is a small enough sum, you may be able to pay the insurance company the cost and continue on.


You really need to provide a bit more info.(if you wish)

JustAThought

+this

On costing my insurance a few weeks ago the price savings in renewing to not have full no claims protection was e150. The renewal price for the following year with only half the no claims bonus ( if I had had an accident in the intervening year under step back protection) was a difference of over e500. And that was the start off price that did not take into account the amount of damages. Jo claims protection and step back ‘protection’ - Its a big insurance industry fiddle - and about time someone who is supposed to be regulating them steps in and stops. Sorry to hear of your situation.
1: find out if there was a claim
2: you should have had to give a statement for them to evaluate both sides - did this happen
3: were you notified of the outcome and process - if not you might have a hope of paying it out of your own pocket and thus re-instating the claim free status on your insurance
4: how much was paid out and is it fully settled? Ie no surprise whiplash in 2 years time

I find one is left in the f’ing wildreness when there is a claim or problem - everyone you have paid goes to ground and noone is there to fight your corner and protect you. Make decisions and discuss off the phone before you ring them as honesty may be recorded and your policy shoot up next year or be loaded against you ( eg dont say you were working all night again pulling a 24/7 shift so were tired and distracted while driving and this caused the accident etc)

JustAThought

by the way. I had ten / twelve years no claims and when I moved the new insurance company would only honour to anmax of 5 years and issued a cert for 5 years at the end of my year with them. They really are ****ers. So all may not be lost or as bad as it sounds

Huntergonzo

Hard to know from the details you provided.

Was there much damage? Who was responsible? Or is it a case of 50/50?

Without evening knowing those details though I would say it's important to act and act fast, and don't under any circumstances presume that your own insurer is your friend.

A couple of years ago another driver crashed into me, he tried to overtake when I was turning right and he also crossed a solid white line to do so. Thankfully neither of us were injured but over €5k worth of damage was done to my car!

To me there was no doubt that that he was responsible but when I rang my own insurance they advised me to take 50/50 and sent me out claim forms twice even though I told them not to.

Incredibly his insurer was more receptive and reasonable than my own. Now initially they tried to bat me off but I told them under no uncertain terms that I would persue this if they didn't at least investigate the matter.

They sent out their investigator the following day and she sided with me, but I was honest with her and told her there would be no bs injury claim etc, I just wanted the car fixed and replacement in the meantime and that was all done.

My main point is though, act and act quick, and get things in writing or email as much as possible.

Mrsweasley

Bikerman2019 wrote: »

The devil is in the detail. If you had no claims bonus protection, you should not see any increase. If you have step back, you may lose a year or two off your no claims bonus.


If you had neither, you may lose all of your no claims bonus and could have a horrific renewal premium. Does the letter say how much and what for? If it is a small enough sum, you may be able to pay the insurance company the cost and continue on.


You really need to provide a bit more info.(if you wish)

The email gave no figures at all that’s what was worrying me so much . It just said there would be a settlement letter and my no claims bonus would be adjusted,

It was my fault.

I really appreciate all the replies. At least I have a better idea of what my insurance will be now.

Many many thanks

Bikerman2019

First thing tomorrow, demand details. Then if you wish, report back here and we will know more.

Mrsweasley

I did report it straight away and took pictures. It was a scrape . My car brushed for want of a better word against theirs.

Huntergonzo wrote: »

Hard to know from the details you provided.

Was there much damage? Who was responsible? Or is it a case of 50/50?

Without evening knowing those details though I would say it's important to act and act fast, and don't under any circumstances presume that your own insurer is your friend.

A couple of years ago another driver crashed into me, he tried to overtake when I was turning right and he also crossed a solid white line to do so. Thankfully neither of us were injured but over €5k worth of damage was done to my car!

To me there was no doubt that that he was responsible but when I rang my own insurance they advised me to take 50/50 and sent me out claim forms twice even though I told them not to.

Incredibly his insurer was more receptive and reasonable than my own. Now initially they tried to bat me off but I told them under no uncertain terms that I would persue this if they didn't at least investigate the matter.

They sent out their investigator the following day and she sided with me, but I was honest with her and told her there would be no bs injury claim etc, I just wanted the car fixed and replacement in the meantime and that was all done.

My main point is though, act and act quick, and get things in writing or email as much as possible.

Mrsweasley

I had neither unfortunately.

Bikerman2019 wrote: »

The devil is in the detail. If you had no claims bonus protection, you should not see any increase. If you have step back, you may lose a year or two off your no claims bonus.


If you had neither, you may lose all of your no claims bonus and could have a horrific renewal premium. Does the letter say how much and what for? If it is a small enough sum, you may be able to pay the insurance company the cost and continue on.


You really need to provide a bit more info.(if you wish)

punisher5112

They could well have put in an injury claim, best bet is call the insurance company tomorrow ant find out what's going on....

Huntergonzo

Mrsweasley wrote: »

I did report it straight away and took pictures. It was a scrape . My car brushed for want of a better word against theirs.

Oh ok, well look if that's the case I wonder could you sort it out yourself rather than bringing the insurance into it?

If you brushed against their car then you probably are responsible but it doesn't sound like a whole pile of damage was done. Could you get estimates and pay for their damage, that would probably save you money in the long run.

If you were doing this I'd also get an agreement signed to say all damages were paid and nobody was injured. Just incase somebody magically decides they have whiplash!

corks finest

Mrsweasley wrote: »

Hi

I hope someone can help.

I reported a small accident to my insurance company a month ago . I wasn’t claiming for anything as it was just a scrape.
I have ten years No claims bonus.

I just received a letter to say I would receive a settlement letter and my no claims bonus has been affected accordingly.

Can anyone tell me if this means the other person claimed and if I lose all ten years of discount ?

I keep getting cut off when trying to ring and they are now closed

No claims protection is worth the extra bit

thebiglad

It doesn't matter at this point unfortunately how much damage, whether they have made a claim yet and especially whether or not they are claiming to be injured - these will all impact the cost of the claim - that figure has no impact on your no claim bonus (the cost of the claim can impact premium but, with the type of incident you report that's unlikely to apply here).

Basically you have reported to your insurer that you have been involved in an incident and have asked them to handle it and settle the other party's damages as appropriate.

As your renewal date was so close they have recorded a claim on your policy in the expectation that one will follow (if it does not they will probably close the file in 3-6 months but thats of no use to you right now).

Your statement of no claims will state you have 1 accident on your record and dependant on whether you have step back, bonus protection etc will impact your current no claim bonus position

Unfortunately your certificate of no claim bonus is correct regardless of whether a claim is received from the other party or not - you have registered a fault claim.

If the claim is settled (unlikely in current environment) you have option to pay your insurer in full and they will remove the claim from your record, restoring NCB - that is a question of what is worth more to you.

punisher5112

Amazing how over excited people get for a car that I see most don't look after at all.....
Wash with a yard brush or Brillo pads and bounce of anything themselves.....


They lose their sh1t then when someone else makes a minor mistake..... I fully stand behind if one causes it they should pay up but people really need to stop bumping up the costs and claims....

colm_mcm

punisher5112 wrote: »

Amazing how over excited people get for a car that I see most don't look after at all.....
Wash with a yard brush or Brillo pads and bounce of anything themselves.....


They lose their sh1t then when someone else makes a minor mistake..... I fully stand behind if one causes it they should pay up but people really need to stop bumping up the costs and claims....

Yeah but whether it’s €500 or €50000 damage, the OPs no claims will be gone either way if there’s a claim.

Eggs For Dinner

Just to row back a bit, your insurers have obligations towards you under the Consumer Protection Code when it comes to claims.

They must tell you if a claim is made against you
They must tell you when liability has been determined (already admitted by you)
They must tell you when a payment is made
They must tell you when the claim is settled

John.G

Did the OP offer to pay for the damage himself when it happened?. I had one small tip (my fault) a few years ago and settled it myself, I did inform the insurance company of the tip and that I was paying myself and they told me if there was (there wasn't) any personal injury claim later that they would handle it.

blueser

Mrsweasley wrote: »

I had neither unfortunately.

Okay; that could end up a costly mistake on your part. Next question; who was "at fault" for the accident? If it was you (and it sounds like it was, given your earlier post; "My car brushed for want of a better word against theirs"), and the other party claimed off your insurance, brace yourself come renewal time. The discount on my renewal for having full (protected) NCB was, IIRC, somewhere near double the actual premium.