Insurance - loss of no claims. Not Cali related.

[Moakesy]

So I've stuck this in the 'General' section as it's not related to Cali Insurance. My question relates to anyone who may have had experience of a similar situation.

My son hit a deer in his car the other night, and as a 20y/o lad he has a pretty big premium, so any loss to his 3 years of no claims discount (NCD) could potentially be expensive. The question relates to what insurance companies consider to be a claim worthy of removing the discount.

Details are:

- Front bumper damage, quoted £801 for parts/labour etc to fix it. This is the starting position and what it would cost by not going through insurance
- His excess is £500, so if he did go through insurance, he'll make a £301 'saving'
- However, he'll potentially lose his 3 years of NCD (which he couldn't protect due to his age), so when his premium is due next March, I've calculated that it will cost him an extra £320 'like for like' based on his current premium (i.e. his NCD was essentially worth £320 this year).
- Therefore he potentially could still be better off paying it directly when you think it will take another three years to build up the same level of discount.

Having done some Google searches, there is mixed feedback on if a no-fault, no-third party incident such as this would actually result in him losing his NCD. Some say it will, some say you are allowed one claim without it actually impacting NCD, and yet others say you might lose a bit of NCD, but not all of it.

Has anyone had experience of making a no fault claim whilst having non-protected discount. What happened to your NCD?

Thus far, we've not contacted the insurance company as soon as they know of even a potential claim, I don't trust them not to push up the premium regardless of if a claim is ever made.

And when I say it will cost him, I actually mean it will cost me, as the bank of Dad.

 

[flying banana]

even if your ncd was protected they will still increase the premium because they are robbing !"*$s,.
fix it yourself and say nothing.depending on the car, a bumper should be a relatively simple job to swap out and paint.

 

[andyinluton]

Whatever you do as there is no 3rd party involved don’t notify your insurance company as they will bump up the premium even if you don’t subsequently claim.

 

[Meoncoast]

for such a small claim I would pay myself and sale the venison tp off set the cost.

 

[B J G]

Bit of a minefield as when you take out Insurance you legally undertake to notify all accidents and claims to the Insurer. If you don't they can treat it as Fraud. The logic being that you have obtained insurance by not disclosing all the information required. You then get put on the Insurance Black List.

Some years ago my Wife had 1) a hit and run carpark damage, police traced the Driver so car repaired by his Insurance. 2) Side swiped by Dutch LHD lorry on dual carriageway, lorry's insurance paid for repair. 3) another hit and run by a teenager but the father brought her back to give details,
Result was that my Wife's Insurance went up due to 3 accidents in 2 years and mine was put up as she being a named driver had claims. Although neither of our insurance policies had any payout we got financially penalised.

 

[Moakesy]

for such a small claim I would pay myself and sale the venison tp off set the cost.

Yeah, real borderline case. A little more and I’d 100% put it through the insurance. A little lower and it’s not worth it.

even if your ncd was protected they will still increase the premium because they are robbing !"*$s,.
fix it yourself and say nothing.depending on the car, a bumper should be a relatively simple job to swap out and paint.

This is my fear. It was only when I saw some feedback saying you were allowed one claim (supposedly) without impacting NCD that made me ask if anyone had any real world experience.

Some years ago my Wife had 1) a hit and run carpark damage, police traced the Driver so car repaired by his Insurance. 2) Side swiped by Dutch LHD lorry on dual carriageway, lorry's insurance paid for repair. 3) another hit and run by a teenager but the father brought her back to give details,
Result was that my Wife's Insurance went up due to 3 accidents in 2 years and mine was put up as she being a named driver had claims. Although neither of our insurance policies had any payout we got financially penalised.

And this is why people feel hard done by with insurance companies. So annoying...

 

[Scoots]

For the sake of 300 quid I wouldn't go anywhere near the insurance.

There's no third party to blame/claim against and if you even talk to the insurer about whether to claim or not it's on the record.

 

[B16 JOG]

No Claims Discount (NCD) is NOT “No Premium Increase” next year insurance, though it is frequently thought of that way. It is a discount on your premium because NO claims have been made! When a claim is made, the “No” element of NCD doesn’t exist anymore!

Premiums are calculated against an assessment of risk. Now, this a a dark and mysterious art that I daren’t try to explain! Even a “no fault” claim can increase how a driver’s risk is perceived, simply because the driver was involved.(So, the driver in an earlier posting who had three “no fault” claims in a short period would be assessed as higher risk than the driver who had zero “no fault” claims.)

Now for the even darker bit...! Informing the insurance company of a possible cause for a potential claim IS flagged and, even if no claim is made, considered when assessing the driver’s risk! So, the poster was wise to remain silent while considering the options for the “Bank of Dad”!

My steer, offered without prejudice, is to fix up the car and hope your young lad learns a lesson about sudden hazards (and life!)

By the way, check your insurance premium if you have “Protected NCD”. It is usually a separate line item as it is an insurance in itself - an insurance against the risk/cost of losing your NCD on future premiums if you had to make a claim.

Finally, let’s not forget the real reason we have insurance. It’s not really to reduce the bill for fixing up a lump of metal we might prang! It is to be able to contribute towards providing life-long care to a child who ran out behind a bus like a startled deer, eh?

 

[pjm-84]

Pay direct. Dont go through insurance. Protected NCD is slightly irrelevant. Yes you may retain NCD but the fact you've had a claim ups the premium.

 

[B16 JOG]

Pay direct. Dont go through insurance. Protected NCD is slightly irrelevant. Yes you may retain NCD but the fact you've had a claim ups the premium.

Absolutely!
Protected NCD is a distraction in my post, but I couldn’t edit it after posting. I mentioned more as it being a marketing exercise of separately insuring against the risk of losing an insurance discount!