Insurance - Grrrr

[Well_Fans]

Amazing what you find out when you do some digging. I got my insurance renewal through today from Elephant for a little under 600 including a few extras but noticed that my no-claims had dropped to 3 years from the original 8/9 I had before my bump last Xmas. Immediately I get on the phone to complain, having been told I'd lose 2 years when I made the claim. Passed from one dept to the next I eventually reach a woman who calmly explains that their system only works on a maximum 5 years no claims bonus and that anything after that is totally irrelevant. So 2 away from 5 is 3 years - unless I care to take council to task to prove they were at fault for the black ice that caused my slide into a tree!!

Light blue touch paper and stand back as I explode as I explain to her I am more than a little upset by this news. Seems to me they are affecting my chances of getting competitive quotes from all those companies that demand a minimum 4 years - by my reckoning I still should have 6 or 7!!! Oh no she explains, all companies work on the same 5 year system and basically anything over that isn't worth the paper its written on. I could have had 100 years no claims and I'd still be down to 3 years and that she says, is the same for all insurers.

So time for a letter/email to the ombudsman, Watchdog and anyone else I can think of because clearly for some people the decision to make a claim or not might be based on whether they can afford to drop to 3 years if they make a claim because the insurers sure as hell dont make it clear. Anyone else come across this seemingly ridiculous situation?

Rant over

Price isnt half as bad as I expected considering the bump - its up about 70 quid I reckon on last year. 450 excess and 5k limited mileage, kept on driveway, 38 year old with clean licence. So I'll probably stick with them anyway.

[GSI_Daz]

Yes, I came across this when moving insurance companies, my old insurer said I had 5 years NCB when it should have been more like 8 or 9. My new insurer quoted different rates for 5 yrs NCB and 6 years NCB. After several conversations along the lines of "Our computer system cannot cope with more than 5" and "we have no proof of more than 5 years" they eventually relented and confirmed 8 years.

As for claiming or not, unfortunately they have you both ways there. Even if you decide not to claim you have to state it when you apply for insurance - they will then load your premium from that

You can write to whoever you like, unfortunately you will not get anywhere. Maybe you have a case that they didn't make it clear that you would lose 2yrs from 5yrs instead of your actual years earned but it is extremely unlikely that you will win or gain anything out of it.

Insurance is in general a total ripoff, but alas something we all need.

[marcevo1]

most insurance people use recorded calls - which can help...

i have in the past claimed that i was miss sold insurance as i asked for a like for like quote off direct line.

at the time they did not cover for hire cars if your car was in for repair - not what i was told / sold on the phone

so i objected (car was in for 4 weeks - cost of hire car to me! - ouch!). They said that the operator was new and didnt know the ins and outs of the 'like for like' - i claimed that it was their responsibility that they train the telesales and as such i have been miss sold - i got the money back - and then i cancelled the policy and moved my business elsewhere (i'm sure they didnt loose any sleep over it but it made me feel better)

very long winded event but got what i wanted (i'm turning into a grumpy old man already at 33!)

Since then they have changed their policy and advertising which is a lot more clear.

all insurance companies are the same unfortunately - just that some are worse than others IMO

[silentmonkey]

Well_Fans said:

So time for a letter/email to the ombudsman, Watchdog and anyone else I can think of because clearly for some people the decision to make a claim or not might be based on whether they can afford to drop to 3 years if they make a claim because the insurers sure as hell don’t make it clear. Anyone else come across this seemingly ridiculous situation?

Hi Well_Fans Good to see you at Donington.

I've just been looking around for insurance and found that a protected NCD doesn't guarantee you quote will not be influenced by a claim. Most companies I've tried, and I've tried a few, ask how many NCB year you have (protected or not) and then ask about claims and if the claim would have resulted in a loss of NCD if it was not protected. I had a claim of £2500 for an none recovered theft of a car in Jan of 2005 and found that it can make a difference of over £200 to the renewal quote.

I guess the way they work it out is to start of with a base premium and then load it for Points, Post code, previous claims, etc and then take off for security devices and NCD etc. So even with a Protected NCD your premium can still go up.

Mark