Stupid Insurance Question

[Nevin]

This is probably a stupid question but as I don't know the answer I am going to post it anyway.

Had a crash last year and claimed on my Sunninghill policy. They have refused to insure me again this year, which is nice of them.

I am now trying to get insurance somewhere else but having trouble. The thing is, I had three years NCB before the crash and I assume that I automatically lose it after the crash.

However, when renewing the insurance on my other car with Elephant I asked them whether the carsh was an issue and I would lose my NCB and they said it didn't matter to them, I still had the NCB on my Renault.

Now the question is, have I lost my NCB or not? I am confused about how all this stuff works and can't really phone around too much from here as it costs a fortune to call the UK.

Any thoughts?

[Big Al.]

You will have certainly lost your NCB, UNLESS it was a protected NCB policy.

Was it?

[Jarcy]

I thought the rule of thumb with most insurers is that you lose 2 years NCB per claim. Therefore you'd still retain 1 year - i.e. 30% discount.

This was confirmed with my wife's experience - she did have max 4 years i.e. 60%. After accident dropped to 2 years, 40%.
(It's because of this that you really need to think hard before parting with extra cash to protect you NCB. I think it's not worth it, and only take protected when it's thrown in free.)

You may find that your insurer is even more lenient, but where you'll actually end up paying for it, is having the accident on your driving record.

Unfortunately it's probably a case of phoning round after you've discovered what your current insurer is prepared to offer in respect of NCB evidence.

Hope this helps.

[kingswood]

Based on my own experience NCB is by car where there is more than one car and not by driver, so you will have lost your NCB for your TVR but not your Renault. A broker is worth using in situations such as yours ( and mine). Not a recommendation but I use Keith Michaels for 2 cars and used to use it for my TVR and they have always been pretty helpful 0208-642-7868

[Nevin]

kingswood said:

Based on my own experience NCB is by car where there is more than one car and not by driver, so you will have lost your NCB for your TVR but not your Renault. A broker is worth using in situations such as yours ( and mine). Not a recommendation but I use Keith Michaels for 2 cars and used to use it for my TVR and they have always been pretty helpful 0208-642-7868

That fits with what I am starting to work out from various sources. Thanks for the tip on the broker, will try him tomorrow.

[rat]

How much you will have lost depends on your insurer and should be stated in your policy document. You can't protect anything less than full NCD. With most you'd have lost 2 years as said earlier, so you'll probably now have 1 year instead of 4 years. You should ask for a letter from them now that the term has closed to pass on to your next insurer what your NCB will be.

Many TVR specialist insurers quote on an individual circumstances basis and any entitlement to NCB will affect your risk profile and hence your quote and they will ask to see proof of it, but you can often still use the 'entitlement' to NCB on another car. Heritage are an example.

If you choose an insurer that doesn't do this, you'd be better off using your full NCB on the TVR, not the Renault if the insurer does actually require it. You'll have to close the Renault policy to enable you to move the NCB though, which will be an expense in itself.

NCB is a dodgy system and it's no surprise that higher risk insurers only use it as a rough guide. A few years ago a mate of mine first took out insurance and he was bouncing because he'd been given '2 years introductory NCB'. I told him it was balls because the quote was roughly the same as others he'd had, but after a year he got a renewal notice through stating that he (at 18 years old) had 3 years NCB and the next insurer accepted it and insured him for less than half the price. The moral being don't listen to me I suppose!