car insurance

[jimhenderson]

i had an accident and my car was a total loss the insurance company paid out in full.i now have a new car and want to use a different insurer i have protected no claims bonus as i have driven for the past 36 yrs and never had an accident how will it work if i change insurers will the first one refuse to hand over my ncb or do i just let the new insurers know the name of my old insurers

[harryt]

you can not cancel your current insurance if you have had a claim in that year that was a fault disallowed accident(where your insurer paid out).
Your No claims bonus will not be released until you either
1) complete that insurance year
or 2 pay your claim in full which will then release your no claims bonus.
But no your current insurer will not release your no claims bonus until you do one of the above.

[bednobs]

sorry harryt that dosent make sense! why would jim have to pay his claim in full? the insurance co did that!
if he has a new car, why cant he just ask the old insurers for proof of ncb and insure it with a new firm?

[harryt]

he can pay back the insurance company the money that they have paid out, to get his no claims bonus back!

[GM0C]

you had your ncb for 36 years so dont know why you think this will be a problen. You need to disclose all accidents to a new insurer.

[harryt]

if the policy is still "live" for instance took policy out in Jan 08 had an accident June 08 the policy is still valid for the full year.
He has paid a premium based on his circumstances at the start of the policy.
If he crashes his car which is a write off, replaces it with a new one but doesnt insure it with the current company they will not release the NCB as he has not completed the full year.
In normal insurance docs it states.
"you can cancel the insurance provided that there has not been a fault disallowed claim".
I work for an insurance company and have done for 10 years and unfortunately this is how it works.
So for instance if the insurers pay out �10,000 for a claim ie damage to your car and the third party, to be able to get your no claims bonus reinstated you would have to pay the �10,000 that the insurers have paid

[GM0C]

harryt, thanks for the advice, i have been having a hellish time with my insurance company over a claim. I am not willing to give up my ncd when i was blameless.

[JB]

Jim, contrary to the previous posts, your obligation to your current insurance company is to pay the complete annual premium, not to reimburse them for any claims that they have had to pay! So, if you paid your premium up front, then you can move to another insurer (you won't get any of your premium back though.) If you are paying monthly, you will have to pay the outstanding premium for the full year, as most insurance is an annual contract, and they have fulfilled their side of the contract by dealing with your claim.
The only other thing to watch out for is transferring protected no claims bonus when there has been a claim - some companies will accept it 'as is' and some won't! Make sure you are well aware of all the facts before acting.

[GM0C]

eh?

[harryt]

He does not have to pay the claim in total unless he wants his NCD before his policy year ends, his current insurance company WILL NOT ! release the bonus with a fault accident on the policy!

[harryt]

Jim, call your insurance company and ask them whether you can change insurance company with the claim on the policy and see what they say!

[bednobs]

what i dont understand is this: why would a policy still be in palce for the rest of the year when the car does not even exist any more? The insurance company are continuing to insure a car that can never be driven and in fact has been written off. Of if they have resold it dfor example and someone else has insured it, does that mean it is insured twice?

Anyway, as the poster has been driving for so long and has protected no claims, and its very unlikely the insurance would have paid out unless the yearly policy price was paid in full, can't he just disregard this year as far as ncd goes and get proof of hi ncd?

[bednobs]

plus jim hant said the accident was his fault either - would that make a difference?

[harryt]

the chances are that if the poster has a new car the origional car was a write off so therefore wont be sold on.
If the policy is paid in full then you are correct that the policy is technically insuring no vehicle but a live policy can not be canceled therfore no transfer of NCD.
If the accident was caused by a third party and he got a new car paid for by the other insurer then as long as the claim is settled as as non fault allow accident then he will be able to cancel the policy and transfer the NCD.
But to be honest this will prob be subject to a �50 canx fee plus the refund will be on a sliding scale, ie if you were six months into the policy you may only be refunded for the reminding 4 months minus the cancelationn fee, so would prob be worth while sticking it out until the next renewal.

[bednobs]

i just dont really understand what you are saying. You have more knowledge that me but are you saying if the policy is still "live" then he will just have to pay the difference for the new car (ie if it cost 300 quid to insure the old car, and 350 to insure this one he will only have to pay 50 quid?) i cant imagine an insurer doing this as he may for instance write off this car too then they woud have paid out fr total loss on the same policy twice?? If he cant do this and has to sign up again for a years worth of insurance, why cant he go to a new one, retaining he protected no claimms?

[harryt]

he can change to a new car on the policy he would only pay for the time on cover so ie from today until the end of the policy, he would pay the additional premium up to renewal.
If he writes the new car off too then the insurance company would still treat it exactly the same as he has paid for the risk (the difference between the old car and new car).
I have seen people change there car one 1 policy year so many times as they have crashed their old one,
This is something that unless you work in the insurance industry is hard to understand , many members of the public are under the opinion that it can be transefered but that is not the case, i have had many angry phone calls from customers about it and i know the company that i work for which is the biggest insurer in the country you would get the same response from anyone that you spoke to