A small claim for windscreen damage might affect your NCB!

Brendan Burgess

Brendan Burgess

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I shopped around for insurance yesterday and got a quote from 123.ie which was €240 cheaper than my existing provider so I switched.

I answered honestly that I hadn't had a claim in years.

But when I emailed them my Proof of No Claims Bonus, apparently I had a claim for windscreen damage in April 2012 for €317. I only vaguely remember this. I certainly had no contact with the insurance company. I think I asked a windscreen company about fixing a small crack in my window and they asked for insurance details and said it was covered by my insurance. I must have signed a claim form, but I don't remember it. They must have told me that it would not affect my NCB or else I would have paid it myself.

I checked with 123.ie and they told me that I was ok as it would only affect my premium if it was within the last 4 years, and this was just over 4 years ago. But I would have been very annoyed if such a small claim had stopped me switching.

Brendan
 
Most insurers ask whether you have any accidents or claims in the last X number of years. It would be widely accepted you don't need to list windscreen claims as they are generally repaired without impacting your no claims bonus.

However 123.ie specifically mentions on their website "inc windscreen claims".
 
Cheapest policy is not always the best. You need to compare like for like.

Some companies will NOT allow Driving of Other Cars if owned by partner/spouse. Could be more embarrassing if you had a claim!!
 
Ravima said:
Some companies will NOT allow Driving of Other Cars if owned by partner/spouse.
Click to expand...

I renewed over the summer and they wouldn't quote for my husband as a named driver as he has an open claim (on his own car and his own policy).

They also told me that he couldn't drive my car on his insurance as a driver could never use their own insurance on their spouse's car because one has an insurable interest in one's spouse's car. He said husband could check with his insurer but in general this was the case.
 
Not so. That's why it is so important to compare apples with apples and oranges with oranges. A good broker would do this checking for you, as it is not easy to compare all policy wordings.
 
Thanks Ravima.

It was through AA that I renewed but haven't checked with my husband's insurer yet.

I don't really want him driving my car if he's going to be going around crashing into people anyway!
 
The DOC probably only covers him for THIRD PARTY damage, the damage he causes to others. He would need to be named on your policy to get benefit of the OWN DAMAGE part, ie damage to the car he was driving (yours).
 
The AA guy I spoke to was very clear that he wouldn't normally be covered AT ALL (ie illegal to drive my car) so we never bothered to call his insurer.

I'll get him to ring them for clarity when he gets a chance and I'll be very annoyed if AA guy was wrong - quite a few plans had to change over the summer as the family doesn't all fit in his car.
 
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