To claim or not to claim (minor car accident)

[MichaelR]

Hello,

So, a typical situation, minor car accident, we're at fault, the other side's body shop says 500 Euro.

If it was 200 I'd surely just pay, if it was 1000 I'd surely go with insurance. This one is a borderline case though. We have fully protected NCB, so there's hope the impact on the premium won't be big. But hope is not certainty.

I'd appreciate hints on wht to consider in this decision.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

We have fully protected NCB, so there's hope the impact on the premium won't be big. But hope is not certainty.

If you make a claim, you have made a claim.

So while your present insurer might "protect" your NCB , you will not be able to switch to another insurer.

And the protection is a mirage. They might leave you with a 30% NCB but they can jack up the underlying premium safe in the knowledge that you can't switch.

So pay for the damage yourself.

 

[Persia]

Regardless of what you end up doing you need to notify your insurer of this accident.
Who knows maybe in 2 weeks they may develop a stiff neck.
You are obligated asfaik to do this.
You don't claim no problem it won't increase your renewal

 

[ClubMan]

You don't claim no problem it won't increase your renewal

Are you sure that an accident that you don't claim for but report to the insurer (which, as you say, is probably a requirement under most or all policies) won't impact the renewal premium?

 

[Persia]

Are you sure that an accident that you don't claim for but report to the insurer (which, as you say, is probably a requirement under most or all policies) won't impact the renewal premium?

Can only speak to my own recent experience, reported an accident to insurer but decided to pay it myself and didnt impact my renewal premium.
My NCB was not affected.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

reported an accident to insurer but decided to pay it myself and didnt impact my renewal premium.

How do you know that?

You reported the accident.

So now, if you want to switch, you will have to tell them that you had an accident.

Brendan

 

[JoeRoberts]

while your present insurer might "protect" your NCB , you will not be able to switch to another insurer.

Not true, wife did same and new insurer honoured the ncb protection from previous insurer

 

[Persia]

So now, if you want to switch, you will have to tell them that you had a accident.

If I recall correctly the question on renewal was do you have any claims, recent outstanding or which you were not to blame incl windscreen replacement.

 

[Corola]

Your NCB certificate says how many years NCB you have earned. It doesn't say whether it's protected or not.

If you have full protection and claim, you stay at the same number of years. If you have step-back protection and claim, you move down a few years.

So why couldn't you transfer it to another insurer?

 

[ClubMan]

Worth noting this...

No Claims Bonus in Ireland | Best Car Insurance Discounts

A good no claims record can help make your car insurance much cheaper. Here's how it works, what discounts you can earn and which provider offers the best bonus.

switcher.ie

Is it worth protecting your no claims bonus?​

A No Claims Bonus Protection can add up to 10% to your premium cost, so you’ll need to trade off how much protection you want against the added cost to your policy.

Over time, full bonus protection may cancel out the amount of no-claims discount you’ve earned if you don’t make a claim, so it’s a case of weighing up your risk of accident, fire or theft against the cost of protection.

Remember that after you’ve made a claim, your premium will go up regardless because you are paying to protect your discount rather than the cover.

 

[Corola]

So you keep your discount, but the premium the discount is applied to goes up anyway because of the claim. But that's the same whether you stay with your current insurer or switch to a new one. Protected NCB doesn't prevent you switching insurer.

 

[dammam]

With regard to the €500 cost, have you taken your excess payment into account if you claim through your insurance?

 

[Brendan Burgess]

Protected NCB doesn't prevent you switching insurer.

No, but you would have to answer that you have made a claim on the proposal to the new insurance company.

 

[MichaelR]

We don't have an excess on third party claims. But I do see the point that they might well raise the premium regardless.

 

[Leo]

Protected NCB doesn't prevent you switching insurer.

It doesn't, but try shopping around with a recent claim and see how you get on!

Not true, wife did same and new insurer honoured the ncb protection from previous insurer

I'd be interested in knowing who that was. Did she divulge the claim as required? My wife had a very different experience a few years back.

 

[Corola]

Protected NCB still has a value, even if you can't switch.

If you make a claim and renew with your current insurer, your renewal premium will increase because you made a claim. Then if you have protected NCB that premium will be discounted. If you didn't have protected NCB it wouldn't be discounted.

After making a claim, your premium will always be less than if you didn't protect NCB. You are still protecting the discount, you are not protecting your renewal from increases.

 

[JoeRoberts]

I'd be interested in knowing who that was. Did she divulge the claim as required? My wife had a very different experience a few years back.

Aviva to Zurich. Yes claim amount was disclosed.