Hi,

This year I had a shunt in my car, for which I was responsible. Insurance sorted it all out with no problems at all, but now renewal time is near and it has thrown up a few questions. I have had a perfect insurance record for about 11 or 12 years, and have never had an accident before. My NCD has always been protected and stand at 9 years according to most sites.

Firstly my partner drives a '53 Xsara Picasso 2.0HDi, on which I'm a named driver. She was sent her renewal from Diamond for £275 but when she phoned them to tell them of my accident they added over £50!! That's almost a 20% increase. Does this seem extreme?

I decided to shop around and using confused.com got a much better quote. However in filling in the site there was a question about the cost of my claim. I was never told this, despite asking the firm who did my repairs, and there was no 'don't know' option on the confused site, so I put in a number just to move things on. Now I'm concerned that the number I put in was too low, and Sharon has already paid for the new insurance. Should I follow this up or not?

I drive a UK MY98 Turbo 2000, which I only got last September. I insured a VR6 Golf last May 3rd for about £250 and I paid £140 to upgrade the insurance when I got the scoob. Doing the maths looks like a £460 premium for the year. (£140 for 8 months means £210 for 12 months).

Again I've been looking on confused for alternatives and to see what sort of difference my shunt has had. I have had a very nice looking quote from the RAC of £350 including a hire car and legal costs, but with a £470 excess (ouch). The only worry is what I should put as my NCD when I'm filling in these online forms.

My NCD was protected as I said, so should I carry on putting 9 years as before? Or will I only carry on getting protection from my curent company?

Also, as the car was repaired with no problems does it appear on any databases as having been in a crash?

Sorry this is a bit long, but any help would be very gratefully received.

RB

 

Hi mate, I'll try and answer these as best as I can having similar experiences, but someone who works in the industry os similar might know more.
Firstly your wifes policy seems ok to me of going up £50, it may seem a lot, but it was a "fault" accident.

Secondly, I would definitely clarify the cost of repairs/claim, even if you dont know, just ring them to tell them and explain you've never been told.

Thirdly, the 9 years ncb you have still stands if it was protected and only a single claim. But you won't get the ncb for the year you made the claim in (if that makes sense?).
But wether other companies will offer you protected ncb is up to them, I managed to get someone else to offer it to me, but I took out guaranteed ncb then, so I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not.

Fourthly, as for the car damage, mine was minimal, and only serious damage needs to be declared i.e in excess of 50% of the vehicle value or chassis and alignment rectification. (or at least that is what I was told at the Subaru main dealer).

Hope this helps mate