No Claims Nonsense.

[Wooie]

I ve just been going through the latest MMM and there is a article on Page 17 entitled

" No Claims Nonsense ".

 

I brought this subject up a short while back on here as exactly the same thing happened to me with

the " Big Names " in Motorhome Insurance all saying that i`d lost my NCB because i`d been with

Comfort for 2 years and they only operate " Net Rated Policies " which do not use NCB.

 

Therefore they gave me quotes based on " NIL NCB " and when i said Comfort would give me a letter

stating that i hadn`t made any claims in the time i`d been with them they all said that it wasn`t worth

the paper it was written on and that was that.

 

I did get Safeguard who i`d been with prior to changing to Comfort to give me back my NCB but it

was minus the 2 years i`d been with Comfort whilst it is still " Full NCB " it`s not the point.

 

So obviously i went back to Safeguard because i dare not risk losing my NCB all because of

a simple " Rule " as they put it and i didn`t want to be " Tied " to one company.

 

I didn`t get anyone saying they`d had similar experiences and was beginning to think it was me !!!!

 

So this is a " BIG THANK YOU " to... Dick Sherwood, Southampton... for restoring my sanity.

 

9th post down

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Insurance-again/29087/

[pepe63xnotuse]

Somehow,my "NCB" has ended up a similar jumbled mess as well ..

Even though I've never claimed anything it seems that because there's been times where I've had various combinatioins of car,works van(self employed)and MH,it seems that they only "mirror" the NCB between policies ..and when I've got shot of the vehicle(s) which actually "held" the NCB,I've then been told such things as "..Oh this policy doesn't allow us to transfer the NCB.." or "..it only allows a max of 5 years.." etc ,so like you,I've ended up losing out... *-)

 

...I've recently bought a cheapie 2001 Toyota Hiace van(..to use as a general knock about-go camping-fetch logs-runs to the tip vehice)...and JEEEZ! because there's nil NCB for it,by the quotes I was getting,you'd think the damned thing was goldplated !? 8-)

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

You can bet your life ANY insurance company could look up your name and postcode too see any claims history, instead they take any opportunity to rip people off. My daughter has been an added driver on her ex-partners insurance for years, when he left her and she had to buy a modest car for herself NO insurance company would give her any discount whatsoever. If you saw the program on TV last night about car insurance companies it said it all, modern day Dick Turpins.

[Wooie]

When we first started Motorhoming the best i could get was a " Complementary 10% " all because

the " Family Car " which had the Full NCB was in the wifes name with me as named driver because

she used the car most of the time what with the kids etc.etc.

 

Over the years we`ve built up Full NCB on the Motorhome and so you can imagine my shock when

i was informed that i`d probably lost all of it down to these " Net Rated " policies !

 

To be told " You`ll have to start again on Nil NCB " all because you went somewhere different and

when the same story comes from all of the major insurers it definitely makes you think.

 

Somehow i don`t think this one episode will change matters and we`ll see what happens when

it comes around to that time of year again.

[malc d]

I think the trouble is that there are so many fraudulent claims in the car insurance industry now that they are just hiking up premiums wherever and whenever, and from whoever, they can.

 

As far as NCB s go- there's never been any difference between 4 years no claim and 40 years no claim, which always seems a bit odd.

 

Once the banking industry is sorted out ( in your dreams ) the insurance industry should be next.

 

 

:-(

[Dr Dave]

This is disturbing i am with Comfort at the moment for the Motor-Home and my renewal is due in a couple of months. Does this mean i am better to bite the bullet and move from Comfort and start again with a 'traditional' insurer who will give you a NCD or continue with Comfort who are (at the last renewal) much cheaper with better cover than anyone else. The only problem is as far as i can see that if Comfort decide to up their premiums you are thrown into the nil NCD scenario which puts you at the mercy of the insurance industry despite never having a claim in any vehicle. It might be better if Comfort could alter its renewal details to state a token NCD based on the history of the policy.

Dave

[Wooie]

Dr Dave - 2013-01-08 10:51 AM

 

This is disturbing i am with Comfort at the moment for the Motor-Home and my renewal is due in a couple of months. Does this mean i am better to bite the bullet and move from Comfort and start again with a 'traditional' insurer who will give you a NCD or continue with Comfort who are (at the last renewal) much cheaper with better cover than anyone else. The only problem is as far as i can see that if Comfort decide to up their premiums you are thrown into the nil NCD scenario which puts you at the mercy of the insurance industry despite never having a claim in any vehicle. It might be better if Comfort could alter its renewal details to state a token NCD based on the history of the policy.

Dave

 

 

Hi Dave,

 

This is down to these so called " Net Rated Policies " which Comfort and Sureterm operate.

 

You are in the perfect position to find out the standing after the article in the MMM.

 

One reason why i went over to Comfort in the first place was because it was a virtually like for like

and a very competitive price.

 

If i was prepared to have stayed with Comfort this situation would have not come to light and it was

only down to the fact that i thought i`d get " Some Other Quotes " for comparison and take it from there.

 

As soon as i said my previous insurer was Comfort they all gave the " Sharp Intake of Breath " and

said " Ahhhh and How Long Have You Been With Them " ?

 

All the companies said they`d have to Re-Quote on a NIL NCB basis because it had lapsed.

 

If you find out that other companies are prepared to accept " The Letter " from Comfort as proof

of not having any claims then please come back here and let us know.

 

Comfort do offer a very good policy at a very good price....but.... what then happens if they hike their

prices which can happen from time to time and you look round for somewhere else ?

 

You`ll probably have to pay the increase or go somewhere else and start again on NIL NCB.

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

I personally have never heard of these " Net Rated Policies " until reading this thread, so my questions are these.

 

Are people told exactly the implications of these types of policies, is it made clear that this is the type of policy you are taking out in the first place, and the lack of a NCB should you change insurers. I would have thought that if this is not the case I'd be getting off a letter to the Insurance Ombudsman pretty quick.

[Wooie]

1footinthegrave - 2013-01-08 11:43 AM

 

I personally have never heard of these " Net Rated Policies " until reading this thread, so my questions are these.

 

Are people told exactly the implications of these types of policies, is it made clear that this is the type of policy you are taking out in the first place, and the lack of a NCB should you change insurers. I would have thought that if this is not the case I'd be getting off a letter to the Insurance Ombudsman pretty quick.

 

 

 

I`d never heard of these polices until last year when i started ringing round for quotes.

 

As far as i can recall nothing was ever said to me at the time i took the policy out that it was a

" Net Rated Policy " and other companies do not accept them as continued NCB. It`s not

surprising really because if they told you this in the first place i imagine it would put quite

a lot of people off taking a policy out with them.

 

When the first company said it i just thought it was " One of their ploys " to get you to pay more.

 

Then another and another and another and all said in similar terms the same thing.

 

I had less than a week to sort it out due to the " 30 Day " rule for quotes and the fact we had been

away until a few days before the insurance was due.

 

Then after i`d put this on the other thread and No-One came back saying they`d experienced

similar i just sort of gave it up as a bad idea.

 

[Dr Dave]

This does make you wonder what the situation is as far as i know Comfort are not you insurer they are the broker, our policy is with Aviva so it gets very confusing as Aviva would know you are claim free but I suspect will also not supply evidence of NCD and this situation could be even worse should Comfort cease trading as you will be high and dry with years of claim free insurance with no proof of NCD for any subsequent insurer.

 

[Wooie]

Dr Dave - 2013-01-08 3:21 PM

 

This does make you wonder what the situation is as far as i know Comfort are not you insurer they are the broker, our policy is with Aviva so it gets very confusing as Aviva would know you are claim free but I suspect will also not supply evidence of NCD and this situation could be even worse should Comfort cease trading as you will be high and dry with years of claim free insurance with no proof of NCD for any subsequent insurer.

 

 

 

Once you get to within 30 days of renewal you can start getting valid quotes and i`d be very interested

in the results of quotes from other Insurers once they know you`d been with Comfort.

 

If you are happy to stay with Comfort then that`s fine but what happens when you decide to change

Insurers.

 

The case in the Mag i suspect only got sorted because MMM got involved and i can distinctly

remember that Caravan Guard was a " Emphatic NO " your NCB has gone and all we can do

is to quote using NIL NCB. I even spoke to a manager who also said NO.

 

I also remember Saga would not give me a quote without referring it to their " Underwriters "

because i have a " Performance Enhancing Modification " fitted to my van.

 

The culprit is " Air Suspension " and the operator i spoke to had never heard of it and i even had

to spell the words " Air Suspension ".

 

Safeguard whom i`m with now said as long as it was a Professional Fit and i had the paperwork

and i gave them the name of the company who fitted it that it did not affect my premium at all.

[Ina]

We were with Comfort for just 1 year, during which we found out about this, we then changed to Saga, and had no problem with them recognising our NCB fortunately. To the best of our knowledge, we were never told at the outset of the Comfort policy that it was a "Net Rated Policy", so are glad to have found out in time.

 

Ina.

[Wooie]

As far as i am aware NCB can be held on record for 2 years after which it is lost .

 

So if you are only with Comfort or Sureterm for less than 2 years there shouldn`t be a problem

as you will be able to claim your NCB from the previous Insurer.

 

In this day and age with everything being on " Data-bases " and linked together i really don`t see why

this is a problem and i would think that it was easy enough to see if you had made a claim or not

because if you have they are fast enough to point that out.

 

I also think that this is just another way of the Insurance Companies making even more money any

way they can of the motorist.

[Bulletguy]

malc d - 2013-01-08 10:47 AM

 

I think the trouble is that there are so many fraudulent claims in the car insurance industry now that they are just hiking up premiums wherever and whenever, and from whoever, they can.

 

As far as NCB s go- there's never been any difference between 4 years no claim and 40 years no claim, which always seems a bit odd.

 

Once the banking industry is sorted out ( in your dreams ) the insurance industry should be next.

 

 

:-(

 

BIB......not only odd but disgraceful too. Some drivers have an accident free record, driven for 40 or 50 years, yet are not rewarded by lower premiums. I'm afraid vehicle Insurance is a law unto itself and the T&C's seem to be designed purposely to confuse. Very quick to remind you of renewal time.......but when it comes to a claim they don't like that one bit and will look for anything to avoid paying out.

 

Some years ago I had a minor bump in a car resulting in a bent front wing.....no other damage anywhere. Even the light unit was intact and perfect, so basically required a new front wing. I drove the car to the bodyshop. Imagine my surprise when they wrote it off. Even the bodyshop was surprised. Annoyingly the insurance company wouldn't allow me to buy the car back stating that as they had written it off it was uninsured and now belonged to them!

 

 

 

 

[pepe63xnotuse]

A couple of "renewals" ago,I obtained a quote from Comfort...and I recall it being a fair bit cheaper than the renewal quote that had come through from Safeguard...But hearing all this now,I'm glad that Safeguard lowered their quote,resulting in us staying with them(..although it was still slightly higher than the figure Comfort came in at..)..

 

..and .I can't recall Comfort at any time mentioning anything about "net rated policies" in any of the emails or telephone conversations ...and if they did,they certainly did not explain what it meant! :-S

[globebuster]

Hi, I'm new to the site, so I'll wish you all a good 2013 before I start...

 

The only advantage of these policies is that if, like me you [and the other half] still run a car you can retain NCB on your daily driver.

 

You are all right though, it is a minefield. When insuring with Saga a few years ago they asked what my NC discount was - to which I replied 'full'. Well in saga terms that is only 4 or 5 years or 60%max. So when you move elsewhere - 'oh no we don't work on percentages - we work on years, up to 9 that is' - not my smartest move!

 

There was a point when I hadn't insured for a few years, due to having a company car. When I left I had to get the MD to sign a statement to the fact that I had not been involved in any accidents during that period with the company!

 

When we finally get down to one car and the camper, my wife and I will alternate insuring the car to maintain both NCB's.

 

It seems to me that insurance companies have very 'woolly' guidelines - they make the rules as they go along!

[Cattwg]

Dr Dave - 2013-01-08 10:51 AM This is disturbing i am with Comfort at the moment for the Motor-Home and my renewal is due in a couple of months.

 

The Editor’s comment to that letter says that after MMM queried this anomaly with Comfort the company relented. “After an internal review …. we confirm that we are able to give the NCD …….” It would seem that it pays to query their initial response.

 

Cattwg :-D

[Cattwg]

As an aside to the original post. Over the years I’ve found that it pays to ask “to speak to your supervisor/manager” if there is no joy/sense from the front line staff. They are usually simply working from a script and have no authority to deviate from it.

 

Cattwg :-D

[Wooie]

Cattwg - 2013-01-08 8:10 PM

 

Dr Dave - 2013-01-08 10:51 AM This is disturbing i am with Comfort at the moment for the Motor-Home and my renewal is due in a couple of months.

 

The Editor’s comment to that letter says that after MMM queried this anomaly with Comfort the company relented. “After an internal review …. we confirm that we are able to give the NCD …….” It would seem that it pays to query their initial response.

 

Cattwg :-D

 

 

 

That`s all fine and well but when the " Ordinary Man In The Street " tries they generally do not get

anywhere.

 

I tried and even spoke to a Manager and still got an Emphatic NO.

 

It`s not normally until someone with some " Clout " i.e. MMM get involved does anything happen.

[George Collings]

I have copied a link to this thread to Comfort for their information with the comment, it might harm business.

 

Bated breath time.

[Wooie]

George Collings - 2013-01-08 11:30 PM

 

I have copied a link to this thread to Comfort for their information with the comment, it might harm business.

 

Bated breath time.

 

 

 

Hi George,

 

The " Only " reason i left Comfort last year was that i dare not risk the " Full NCB " that i`ve built up

over the years.

 

To have 1 Insurance company tell you that you`ve lost your NCB is so so, but when all the others

say the same thing it really makes you sit up and think.

 

I had to " Protect " my NCB and the only way i could see of doing that was by going to one of the

other companies that uses the NCB system and that was Safeguard.

 

If the other mainstream Insurance companies will recognise " The Letter " that Comfort are

prepared to give you stating " X amount of years without making any claims " then i will be

more than happy to go back to them in October when it`s time for renewal.

 

Several of the other companies i spoke to when getting quotes all said basically that The Letter

" Wasn`t worth the paper it is written on ", where does that leave you ? Do you then start arguing

with the telephone operative saying " OH yes it is " and they in return say " Oh no it isn`t " ?

 

As far as i am concerned they have a very good policy at a very good price,.....however.....if that then

means that i would have lost all my NCB with all the other insurance companies then in my opinion

i don`t think the saving is worth it and you would feel tied to them because of the fact that the others

will only quote on a NIL NCB basis.

 

Last October when i mentioned this subject in a thread on here i did not get anyone who said

they`d had a similar experience so i just put it to one side and that was that. Then when i saw

the article in this months MMM i decided again to put it on here and see what happens.

 

I think that it is the " Other Companies " that need to look at the way they work, however i also

agree that Comfort needs to make customers aware of the situation.

[Dr Dave]

Perhaps its the 'other companies' attempting to undermine Comfort by not accepting the declaration of no claims. rather than proof of NCD.

[George Collings]

Comfort called me early this morning.

 

The sutuation is still evolving and efforts to resolve the situation are underway.

 

In the mean time my suggestion for anyone whe feels they are being unfairly treated by insurers is to get their response in writing and contact the Insurance Ombudsman and the Association of British Insurers.

 

I will research contact details and post later

[Brian Kirby]

The discount is based on one's driving record. Either one made a claim, or one has not. If one has been continually insured with Comfort over N years, and Comfort confirm that no claims have resulted, what are these firms really saying? That you are conspiring with Comfort to make false and misleading statements on an insurance application? That Comfort are seeking to mislead other companies into offering bad drivers unjustifiably favourable terms? That Comfort's system allows you to make claims of which they are not aware? It might be worth asking a firm that refuses to accept Comfort's confirmation just what they are implying. It might also be worth writing to them, repeating what they have said regarding acceptance of Comfort's confirmation of your claims free record, asking if you have correctly understood their position, and requesting them to reply stating why they take this position. Might get interesting? :-)

[Wooie]

Brian Kirby - 2013-01-09 7:20 PM

 

The discount is based on one's driving record. Either one made a claim, or one has not. If one has been continually insured with Comfort over N years, and Comfort confirm that no claims have resulted, what are these firms really saying? That you are conspiring with Comfort to make false and misleading statements on an insurance application? That Comfort are seeking to mislead other companies into offering bad drivers unjustifiably favourable terms? That Comfort's system allows you to make claims of which they are not aware? It might be worth asking a firm that refuses to accept Comfort's confirmation just what they are implying. It might also be worth writing to them, repeating what they have said regarding acceptance of Comfort's confirmation of your claims free record, asking if you have correctly understood their position, and requesting them to reply stating why they take this position. Might get interesting? :-)

 

 

 

 

When this happened to me last October i put this in a thread that was already running on here.

 

I received my renewal from Comfort and i thought i`d get some other quotes for comparisons

sake and i thought it wouldn`t do any harm.

 

It was only when several companies all said the same, that i`d lost my NCB because i`d had a

" Net Rated Policy " for 2 years that alarm bells started ringing.

 

They all said that the NCB was only " Held on record " for 2 years and because i had been out

of the " System " by having one of these policies for 2 years then it had " Lapsed "

 

I contacted Comfort about this and they said they would provide a letter stating that i hadn`t made

a claim whilst with them and that would count.

 

I then rang the other companies back and all of them said that " The Letter wasn`t worth the paper

it was written on " and could only quote on a NIL NCB basis as it had lapsed.

 

Where does that then leave you ? It left me Up the creek without a paddle and getting quotes

some of which were well in excess of £1,000 !

 

I have nearly 40 years driving,i have also held HGV 1 over 30 years and not a point in site and

never had a claim. To be then told that i`ve lost all my NCB all because of the " Net Rated "

rule just Beggars Belief !

 

I didn`t get anyone who said they`d experienced anything similar when i put this in the thread

;ast October and i just put it down to " It must be just me then ".........................LOL.

 

It was like a " Late Christmas Present " when i saw the article in the MMM and that is why i

started this thread.

 

Now that MMM are involved something might just might happen.