Claim History

According to your insurer, the more claims you have made the greater chance there is of you making another in the future. This directly affects the cost of your car insurance: the more likely you are to claim, the more expensive your insurance will be.

Insurance companies should only take 'fault accidents' into consideration. A fault accident is any accident where the insurer cannot recover its costs from a third party. If your car is stolen, vandalised or set on fire and you made a claim, your insurance company incurs the cost, because there is no third party involved. Thus, any claim you made would also be classed as a 'fault claim'.

If, for any reason, you find yourself having to make a fault claim mid-way through your policy, you will not see an immediate increase or readjustment of your premium. However, when you come to renew the insurance, your insurer will increase your premium to take the claim into account.

Remember that you should disclose all 'material information' to your insurer. Material information is any which they use to calculate your premium. If you decide to switch insurance provider upon renewal, you must declare any incident that led to you making a claim. If you do not declare it, or fail to disclose all the information concerning the claim, your insurer may discover this, perhaps from your previous insurer, and invalidate your policy.

If you are involved in an accident with an uninsured driver, this is considered a fault claim by some insurers. Your insurer may or may not preserve your no claims discount. Depending on what type of claim they consider it to be, you may or may not be required to pay an excess. For more information on making a claim when involved in an accident with an uninsured or untraced driver see Uninsured / Untraced Driver.