!!WARNING - experimenting with online quotes!!

[wavy]

nabbed from another forum I visit .

Beware of experimenting with claims history on different websites. I assume this has arisen as elephant and admiral are the same company..



I have bought car insurance from elephant.co.uk couple of weeks ago for £627 (0 years NCD). A week later they sent me a letter (and an email) stating that they will add a claim (and increase my premium) to my policy even though I have told them I have had no claims in the past. Here is the actual letter:

_______
A system check of your policy has highlighted that you gave different
claim details when you obtained a quote from Admiral, prior to taking out
this policy.

We appreciate that when you took out your policy these details may have
been overlooked but our records indicate your claim details need to be
amended as follows:

claim dated February 2005

Unless we hear from you within the next 7 days, we will assume the above
information is correct and amend your policy details accordingly. We will
then write to you separately to confirm any additional charges that may be
generated as a result of the amendments.

I called them and told them that:

I have had no claims in the past and before buying my car insurance I did shop around on many sites entering different details trying to understand how the UK insurance market works. I added claims to past dates to see how they would have affected my current premium. I entered 3 or 5 years of NCD to see how they would affect my premium. This was in order to understand what voluntary policy excess I need to have.

However, they are not accepting this and they are saying they will add the claim to the policy anyway. I told them that if they are to trust what I have entered on other sites (without signing any contract) rather than what I have actually signed for then they should add 5 years NCD since I was also experimenting with this but they said no.

To sum up, they said that they need a letter from my insurance company stating that I haven’t had any claims. However, I haven’t owned a car in the last 3 years so I haven’t had any insurance.

Is there anything I can do? Can they just add claims to my policy just because someone (this time it was me but it could be anyone) enters something on a website?

Thanks for your help!



another guy had this info

There is small print on ALL the sites Martine. It's the same as when you ring up for a quote.

If you enter your correct name but lie about other things, then that person is stuck TBH. There are things that say information you provide us with may be shared with other insurers.

It's just tough .
they should have entered a phoney name with their correct postcode, because as they have declared a crash on another quote, that insurer is entitled to share that information with other insurers.

Especially as admiral and elephant are the same.

i thought id post this because i have done the above while checking quotes and i bet loads of you have

i think that its well out of order
he cant prove he never had a crash
but they cant prove he did

even in court u have to be proved guilty
cancel the policy only option just hope that bad info dosnt follow him

[nyk]

Yet another way insurance companies are trying to scam money out of us!!

TBH, in this case it is difficult. As the person has not drven nor held any poilcy for 2 years, he automatically loses his no claims bonus. His policy should be with no NCB discount. As unless you have a contiuous driving record, after 2 years your previously accumulated NCB is discounted.

For any other person, they would be able to proove there was no claim by showing their renewals or proof of no claims from previous insurers. Thus it would not be accounted.

They do share information with other insurers, as all insurance companies do, this is part of the national insurance database - TBH, the rise in his policy is probably nothing to do with the claim as they cannot determine the value of a claim that has never happened. The increase will be more in light of his loss of no claims, which even if it is proved that he has had no claim, the increase will still be in effect as he has not held a policy for 3 years, and as I said above his NCB will be discounted. :roll:

Insurance companies are shite.

[Smudger]

the first letter is pretty fair seeing as elephant is a part of Admiral. they are also gonna share info...they are the samer comapny

[Taylor]

i didnt tell them about my claim, but it came up on thier data system.:(

£300 more even though it wasnt my fault

[VIPERONE]

your withij your rights to see whats what, ie what if i had a crash how would it affect my balance, simple answer is, speak to them within 7 days and verify your ncb.
thats a ridiculous scam.

[nyk]

Its not so much of a scam but a loophole.

As I said in this case the individual has not held a policy for 3 years, therefore his NCB is lost automatically. He should have informed his insurer that he had not held a policy for 3 years when he took it out. They then would have priced it accordingly with no NCB.

For others who experience this it is as simple as showing your proof of no claims.

Be aware that if you do not drive or hold a policy for 2 years or more, you lose your previously accumulated NCB!!!