CCTV and car trouble

ActionVerb

I was greeted this morning by the sight of the driver's side of my car being driven into overnight. All complete with a smashed wing mirror, dented doors, and scraped paint along the side and a damaged bottom lip as well. The camera on the junction of Fonthill Road and Lennox Road would have likely picked this up if it was pointing in the right direction (a 25% chance at best I'd imagine, but worth a shot). Does anybody know whether a) it is possible to access some of the CCTV footage if it relates to a specific request or at least have someone look at it and b) who this request needs to be made to? This could be a massive pain in the bum as I'm not sure if my (8years) no-claims bonus is protected.

Gas Powered Ninja

Start with the parking department at Islington Council. some of the CCTV are operated by TFL due to bus lanes etc, but a call to Islington Town Hall is your first stop.

ActionVerb

Thanks ninja, apparently its the council's camera, but I have to report it to the police first who then go to the council for the cctv pictures.

ActionVerb

Gah. It looks even worse in the evening. And i've just seen that my 9 years NCB isn't protected, such is the danger of getting the cheapest cover through the internet I guess...

marko

AFAIK you lose two years' NCB per claim, and the difference in the amount of discount between 7 and 9 years is negligible. However, having a claim history will definitely increase the cost of insurance before the NCD.

If it's any consolation, a scaffolding pole dropped onto the top of my car a few weeks ago whilst my car was parked in between a double-parked scaffolding truck and a property where scaffolding was being erected.

tosscat

Generally the max NCD is 6 of 7 years, so you will immediately drop from this level: having 9 doesn't give you a buffer. Having a claims history will not definitely increase the cost of insurance, this is the point of insurance. If, however, you have a claims frequency and cost that differs significantly from the average you will probably find your premium will be loaded. If you didn't opt for the protected NCD then you probably didn't opt for the legal cover that'd help to cover costs of pursuing your claim against a third party.

dorothy

I like it when tosscat talks about insurance.

tosscat

There's plenty more where that came from too Dotty.

Papa

I had this situation and had nine years no claims. The insurance policy said that you would lose three years off your no claims for a claim. However, they then said that I would go down to two years, because the maximum they accepted was five years plus. They pointed to a small sub clause buried in the small print of a 50-odd page document, as evidence that I had accepted this. I successfully argued that this was not treating customers fairly, as a) I was being penalised for having a longer no claims, and b) that as a no claims is fundamentally the most important thing in setting your insurance cost, they should highlight this in your brief policy summary and not bury it instead in the long document. I also have previous proof of no claims from them stating I had eight years It took some arguing and threats of Ombudsman complaints but they allowed it to only go down to six, although said only if I moved insurers - which I did. I think my lesson was pay the money to protect it.

ActionVerb

PapaL - I'm now in the same position as you were. The insurance broker is saying that the maximum NCB bonus is 5years, and now that the claim has been made, it will drop down 2years from the allowed 'maximum' to a 3year NCB. They are in effect ignoring the 4 extra years of my NCB history, although he did backtrack and say that you do get discounts for >5years NCB which clearly means the 5year is not a maximum. I also couldn't get him to show me where this NCB 'step-back' procedure is described in any of the written documents I have. I went through all of the written documents I have received from the insurer & broker and there is nothing there about NCB reductions. I'm not accepting the "that's industry practice" as an acceptable answer. Would appreciate any further advice and suggestions with this - please whisper if you prefer. Oh and it was over £2.5k worth of damage to the car in the end.