Insurance Overlap NCB

[totalllama82]

I'm in a bit of a pickle here.

My Thundercat was/is insured by eBike from 27/08/10 - 27/08/11. This would have taken me from 0 year ncb to 1 year ncb.

My Thundercat died at the start of August and was finally sold for spares on 16/08/11. The policy was paid off in full after 9 months so I figured that i'd let it run the last 11 days till its conclusion to complete my first years NCB. About a month prior I stated on the website that I didn't wish to renew automatically as I always shop around.

I bought my ZX9 on 18/08/11 and in my despiration to insure it found that eBike were again the cheapest. I couldn't swap the bikes around on my current thundercat policy due to the fact I had opted out of the auto renewal.

I bought a fresh policy with eBike for the ZX9 on 18/08/11 via the website. I stated in this policy I had 1 years NCB and figured they would realise that I already had a policy running with them and would transfer the NCB or the bike onto my old policy.

So my question is now, where do I go from here? I can get the NCB confirmation from my Thundercat policy once it finishes on the 27th and supply it to them but, there is an overlap?

Do I contact them and somehow manage to swap the bike on the Thundercat policy and cancel the new one?

This is a bit of a nightmare
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Gone: Haotian HT125-8 / Yamaha YZF 600R Thundercat / Kawasaki ZX9R C2
Current: Kawasaki ZZR 1400 A7F

[c-m]

Just wait the few days until the your old policy finishes. That is the only thing you can do.
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Motorcycle headlight bulbs and HIDs
Blogging about my bike and trips
https://ridershandbook.com/

[Ted]

Technically when you insured the new bike, you didn't have any NCB, so your insurance is actually void...

Best thing to do would be cancel your new policy just after the old policy expires, and then start a brand new policy with the actual 1 years NCB...

[Pete.]

The first thing you have to do is contact them, tell them you have made a mistake that you'd like to rectify and just tell them that you were a bit naiive about insurance and wasn't sure how it worked.

You have to do this because if they pick it out in an audit they will probably cancel your insurance and you have to declare that every time you take out insurance afterwards. Phoning them and coming clean will show good faith on your part and you'll probably be treated much more sympathetically (i.e. they'll probably re-calculate your premium to what it would have been if you had zero NCD).

Another option is to cancel your policy then take out another but you still could get caught out.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[chris-red]

[totalllama82]

Thanks for the replies chaps.

It would seem cancelling the policy and starting up a new one somewhere else would be the best option in this situation. I'm a bit worried that they have taken a deposit of around ~£60 I wont see again.

I have until 01/09/11 for my 14 day cooling off period to expire where (I believe) I do not have to pay the £75 cancellation charge. Can anyone confirm if cancelling within 14 days means they waive the fee?

Should I even be riding with my policy like this?!
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Gone: Haotian HT125-8 / Yamaha YZF 600R Thundercat / Kawasaki ZX9R C2
Current: Kawasaki ZZR 1400 A7F

[Ted]

Usually insurers don't make you pay the fee if you're still in the 'cooling-off' period. But your best bet is to phone and double check. Just ring customer services and ask, you don't have to give policy numbers, etc.

You can cancel the policy and start another one with the same company... you don't need to change insurers if you are happy with the one you have. Even easier with the e-group (I used to be with e-Van) as you can just do it online!

At the end of the day, even if you loose the £60, its better than riding on void insurance, as it'll come back to bite you when you need it (ie. if you have to make a claim).


You are playing in a very grey area... yes you can ride as you're insured, but your insurance is technically void... (so really you are uninsured)

[totalllama82]

It truly is a sticky situation then.

After some thought, armed with the advice from here, I don't think that pleading ignorance and sending in the NCB with the obvious overlap will work. They will simply recalculate based on 0 ncb and charge me accordingly plus ill lose 1 years bonus that I have already earned.

The more I think about it the more it seems that cancelling this new policy is the only way. I reckon I can schedule it to be cancelled on the 27/08/11 to coincide with my Thundercat policy ending. I'll then have to start a new policy with another provider (I find the email/web based only communication a drawback when it comes to insurance) on the same day to avoid disrupting my riding.

My thoughts now turn to how the refund of my deposit will work. Will they calculate the refund based on my 1 years, non confirmed, bonus or revert back to 0 years ncb? I reckon they will still ask for the proof, I send the Thundercats NCB and they spot the overlap and revert to 0 ncb. This could possibly end up with me owing them!

The problem is that all contact is via email (unless I want to pay £1/minute) and my email address would reconcile against my existing policies. I'll checkout the online facility to see if I can cancel on there.

Thanks for the advice!
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Gone: Haotian HT125-8 / Yamaha YZF 600R Thundercat / Kawasaki ZX9R C2
Current: Kawasaki ZZR 1400 A7F

[Jayy]

I was in the same situation with the KTM and taking out a policy on the ZX10.

My KTM policy ends on 9th September and I get my 3rd years NCB but I started the ZX10 policy on the 28th June I think. They wouldn't give me my 3rd years NCB until 2 weeks before the policy ended.

New company wouldn't accept the overlap so I had to put 2 years NCB and I was going to cancel the policy and lose the 3rd years NCB as it was the only way.

I didn't cancel it in the end and my new insurers haven't even asked me for the NCB yet anyway so sod it.

Maybe try your luck and just wait it out?

[totalllama82]

[Ted]

The eGroup is tight... but I am about 95% sure you can cancel online.

They should not calculate anything at 0 NCB, they will take an amount off for the days that you have had cover (but they work this out on a sliding scale, eg. if your premium was £365, and you were insured for 9 days, they would not just charge you £9... more like £15-20)

[Rogerborg]

Financial Services (Distance Marketing) Regulations 2004.

See sections 9, 10 and 13.

"may make a charge for any service actually provided by the supplier in accordance with the contract. The charge shall not exceed an amount which is in proportion to the extent of the service provided to the consumer prior to the time at which the cancellation event occurred (including the service of arranging to provide the financial service) in comparison with the full coverage of the contract, and in any event shall not be such that it could be construed as a penalty".

They can charge you for the initial arrangement, and for the cover that you've enjoyed, nothing more.

Given that they offer per-month policies, the actual cost to them of "arranging to provide the financial service" must be minimal. Stick to your guns, cite the Regulations and those sections, don't accept any unreasonable deductions, go through their complaint procedure, threaten to take it to the Financial Ombudsman (at their cost, which will air exactly how much the arrangement does or doesn't cost them) and you'll get most of your money back eventually.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[iooi]

OP mentions £60 deposit......

Please tell us you have not taken the option to pay monthly... Which means you have taken a loan out to pay the policy...... And can make a big diffrence.
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Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......