Saturday, July 31, 2010

Loss of NCD

Mr. Tan
I met with a small accident with a motor cyclist two years ago. The insurance company did not pay any claim to the motorist but kept a reserve of $3,000 in case there is claim for medical expenses. They reduced by NCD from 50% to 20% and my revised premium jumped from $1,000 to $1,800, which I consider to be quite high. 


Almost two years have passed and the motor cyclist has still not submitted a claim. How long will they keep the reserve and penalize me on the NCD? Why should the motor cyclist take so long to submit a claim? If there is no claim, should the insurance company refund the difference in premium to me?

REPLY
It is not fair for the insurance company to penalize you by reducing the NCD when they have not paid any claim. You should ask the insurance company to allow you the full NCD (and give you a refund on the difference in premium for the past year). If a claim actually materialize, they can impose the reduction in NCD at that time. I think that the insurance company should adopt my proposed approach, as it would be fairer to the consumer.