What about claim-free years after an accident?
Have you caused car damage? Then this comes at the expense of your claim-free years. This is because all fault damage claimed on your car insurance will cost you claim-free years. This means that if you accidentally drive into another car, the fault is attributable to you. As a result, the other party's damages will be claimed on your car insurance policy.
So after an accident, you lose claim-free years if the damage is your fault. Was the accident caused by the other party? Then you can claim the damage with the other car insurer. This does not affect your claim-free years.
How do claim-free years work exactly?
The amount of the premium for your car insurance depends largely on your claim-free years. Claim-free years are years that you do not claim any damage with the insurer. For every year that you do not claim, you get 1 claim-free year. By driving damage-free, you get a discount on the insurance premium. The more claim-free years you have, the more no-claim discount you get. When claiming damages on your car insurance, you also lose claim-free years. However, this is only the case with at-fault claims. When the insurer can recover the paid out damages from the other party, it has no consequences for your no-claim years and the amount of the premium. Also damages you claim on your limited hull car insurance do not affect your accrued years. We will come back to this later.
How many claim-free years do I lose after an accident?
You lose claim-free years by making a claim to your insurer. For every claim you make, you lose 5 claim-free years. If you have more than 15 claim-free years, you always fall back to 10 claim-free years after a claim. In a number of situations, car damage does not affect your claim-free years. These are damages that you claim on your limited casco car insurance. Think for example of fire damage, broken windows, hail damage, storm damage or a collision with stray animals. If the damage is not your fault, but that of the other party, you can claim the damage there. In that case, too, you won't lose any claim-free years.
Claim or pay for damage after an accident?
In some cases, it can sometimes be better not to claim a small(er) damage on your car insurance policy. You lose 5 non-life years for each damage claimed, regardless of the amount of the damage. Therefore, for small damages, with a low claim amount, it can be more economical to pay the damage yourself instead of claiming on your car insurance. Often, the premium increase that occurs when you claim is higher than the total claim amount of a small damage. If you pay the damage after an accident yourself, it will not affect your claim-free years.
Claim-free years transferable since 1-1-2022
Since Jan. 1, 2022, claim-free years are transferable in some situations. Upon death, for example, they can be transferred to the surviving partner. Also for lease drivers and drivers who have lived abroad for years, it is now possible to transfer claim-free years. This way they do not lose their accumulated claim-free years. You can read more about this new regulation in our blog post.
Related pages about claim-free years
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