How does a decline in claim-free years work?
By driving damage-free, you get a discount on motor insurance. This applies not only to car insurance, but also to motorcycle insurance, for example. Every year that you do not claim, you build up one claim-free year. If you make a claim, this means a decline in your claim-free years. However, there is still much unclear about claim-free years and you may have some of the following questions. When do I lose claim-free years? How many claim-free years do I lose when making a claim? Is this the same for all insurers?
Drop in claim-free years: consequences
Falling back in claim-free years has a number of consequences. If you make a claim with the insurer, you fall back on the bonus malus ladder. You will then receive less premium discount and thus pay more premium for your car insurance. If you have not yet built up many claim-free years or if you claim several damages in a short period of time, you can also end up with negative claim-free years. This means that you will no longer receive a premium discount at all, but a premium surcharge. It is wise to always look at the consequences of claiming a damage first. Is the damage relatively small and the repair costs not too high? Then you may want to consider paying for the damage yourself.
How many claim-free years do I fall back?
If you make a claim with your insurer, you always fall back 5 claim-free years. This is the same for all insurers. Have you accumulated 15 or more claim-free years? Then you always fall back to 10 years after a claim. How much discount you will receive or lose on the premium of your car insurance will vary per insurer. Insurers use a separate table to calculate your discount, in addition to the compulsory table for claim-free years. This is the so-called bonus malus ladder. Each insurer has its own bonus malus scheme. As a result, there may be differences in discount between different insurers. The bonus malus scheme of your insurer can be found in the policy conditions.
Decline in claim-free years the same with all insurers
Since January 1, 2016, a new regulation has been introduced that ensures that the decline in claim-free years is the same for all insurers. In the past, it was never entirely clear how many claim-free years you lost in the event of a claim because this was different for each insurer. As a result, claiming the same damage cost you 5 claim-free years with one insurer and only 3 with another. A standard table has therefore been created by the Dutch Association of Insurers for the decline in the event of a claim. All insurers are obliged, starting in 2016, to use this table to calculate the decline in claim-free years. With this new regulation, everyone who claims a damage falls back 5 claim-free years. The highest number of claim-free years you can have is 99 and the least number is minus 5.
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.
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