If I have to make an insurance claim, does the policy continue after the claim is finished?

A few weeks ago, I read in your column something that confused, and worried me, as I had just changed my car insurance supplier. I always understood that you were in favour of shopping around for the cheapest offer, but you wrote that if someone's car was written off, "you would have to start from scratch" with the new insurer. Did you mean to say that I would lose all the Protected No Claims Bonus in that situation?

Asked on 26 May 2012 by CH, Bovey Tracey, Devon

Answered by Honest John
It means that if you have a crash that writes off the car during the first year of a new policy, the payoff can terminate the policy completely. So when you replace the car you have to start from scratch with a new policy. To make it clearer, if you write off the car four months into the 12 months cover, you are not automatically credited with the remaining eight months insurance when you get another car. Check with your insurer. Some do this. Some don't.
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