Do not use Peter James for your MX-5 Mk3 or Mk4 if you wish to continue accruing no claims bonus. This is a classic car policy for which there isn’t any no-claims bonus.
When I invited them to explain to explain the rationale for their refusal to include or maintain a driver’s no-claims bonus, they blamed the club for the way this policy has been configured.
Accoriding to them, the club designed the policy which is based upon a classic car policy, making it better suited to a Mk1/Mk2 owner.
@iainf - PLEASE can we make sure that this is clearly stated in the Peter James adverts in STHT.? I find their advert misleading and don’t want any of our Mk3/Mk4 members to fall into this trap.
I can only assume this policy was created as a service for our Mk1/Mk2 members who must have found obtaining a competitive quote for insurance harder in the current market. Otherwise, it’s baffling why the club would deliberately advertise something that excludes half the members who own a mk3/mk4 and wouldn’t wish to lose their no-claims bonus.
You don’t lose any NCB with this policy it is parked and then provided to your next provider at the same level you brought with you when you started.
Insurance is very personal based on your particular wants and needs, the Peter James policy doesn’t work for me at the moment (ND and mileage limit) however there are a lot of people for whom it does.
The policy is clearly advertised as a recreational owner enthusiast policy for Club members. It is designed for all generations of the car.
Mileage caps are detailed for NC and ND owners as the policy is not presently geared for daily drivers, (there are plenty of mainstream products out there to be more competitive for this) but one where the car is enjoyed recreationally or a second vehicle.
The policy benefits are geared with all that in mind and bring many extra inclusive benefits, UK & EU breakdown cover, member to member cover, inclusive agreed valuation, salvage retention benefits, self repair options, tools and parts cover and inclusive legal expenses cover. Many of these benefits are not available/offered with other insurers or carry additional premium charges
You DO NOT lose you NCB - any NCB you bring to the policy is parked and can be carried forward at a later date, if you do not renew with them, this is common with all classic type policies as we also had with previous partners.
This product is not suitable for your needs - that is ok, but to call it misleading and make assumptions on motivations of the scheme creation or to suggest discrimination is not correct.
I have requested that the transcript of your call is examined by Peter James to understand why you have been told that the Club is somehow to blame for something. We worked for over 12 months with them to create a scheme for the widest possible member grouping and to work with the way the car is owned and used by members.
The scheme has only just passed the 6 month mark, there are already several hundred members signed up and it will continue to be monitored, assessed and will evolve as things go, but as with all new things, it was necessary to start somewhere.
I am currently inquiring with PDJI about insurance for my NC. They asked if it was a secondary vehicle, which I confirmed. They did not mention NCB and the offer document simply says NCB is “not applicable”.
My previous Flux classic car 6000 mile insurance does include NCB but increased by 40% this year. PDJI are about half of this so very competitive even without NCB.
It seems that PDJI should just need to be clearer. I would like to thank the club activists for negotiating this insurance. I particularly like the clarity on self repair, and salvage.
I have recently obtained quotes as I was considering changing my car.
During both calls, I was told quite clearly that there is no NCB required or earned.
The quotes I received were reasonable (in my opinion), and the fact it’s ‘insured value’ rather than ‘market value’, is significant. Try buying a vehicle to replace your own if it was written off with the sum offered by ‘normal’ insurance companies.
Obviously horses for courses, but don’t write them off out of hand.
As I understand it (not claiming expertise, only how it was explained to me) PJI will issue a letter/confirmation of the amount of NCD you took to them when you joined, this will feature a current date (date of leaving).
Best option for anyone with questions is to call them as insurance is a very individual product depending on circumstances, I’m sure they will be happy to clarify.
Over the years I have realised its best to actually phone an insurance broker for a quote- as opposed to requesting an on-line quotation……
Then you can ask all the questions you like, and sometimes the broker will be in a position to make a discretionary adjustment to the cost of a policy in order to keep you aboard……
Many initial quotes include ‘ brokers fees ‘ which sometimes they will waive, and may also include extras like ‘recovery’, which many of you will not require, say if you’re in RAC or AA or whatever.
PJI weren’t competitive for me this time, but to be fair I only received an “on-line” quote, as compared to actually phoning my existing broker and “negotiating”……
Thanks to everyone who took time to respond to this issue. I’d like to respond to some of the points made in this thread.
Your no claims will be parked, and can be used in future years.
This is only true to a certain extent. While this is possible, eventually your letter detailing your no-claims bonus will be considered “stale”. Unfortunately, this period of time is not measured with all providers. I’ve been in this position before and have LOST all my no-claims years which was a bitter blow as I had to restart with nothing after building up 15 years.
Assuming that Peter James, like other companies, will auto-renew your policy for you, you’d only need to overlook cancelling it and forget that your no-claims were in jeopardy (if you were even aware of that) and that’d be game over because they’d be considered “stale”. Like I said, I’ve been here before and know how annoying it is to lose 15years through lack of clear information.
For a Mk3/Mk4 owner, the mileage cap is likely to make the club insurance policy unusable.
Not true. I think the club might need to reconsider its definition of a “daily driver” in our “post-lockdown” world. There are now many companies who work either in a hybrid way (where you only attend the office for a few days a week). Or like me, are 100% remote and rarely work from anywhere but a home office. This has a massive impact on my annual mileage. In a week I’m lucky if I make more than one journey in my MX-5. And this year, if I reach 5000 miles between MOT dates it’ll be a miracle. On that basis, the mileage cap isn’t an issue.
Clear communication in our club magazine and emails
Ignoring all of the above, I know this policy was created with the best of intentions and to benefit our club members.
The primary reason I created this post was to request that the club communicate more CLEARLY in their adverts for the “club’s insurance package”.
Rather than consigning important points to the small print, or an accompanying article, shouldn’t we take care to ensure that all members make an informed choice?
I don’t know about you, but when I’m about to pick up the phone to get a quote, I’m more likely to cast my eye over the bullet points in the advert, rather than re-read the small print.
Respectfully, and on the topic of clear communication, a better title to this thread would be something like “Caution regarding Peter James insurance and retaining your no claims bonus discount entitlement.”
I also found out today that Peter James only offer market value claims on Mazda MX5’s less than ten years old. Initially on my initial quotes I was told I could put any reasonable vehicle value I believed to be true on my policy details but today was given the rather different new information.
Not very happy about that to be honest considering I will be doing some upgrades.
WARNING
