We put together a jargon buster, you'll find everything you need to know to bust that jargon.
What would you like to know?
Understanding the jargon
From personal experience, it does take time to understand
all the car insurance jargon used so we're not surprised our customer's
get confused!
We thought we should try and shed some light on the
most popularly used words and phrases when buying car insurance. If we've
left anything out, you're welcome to give one of our friendly staff a
call on 0800 362436 and they will be happy to answer any questions you
have.
Audio/Visual Cover
Our audio/visual cover includes stereos, car phones
and any other permanent audio/visual equipment, which is covered up to £750.
Bonus Accelerator Policy
Diamond's Bonus Accelerator gives you a year's No Claims
Bonus in just 10 months. So you earn your No Claims Bonus faster and
start paying less sooner. At the end of the 10 months we'll give you
a renewal based on another full year's No Claims Bonus.
If you want to leave Diamond after the 10 months (although
we hope you'll want to stay with us) then don't worry because we'll give
you proof of the year's No Claims Bonus you have earned with us.
Compulsory Excess
If you make a claim you must pay an excess, regardless
of who is to blame (although you will get this back if the claim is deemed non-fault ) If you have comprehensive cover and make a claim, you
calculate the total excess by adding together the relevant compulsory
and voluntary excesses.
A compulsory excess automatically applies to your policy.
This depends on the car that is covered, the age and experience of the
drivers on your policy.
Courtesy / Replacement Car
If you make a claim on your policy and the repair work
is authorised by us to a Diamond approved repairer, you will receive
a courtesy car whilst your vehicle is being repaired. The
replacement car will be insured by Diamond under your policy of insurance,
on the same terms and conditions as your own car.
Diamond's Best Friends Garage Network
Diamond's Best Friends Garage Network is a centrally controlled network of garages that
have to meet very exacting standards. They handle all aspects of service
and repair, including client liaison, taking service, repair and MOT
bookings, providing quotations, ordering parts, customer care issues,
progress chasing and taking payment. You might never have to deal with
a garage again. This additional product is available on our Diamond policy,
ring 0800 362436 to find out more.
European Cover
By law, you need a minimum level of cover to use your
car in any of the countries which are members of the European Union.
We provide this free of charge for up to 90 days and we even offer the
option of extending this to a full cover and provide you with a Green
Card (International Motor Insurance Certificate).
Fault Claim
This is a claim made on your insurance whereby the
insurance provider does not receive back 100% of the costs of the claim
from another party. Even if you accept 20% blame/fault in an accident
or theft, this is deemed as a fault claim.
Financial Services Authority / FSA
The FSA are an independent body that regulates the
financial services industry in the UK. They have been given a wide range
of rule-making, investigatory and enforcement powers in order to help
retail consumers achieve a fair deal.
Guaranteed No Claims Bonus
You are only able to have your no claims bonus guaranteed
if you
have 5 or more years no claims bonus. This means that you can make unlimited
fault claims without losing any of your no claims bonus years.
Handbag Cover
Free for all our comprehensive policy holders, we cover
your bag and it's contents up to the value of £300 in any one incident
for loss of, or damage to it, caused by accident, fire, theft or attempted
theft, whilst it is in your car.
Hire Car
Our hire car product is extra cover you can take out
whereby we'll keep you on the road in the event of an accident (where
your vehicle cannot be repaired), recovered theft (which renders the
vehicle a total loss) or if your vehicle is stolen and not recovered.
We guarantee a hire car for 21 days (Comprehensive policy) or 14 days
(Third Party Fire and Theft policy).
Legal Expenses Cover / Motor Legal Protection
If you're injured in an accident that's not your fault
and you've got legal expenses cover/motor legal protection, we'll pay
any reasonable legal costs to claim for compensation from the person
responsible. We can also help you claim back medical expenses, the excess
paid and any other costs incurred up to the value of £100,000.
Medical Expenses Cover
We will pay medical expenses of up to £100 for
each person injured if your car is involved in an accident
Named Drivers
This refers to any driver named on the car insurance
policy who
isn't the main driver of the car.
No Claims Bonus / No Claims Discount
No claims bonus or no claims discount are measured
in years and are built up depending on the number of full insurance years
that you have not had a claim. For example, if you haven't made a claim
on your car insurance for 4 years then this would mean you have 4 years
no claim bonus. If a claim is made on your car insurance then this will
affect your no claims discount by 2 years. So somebody with 5 years no
claims bonus will have it reduced to 3 years at renewal. Building up
your no claims years will give you a bigger discount on your future insurance
premiums.
Non-fault Claim
A non-fault claim is when your insurance providers
receive back 100% of the costs of your claim from another party involved.
Protected No Claims Bonus
You are only able to have your no claims bonus protected
if you have 4 or more years no claims bonus. This means that you can
make up to two fault claims in 3 years without losing any of your no
claims bonus years.
Personal Accident Cover
This cover provides you and your family with personal
accident compensation in the event of serious injury following a car
crash. It covers named drivers and passengers when travelling in or entering/exiting
an insured vehicle. We include up to £5000 of personal accident
cover as standard on our policies.
You can extend this cover by talking to one of our team on 0800 362436.
Voluntary Excess
A voluntary excess is the excess you agree at the start
of the policy and forms part of the total excess (as we described above).
Increasing the amount of voluntary excess does reduce your premium. If
you make a claim for windscreen damage and have windscreen cover (this
is automatically included with comprehensive cover) there is a separate
windscreen damage excess.
Windscreen Cover
Diamond will pay to repair or replace broken glass
in your car's windscreen or windows and any scratching to the bodywork
caused by broken glass, as long as there is no other loss or damage,
for comprehensive Diamond policyholders.
