Any formal determination should be obtained from your insurer directly. This is a question to be asked of your insurer – what is their approach to the incident?
Should you remain with the insurer post theft, this may be less of an issue as they will be aware of the event.
That said, we hope the following points assist in providing some general context:
You reported the vehicle as stolen and, understandably, submitted a claim as a result. While the vehicle has fortunately now been recovered, a claim was still made and, as such, this remains a matter of record. In many cases, costs may still be incurred by the insurer (e.g. recovery, storage, or investigation expenses), even if no settlement was ultimately paid to you.
In general insurance practice, the fact that a claim was made – regardless of the outcome – is usually still recorded as a claim. The extent to which this affects your NCD, or whether it is “stepped back” or preserved, depends entirely on your insurer’s own terms and conditions.
Furthermore, when insurers assess future risks, they seldom restict their questioning, to claim history, they often ask whether a policyholder has:
- Made a claim, and/or
- Suffered a loss, such as a theft, even if no claim was made.
In your case, the answer to both would be “yes”, and this may be considered relevant for future underwriting – depending on the time elapsed and the insurer’s policy (commonly based on events within the past five years).
We recommend that you:
- Contact your insurer directly to request an official statement regarding your current No Claims Discount status;
- Seek clarification on whether this incident will impact your record, and if so, how.
Should you need independent guidance, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) offer general information on claims and NCD handling:
ABI – Understanding Your No Claims Discount. This page explains how NCD works, how it can be affected by claims, and the differences between insurers
FOS – Fault Claims & NCB
Lastly, depending on how the vehicle was accessed or taken, you may wish to consider updating or recoding the vehicle’s locks or keys — particularly if any keys remain unaccounted for — to ensure ongoing security