The accident certificate is provided when changing insurance companies to improve the premium on the car and can be obtained online, by calling the company’s telephone number or by e-mail. The companies are obliged to provide it within 15 days.
What is the accident certificate?
A certificate of claims reflects the history of a client in an insurance company, so it is very useful to provide it to the insurer to which we want to change to improve the premium, if the data collected are positive. We will see in which cases we may need it and how to get it from the company.
The SINCO file
The different insurance companies share information among themselves and have files where they reflect the claims of their clients. Therefore, most companies only need to enter your data to check your history.
This is the case, for example, with auto insurance. There is a file called “SINCO”, for vehicle policies, which is used when we quote our insurance in another company. It is not compulsory to be included in it, since companies such as Mutua Madrileña do not use it.
What happens if my company does not share the claims certificate? Then it will be essential to get it if you want to access a possible discount that the destination company may apply depending on your accident rate.
When to obtain the accident certificate?
There are two types of discounts applicable to auto insurance:
- the commercial (which is the one that can make you the company according to the campaign at each moment) and
- for good claims: which can reach 50-60% if the data obtained are favorable (making your policy much cheaper, of course) → in this case, if our insurer is not in SINCO, we will need the certificate to provide the history
Likewise, it can be useful in other types of policies, if you want to “scratch” more discount from a company. That is, if you prove that you have paid 1,000 euros in premiums in X years, and you have not had a single claim, you will be proving that you are a customer who deserves a discount. This applies to business insurance, for example, or even home insurance.
Is the company obliged to provide me with the certificate?
Indeed, companies must issue this certificate within 15 days at the latest. It will include the number of claims in recent years in which the policyholder has been at fault.
How to obtain the accident certificate?
To obtain the same, the companies usually have:
- A telephone number to call
- An e-mail address (e.g.: [email protected])
- A burofax is also a reliable way to request it.
- A private customer area where they can obtain their accident certificate online.
A piece of advice: if you are going to join a company that does not share its files with the other companies, it would be convenient to obtain a certificate before joining that company about your previous history. Later, this new insurer will only certify how many claims you have made while with it, having lost all previous information if you had not requested the certificate.
If you need us to help you in this type of management, to improve your insurance, count on PIB Group Iberia. Contact us and put yourself in good hands.
