The police report is the part everybody knows about. Nobody explains the fortnight after it, when a stranger with a clipboard decides what your bumper is worth and a number on next year’s renewal quietly moves. Alamak — and the choice that moves it is made in the first phone call, usually by someone who has never heard the phrase “Own Damage Knock-for-Knock”.
This guide covers the claim, not the crash. The scene, the police report and the betterment and CART deduction scales are in this site’s guide to what to do after a car accident in Malaysia. Everything below comes from Bank Negara Malaysia’s Policy Document on Claims Settlement Practices, PIAM’s own consumer material, the Financial Markets Ombudsman Service, and three sections of the Road Transport Act 1987. Where no official page prints a figure, none is printed here.
Quick Answer: with comprehensive cover and someone else at fault, the route that leaves your No Claim Discount alone is an Own Damage Knock-for-Knock claim through your own insurer, and Bank Negara requires your insurer to offer it rather than wait to be asked. Claiming on your own policy when you are at fault costs you the discount: back to 0% at the next renewal, and five claim-free years to climb back to 55%. If the claim is rejected, go to your insurer’s Complaints Unit first, then BNM LINK or the Financial Markets Ombudsman Service — which replaced the Ombudsman for Financial Services, takes losses up to RM250,000, and gives you 6 months from the final decision letter.
- The sentence that decides the money: “Not my fault, and there is no injury.” If both halves are true and you hold a comprehensive private car policy, PIAM’s own guide says the Knock-for-Knock route is open and the discount survives.
- The clock nobody set: the law gives you 24 hours for the police and, for telling your own insurer, the words “as soon as possible” and nothing more. There is no published day count for that one.
- The letter that starts the ombudsman clock: the insurer’s final decision, worth having in writing since the 6-month window runs from its date.
Table of Contents
Which routeWhat it costsAfter a noFour routes out of one dent, and who pays on each
PIAM and Bank Negara publish the same four routes under the same names, each gated by fault.
An Own Damage claim is the one you make when you are at fault. PIAM’s consumer guide words it without softening: you can claim against your own comprehensive policy, however you will lose your No Claim Discount entitlement. Bank Negara’s consumer FAQ says the same thing in the same breath.
An Own Damage Knock-for-Knock claim is the one you make when somebody else is at fault but you would rather deal with your own insurer. The repair is handled by your side, the discount is not touched, and the two insurers settle between themselves afterwards. PIAM and the Malaysian Takaful Association trace it to an industry agreement dated 18 March 1987 and revised in June 2001, signed by every insurer and takaful operator here.
A Third Party Property Damage claim goes directly against the at-fault driver’s insurer, and two published rules make it less hostile than it sounds: no excess may be applied in the settlement of a third-party motor claim, and the at-fault insurer may not demand documents you have no way of obtaining. A theft claim is the fourth, available under comprehensive or third party, fire and theft cover; PIAM notes it may exclude theft from your own negligence.
| Route | You claim from | Excess and repair-time money | What it does to the discount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own Damage — you are at fault | Your own insurer, on a comprehensive policy | You bear your policy excess | The discount goes back to 0% at the next renewal |
| Own Damage Knock-for-Knock — you are not at fault | Your own insurer | Your insurer settles the excess and repair-time compensation, then recovers them from the at-fault insurer within 7 working days | Untouched, and your insurer must tell you so before you choose |
| Third Party Property Damage — you are not at fault | The at-fault driver’s insurer | No excess may be applied to a third-party motor claim | Nothing to lose — repair-time money is payable only to a party not at fault, as determined by the police |
| Theft | Your own insurer, on comprehensive or third party, fire and theft | Investigated within 45 working days; offer made or claim repudiated within 60 working days | Theft caused by your own negligence may be excluded from cover |
The Knock-for-Knock conditions, in the three lengths they are published in
This is where the official pages stop agreeing with each other, and it matters, because the conditions decide whether the discount survives.
PIAM’s consumer guide lists four conditions. You hold a comprehensive private car insurance policy. No bodily injury occurs, regardless of who is at fault. The third-party vehicle is not a passenger-carrying vehicle for hire and reward — buses, taxis, limousines or rental cars are its examples. And the third-party vehicle is identifiable and insured by a Malaysian insurer.
Bank Negara’s consumer FAQ lists three. A comprehensive insurance policy, no third-party bodily claim, and no public or government-owned vehicle involved. That last category is not the same as PIAM’s “hire and reward” condition, and neither page mentions the other.
PIAM and MTA’s own consumer-education article lists three exceptions rather than three conditions: third-party bodily injury is involved regardless of fault; the vehicle driven is foreign-registered and the insurer is not located in Malaysia; or the vehicle is a commercial one such as a bus, taxi, limousine or hire-and-drive vehicle. It also adds the practical detail the other two leave out, which is that the excess you paid can be claimed back from the third party’s insurer.
PIAM’s motor page adds a qualifier the other two lists do not — the discount survives where the accident was due to the third party’s negligence and you were not at fault as confirmed by the police, and Bank Negara uses the same phrase about repair-time compensation. Whatever else is arguable, the police report is doing work here nothing else can do.
One thing is not ambiguous. Since 1 July 2024, paragraph 14.13 has required your insurer, once aware of an accident, to contact you, offer the Knock-for-Knock option, explain that your discount will not be affected, and advise you on the benefit of taking it. It is an obligation on them, not a favour to you.
What one claim costs you: the scale, and the climb back
PIAM defines the No Claim Discount as a reward for making no claim against your policy during the preceding 12 months, and prints the private-car scale as a table. It is the same table at every insurer here, by rule rather than coincidence: paragraph 8.9 of Bank Negara’s tariff liberalisation policy document requires the structure and rates to stay standardised among all licensed persons so motor policies remain portable, and any revision must be proposed by the industry associations and approved by the Bank.
| Claim-free years behind you | Discount on a private car | After an Own Damage claim |
|---|---|---|
| After the 1st year of insurance | 25% | Back to 0% at the next renewal |
| After the 2nd year | 30% | Back to 0% at the next renewal |
| After the 3rd year | 38.33% | Back to 0% at the next renewal |
| After the 4th year | 45% | Back to 0% at the next renewal |
| After 5 years or more | 55% | Back to 0% at the next renewal |
The cost of an Own Damage claim is not one year of discount. Somebody on 55% who claims this year resets to 0% at the next renewal, then needs five more claim-free years to climb back — assuming nothing else happens in between, which is the assumption that just broke.
One published way exists to buy that risk off in advance. PIAM lists a “current year NCD relief” add-on, only on a comprehensive private car policy, that compensates you for the discount forfeited on a claim, in an amount equal to the entitlement shown in your policy schedule for the current period of insurance. The windscreen add-on works the same way in miniature: it covers accidental damage to the windscreen, windows or a factory-standard sunroof without affecting your discount entitlement.
Where the discount is written down, and what that record leaves out
The discount travels with you rather than with the insurer. Footnote 55 of the policy document names the MyCarInfo website, administered by ISM Insurance Services Malaysia Berhad, as a database carrying a vehicle’s No Claim Discount, its last known insurer or takaful operator, its market value, and whether it has been reported stolen or an actual total loss. The public enquiry there asks only for the vehicle registration number and an identity number.
The caveat, printed on the enquiry page itself: where the discount has been withdrawn or cancelled by the insurer or takaful operator, it will not be reflected in the result. The database can therefore show a figure that is no longer yours — for the correct amount the page sends you back to your own insurer.
Paying for the repair yourself: the arithmetic, and where it stops
Half the inputs to this question are not published anywhere: premiums have been set by individual insurers since liberalisation, so there is no official ringgit figure to multiply a percentage against. What can be set out is the arithmetic.
The first number is already printed in ringgit on your own paperwork: the No Claim Discount is disclosed as its own line, deducted from the basic premium, on the renewal notice, the quotation slip or the policy schedule. It is the same figure the NCD relief add-on is defined against.
The second is the shape of the climb back shown in the scale above. The cost of a claim is the discount you give up across those years, not just one year’s worth — against it sits the excess you bear anyway on an Own Damage claim, the betterment charge if the car is five years or older, and the repair quote.
Three things narrow the question before it is even asked. If you were not at fault, this arithmetic does not apply at all, because the Knock-for-Knock route leaves the discount intact. If the damage is only glass and you hold the windscreen add-on, PIAM says the discount is not affected. And if you bought the NCD relief add-on, the forfeited amount is what it pays out. This guide stops here on purpose — the comparison depends on your quote and your schedule, and no official page publishes a threshold.
Three clocks on you, and a page of clocks on them
Only one of the deadlines on you is famous. Section 52(2) of the Road Transport Act 1987 requires the driver of each vehicle involved to report at the nearest police station as soon as reasonably practicable and in any case within 24 hours, producing the driving licence and, if asked, the certificate of insurance; PIAM adds that without the report the claim could be denied. Section 52(5) softens one edge: you are not convicted under that subsection for failing to produce the licence or certificate alone if, within 5 days, you bring it in person to the station you named when reporting.
The second clock is the one nobody can quote, because nobody set it. Section 104 of the same Act, headed “Insurer to be notified of any occurrence”, reads in full: it shall be the duty of the insured to notify the insurer as soon as possible of the occurrence of any event which may give rise to a claim under a policy. No number of days. Bank Negara adds none either — paragraph 14.3 refers to notifying promptly “as required under the policy/takaful certificate”. PIAM simply says contact your insurer immediately, through the roadside assistance app, the claims line, the portal, an agent or a branch.
The third clock is for the other side of the accident. Where the at-fault driver never reported it, Appendix I of the policy document says the third-party claimant’s claim should be filed within 14 working days from the date of the accident, though any delay is to be considered by the at-fault insurer on the merits of the case. That appendix also includes the workaround for the missing report: a statutory declaration by you, describing the accident and identifying the at-fault vehicle, stands in its place. One more deadline sits outside the claims system entirely — section 96(2)(a) provides that no sum is payable by an insurer under a court judgement unless the insurer had notice of the proceedings before or within 7 days after they were commenced.
Their side of the clock is a different matter. The policy document sets a maximum for almost every step, each with a paragraph number, and the numbers are the point — they turn “still processing” into a specific question.
| Step in a motor claim | Maximum | Paragraph |
|---|---|---|
| Register the claim and start processing | 3 working days from notification | 10.2 |
| Acknowledge it in writing | 3 working days from notification | 10.3 |
| Assign an adjuster or in-house assessor | 5 working days from complete documents | 10.11 |
| Complete the assessment | 10 working days from complete documents | 10.13 |
| Status update while an investigation runs | 21 working days from the first notification | 10.20 |
| Send the approval, offer or rejection letter | 5 working days from the final report | 10.22 |
| Pay in full after you accept the offer | 7 working days | 10.29 |
| Panel repairer completes an own damage repair | 15 working days from approval of the estimates | 9.6 |
| Re-inspect a repair reported as unsatisfactory | 5 working days from the report | 13.3 |
| At-fault insurer reimburses your insurer after a Knock-for-Knock | 7 working days | 14.15 |
| Your insurer replies on the approval amount | 7 working days, then the claim proceeds without it | 14.20 |
Under paragraph 10.16, where an insurer misses the deadlines for assigning an assessor or completing the assessment on an own damage claim, it must allow you to appoint your own registered adjuster at the insurer’s expense — a rare case in the document where a missed deadline hands you a remedy directly rather than a complaint.
The offer letter: what it must show you
Most arguments about a motor claim are arguments about one document. Paragraph 10.23 sets out what a motor approval or offer letter must contain.
It must carry itemised repair estimates, parts prices and labour charges included, based on the Motordata Research Consortium database or a similar credible one. It must show how betterment, repair-time compensation, the average clause and the deduction of salvage were applied — not that they were, but how. It must set out your options, such as a contract repair. And where the insurer’s final figure differs materially from the adjuster’s recommendation, it must give the basis and reasoning.
Two of those deductions have published scales in this site’s guide to the accident itself, and this guide does not reproduce them. What is worth adding here is the detail the betterment table hides. Appendix III sets three different starting dates for a vehicle’s age — a new vehicle from its date of registration, a local second-hand vehicle from its date of original registration, an imported second-hand vehicle from its date of manufacture — and on a recently imported car those can be years apart.
The repair-time floor has the same kind of small print. Appendix II’s scale — RM 50 a day up to 1500 cc, RM 65 above that up to 2000 cc, RM 85 above 2000 cc for private vehicles — applies only where the claimant cannot produce satisfactory documentary evidence, and the appendix says in terms that it is a starting point open to upward adjustment. The published scale is only a floor for when you have no receipts — keep the receipts for public transport, e-hailing or a rental. The number of days comes from the adjuster’s assessment of how long the repair needs, not from how long the car sat in the workshop.
One deduction can be removed before it ever appears. The average clause is what cuts a payout when a vehicle is insured for less than it is worth, and paragraph 12.3(c) says that where the consumer insures at the value the insurer recommended, the average clause must not be applied on a partial loss claim. That recommended value comes from a vehicle valuation database the insurer draws on when it proposes your sum insured.
Rejection: four published grounds, and two the regulator has ruled out
PIAM publishes four possible reasons a motor claim can be rejected, and Bank Negara’s consumer FAQ prints the same four: making a dishonest or exaggerated claim; failing to take reasonable precaution of the insured vehicle; driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs; and the loss falling under a policy exclusion.
Two grounds have been taken off the table entirely. Under paragraph 10.27, an insurer shall not repudiate a claim on the basis of a technical breach of a warranty or policy condition which is not material or relevant to the circumstances of the loss — unless the breach is clearly prejudicial to the insurer’s interest or the claim has passed the time bar under the relevant laws. And on third-party motor claims specifically, an insurer shall not repudiate on the ground that the driving licence or the road tax was invalid or had expired at the time of the accident, provided the person driving was not disqualified from holding such a licence under any written law. Expired road tax and a claim against the other driver’s insurer are two separate problems.
Third-party claims have two more protections, both in paragraph 14.5: the at-fault insurer may not require documents you are unable to obtain, and may not repudiate a property damage claim solely because its own policyholder never reported the accident. Where that policyholder has gone quiet, paragraphs 14.3 and 14.4 put the chasing on the insurer — it must write setting out their obligations under sections 52(2) and 104 of the Road Transport Act 1987 and the penalties for failing to report, and send at least two reminders 7 working days apart.
Paragraph 10.26 requires the insurer to advise the claimant in writing, stating the reasons — the letter the ombudsman’s 6-month clock is measured from.
When they say the car is finished
Two terms get used as if they meant the same thing, and the policy document defines them apart. An actual total loss is a vehicle whose damage has compromised the structural integrity of the main chassis to the extent that it cannot be restored to a safe state and can only be scrapped. Beyond economic repair is a vehicle which is repairable, but not financially feasible to repair. One is a physical judgement, the other arithmetic.
Both statuses go to JPJ through established systems no later than 5 working days — from the date the vehicle is assessed as an actual total loss, or from the date the beyond-economic-repair offer is accepted, and it shows up in a later vehicle check.
Three published rights attach to the second category. Where the wreck value is more than the settlement offered, the insurer must give you the choice of withdrawing the claim or accepting the offer. Where you reject the settlement and insist on repairing the car, paragraph 16.1 requires the insurer to allow a contract repair with your written consent, to advise you in writing of the safety implications, and to send the repaired vehicle to an inspection provider such as PUSPAKOM for certification of roadworthiness — which, with the repairs, must be done within 4 months of the repairer receiving it.
Three doors after a no, and only the first is compulsory
The first is compulsory: Bank Negara says directly that it will not accept complaints that have not been referred to the financial service provider’s Complaints Unit first. BNM LINK and the ombudsman are not a queue behind it — Bank Negara’s own account of a rejected motor claim names both as the next step for a dissatisfied consumer, not one before the other.
Door one is your insurer’s Complaints Unit, and Bank Negara adds a warning in capital letters of its own: the Business Unit or the Claims Unit is not the Complaints Unit. Get the response and the final decision from that unit, in writing — it starts the clock for both BNM LINK and the ombudsman.
One door is BNM LINK, which opens once 14 calendar days have passed without the matter being resolved, or once you have a decision you are not satisfied with. It takes complaints about the providers Bank Negara regulates, on 1-300-88-5465, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday to Friday excluding public holidays, with an online form and a mailing address at BNMLINK, Bank Negara Malaysia, 50929 Kuala Lumpur; visits are by appointment only. Its limits are stated openly: not cases already with the ombudsman, the courts or a tribunal; not time-barred cases under the Limitation Act 1953 or the Sabah and Sarawak Limitation Ordinances; not an insurer’s commercial decisions; and no interpretation of policy wording or legal opinions.
The other door is the Financial Markets Ombudsman Service, reachable without first going through BNM LINK. There is no longer an Ombudsman for Financial Services as a separate scheme: FMOS describes itself as consolidating the former OFS and SIDREC into a single entity with enhanced monetary limits, the old ofs.org.my address now resolves to fmos.org.my, and Bank Negara’s own feedback statement carries the footnote “Previously known as Ombudsman for Financial Services”. One official document has not caught up: paragraph 10.28 still requires an insurer’s final decision letter to display the sentence telling you to refer your dispute to the Ombudsman for Financial Services within 6 months. If your letter says OFS, that is the paragraph it is quoting, and the address it names now serves FMOS.
| The ombudsman gate | What is published |
|---|---|
| How much it will take | Direct financial losses not exceeding RM250,000, with motor and third-party property damage named in the product list |
| How long you have | Within 6 months of receiving the member’s final decision, or where the member fails to respond within 60 days of the dispute first being submitted |
| Who counts as a consumer | Includes a third party under a motor third-party property damage contract |
| What it will not take | Third-party bodily injury or death, anything above the limit, anything already in court or arbitration, and time-barred cases |
| What the process looks like | Registered within 14 days of complete documents; case management towards a settlement within 3 months; a written Recommendation within 30 days if none is reached; either party may refer to the Ombudsman within 30 days; a Decision within 14 days |
| How long it takes | 3 to 6 months from complete documents, extendable with complexity |
| What the Decision is worth | Binding on both sides if you accept it; if you reject it there is no appeal and the process ends |
| What it costs | Free |
| Where to reach it | General line +603 2272 2811, 8.30 am to 5.30 pm Mondays to Fridays |
Two lines in that table are the ones people trip over. Third-party injury cases are out — not delayed, out. And the 6 months runs from the final decision letter, which is the second reason to insist on having one.
Walaoeh Verdict
Decide the route before you decide anything else, because the route decides the discount. Not at fault, nobody hurt, the other car identifiable and insured here: that is the Knock-for-Knock shape, and since 1 July 2024 your insurer is required to offer it and to tell you the discount is safe. At fault: the claim costs you the whole discount, back to 0% and five claim-free years to climb back, so the comparison against paying the repair yourself is worth doing with the ringgit figure printed on your own renewal notice rather than a percentage in your head.
Then do three things. Ask for the offer letter with its itemisation, because paragraph 10.23 says it must carry the parts prices, the labour, and how betterment, repair-time compensation, the average clause and salvage were each applied. Keep your transport receipts, because the published daily scale is a floor for people who have none. And if the answer is no, get the rejection in writing and treat that letter as the starting gun: your insurer’s Complaints Unit first, then BNM LINK or the ombudsman — the ombudsman inside 6 months. If anyone was injured, this stops being a paperwork exercise, and it sits outside the ombudsman’s scope by design.
Frequently Asked Questions
If the accident was not my fault, will I still lose my NCD?
Not on the Knock-for-Knock route. PIAM’s consumer guide says an Own Damage Knock for Knock claim can be made to your own insurer without the No Claim Discount being affected, provided you hold a comprehensive private car policy, no bodily injury occurred regardless of fault, the third-party vehicle is not a passenger-carrying vehicle for hire and reward, and that vehicle is identifiable and insured by a Malaysian insurer. Bank Negara’s consumer FAQ gives a shorter version: a comprehensive policy, no third-party bodily claim, no public or government-owned vehicle. PIAM’s motor page adds that the discount survives where the accident was due to the third party’s negligence and you were not at fault as confirmed by the police. Since 1 July 2024, paragraph 14.13 has required your insurer to offer you this option and to explain that the discount will not be affected.
How many days do I have to tell my insurance company?
No official page publishes a number. Section 104 of the Road Transport Act 1987 states only that it shall be the duty of the insured to notify the insurer as soon as possible of the occurrence of any event which may give rise to a claim under a policy. Bank Negara adds no figure either: paragraph 14.3 refers to notifying promptly as required under the policy or takaful certificate, which means the deadline is whatever your own contract says. The 24-hour deadline everybody remembers is a different one – section 52(2) of the same Act, and it is about the police station, not the insurer. PIAM’s instruction is to contact the insurer immediately.
The other driver never reported the accident. Can I still claim against their insurer?
Yes, and the policy document anticipates exactly this. Paragraph 14.5 says the at-fault party’s insurer shall not repudiate a third-party property damage claim solely because its own policyholder never reported the accident, and shall not require documents you are unable to obtain – the at-fault driver’s own police report being the example given. Appendix I sets out the procedure: file within 14 working days of the accident, with any delay considered on the merits, and where the at-fault driver’s police report is unavailable a statutory declaration by you, describing the accident and identifying their vehicle, stands in its place. The insurer must separately chase its own policyholder with at least two written reminders 7 working days apart.
Where can I check my NCD, and is that figure reliable?
Bank Negara’s own policy document, at footnote 55, names the MyCarInfo website administered by ISM as a database carrying a vehicle’s No Claim Discount, its last known insurer, its market value and whether it has been reported stolen or an actual total loss. The public enquiry asks for the vehicle registration number and an identity number. The caveat is printed on the same page: where the discount has been withdrawn or cancelled by the insurer, it will not be reflected in the result, and the correct amount must come from the insurer. The scale itself is identical everywhere, because paragraph 8.9 requires the structure and rates to stay standardised across all licensed insurers so policies remain portable.
My claim was rejected. Do I go to Bank Negara or to the ombudsman?
Your insurer’s own Complaints Unit comes first, and after that BNM LINK and the ombudsman are two separate doors, not one before the other. Bank Negara will not accept complaints that have not been referred to the provider’s Complaints Unit first, and warns that the Business Unit or Claims Unit is not the Complaints Unit. BNM LINK opens once 14 calendar days have passed without resolution, or once you have a decision you are dissatisfied with, on 1-300-88-5465 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on weekdays. The ombudsman is now the Financial Markets Ombudsman Service, which consolidated the former Ombudsman for Financial Services and SIDREC; it is free, takes direct financial losses not exceeding RM250,000 including motor and third-party property damage, and you must file within 6 months of the member’s final decision or where the member failed to respond within 60 days. Claims arising from third-party bodily injury or death are outside its scope.
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these, all checked on 22 September 2026.
- Bank Negara Malaysia — Policy Document on Claims Settlement Practices (BNM/RH/PD 029-69), issued 1 July 2024, in force 2 January 2025 except for the paragraphs brought forward in its paragraph 4.1, together with its announcement page and the FAQ dated 2 January 2025.
- Bank Negara Malaysia — Motor Insurance and Takaful FAQs, and the feedback statement whose footnote records that FMOS was previously the Ombudsman for Financial Services.
- Bank Negara Malaysia — Policy Document on Phased Liberalisation of Motor and Fire Tariffs (BNM/RH/PD 029-8, issued 30 June 2016) for the standardised NCD rule, and the FAQ on liberalisation dated 21 April 2017.
- Bank Negara Malaysia — how to lodge a complaint, the guided questions carrying the 14 calendar days, and BNM LINK’s contact page.
- PIAM — the Motor Insurance consumer guide, from its consumer guides index, and its motor insurance page. The guide carries no printed date; the file was created 26 May 2026.
- PIAM and the Malaysian Takaful Association, ‘Jom, Level Up’ — the guide to Own Damage Knock-for-Knock and the driver’s handbook, both linked from PIAM’s motor page.
- Financial Markets Ombudsman Service — Our Scope, Who Can File A Dispute, How to File a Dispute and the dispute resolution process.
- Laws of Malaysia, Act 333 — Road Transport Act 1987, hosted by the Ministry of Transport. Sections 52, 96 and 104.
- ISM Insurance Services Malaysia Berhad — the public NCD online enquiry, cited because footnote 55 of Bank Negara’s policy document names it.
About this guide. Written by an independent Malaysian and re-checked against official sources on a schedule. It is general information, not legal, tax, financial or medical advice — rules, fees and thresholds in Malaysia change, sometimes without notice. Where a decision affects your money or your rights, confirm with the official agency or a licensed professional before acting.