Gathering NCD evidence....why so many differences?

[jondude]

I tend to change insurer every renewal and reasonably often now (on my renewal as proof of NCD) they officially reduce my NCD to lower amounts as 'we do not go past 9 years' for example this time.

I ran quotes with 12 as this insurer took me on with 11 years proof from Saga...which was also 2 years down as 'we do not go past 11'....

I'm not sure if anything past 5 years affects premiums as it never used to BUT my fear is it is making me appear untruthful on the policy form and worse, if I buy the policy and they demand evidence of 12, I cannot get it.

What to do? Is there any simple way I can get evidence of actual NCD?

[Wooda80]

I guess only if you have any old renewal notices. And if you do, then you really should tidy up more often!

Does it make that much difference anyway?

Company A has a premium of £500 and will give you a 60% discount for 11 years NCD --> £200 payable
Company B has a premium of £400 and will give you a 50% discount for 5 years NCD --> £200 payable

The examples are hypothetical but the company which allows you the largest number of years NCD won't necessarily be the cheapest net premium.

[jondude]

Agree....I will call the company giving the best quote and make sure they will accept my writing twelve even if, as I suspect, it makes no difference to the discount. Think It is 65 per cent after 5 years and that's it.

Just annoying that I have to explain it all but we'll get there.

Thanks for response.

[BertBert]

NCD or B isn't a regulated thing, it's just a concept. It's what your current company 'gives' you. If the previous one gave you 10 and the current one gives you 8, then you have 8, not 10.

Will your next one give you 11? Convention say not as you have to use your expiring renewal to prove your case.

If you phone them up and explain you used to have 10, current one has a max of 8 and you've just had another claim free year, they might, purely up to them.

So you have to be careful what amount you put in as just adding up the claim free years does not equate to NCD necessarily.

If you want to be properly cautious, then put in what you currently have to get a quote, then contact them to ask.

Putting your own number in and getting your insurance cancelled as a result is not clever!

Bert

[jondude]

BertBert said:

NCD or B isn't a regulated thing, it's just a concept. It's what your current company 'gives' you. If the previous one gave you 10 and the current one gives you 8, then you have 8, not 10.

Will your next one give you 11? Convention say not as you have to use your expiring renewal to prove your case.

If you phone them up and explain you used to have 10, current one has a max of 8 and you've just had another claim free year, they might, purely up to them.

So you have to be careful what amount you put in as just adding up the claim free years does not equate to NCD necessarily.

If you want to be properly cautious, then put in what you currently have to get a quote, then contact them to ask.

Putting your own number in and getting your insurance cancelled as a result is not clever!

Bert

Indeed....I have run the quote 3 weeks before renewal so will get it in writing they accept things. My objection here is with them being all over the place and no agreed standard, it does mean some of us can be buying a policy in good and true faith but then be told by insurers we lied....leaving us open to a refused policy and all manners of worms.

Hopefully not though for as you say, the renewal gives their NCD level and if you know you entered differently, get in touch.

I just wish it could be more agreed and standard so this potential trap was avoided.

[BertBert]

Yes agreed, it's a bit of a mess and always has been in the 40 years I've been driving!

[jonwm]

Friend of mine insured his work van 2 years ago, not really driven before as had lifts into work etc, claimed he had worked for the same company for 8 years and had use of a company van, they gave him 8 years over the phone, next renewal came though with 9 on the renewal so moved to a new company and continues to build on his now 9 years.

Worth a try I guess.

[BertBert]

Yes it's entirely within the gift of the giver how much you get!

[TwigtheWonderkid]

jonwm said:

Friend of mine insured his work van 2 years ago, not really driven before as had lifts into work etc, claimed he had worked for the same company for 8 years and had use of a company van, they gave him 8 years over the phone, next renewal came though with 9 on the renewal so moved to a new company and continues to build on his now 9 years.

Worth a try I guess.

Yes, just commit insurance fraud because someone else did and got away with it. That's the way forward.

[jonwm]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

jonwm said:

Friend of mine insured his work van 2 years ago, not really driven before as had lifts into work etc, claimed he had worked for the same company for 8 years and had use of a company van, they gave him 8 years over the phone, next renewal came though with 9 on the renewal so moved to a new company and continues to build on his now 9 years.

Worth a try I guess.

Yes, just commit insurance fraud because someone else did and got away with it. That's the way forward.

I wasn't saying to do that, like everyone here I earnt mine through the years . Just stating what details be gave he did have use of a van he hardly drove it but they decided to honour it, now it's in black and white so he keeps it

[TR4man]

It puzzles me that with all the information sharing that goes on between insurers, why do consumers still have to prove their NCB. Surely the new insurer can see the information themselves?

[JagerT]

Interestingly Ive just changed to Esure and as usual they said they would require evidence of my no claims. My first thought being that in this day and age it should be possible to do this automatically. A couple of days later I got an Email from them containing this.

Good News! We have confirmed your proof of No Claim Discount with the Insurer database OR from documents sent by you.

I didn't send anything so they clearly checked.

[Rick101]

It's all a bit of a con. You have to play the game.

I see no good reason why insurers or brokers can't update their systems to show X years NCB regardless of only offering discount for 5.

If it really is such an issue for them, why not just show it as MAX discount or as a percentage.

The system they have created causes more problems than it solves.

[anonymous-user]

There is an NCD database but not every insurer system contributes so it's not 100% accurate.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

jonwm said:

TwigtheWonderkid said:

jonwm said:

Friend of mine insured his work van 2 years ago, not really driven before as had lifts into work etc, claimed he had worked for the same company for 8 years and had use of a company van, they gave him 8 years over the phone, next renewal came though with 9 on the renewal so moved to a new company and continues to build on his now 9 years.

Worth a try I guess.

Yes, just commit insurance fraud because someone else did and got away with it. That's the way forward.

I wasn't saying to do that, like everyone here I earnt mine through the years . Just stating what details be gave he did have use of a van he hardly drove it but they decided to honour it, now it's in black and white so he keeps it

Sorry. I thought when you said "worth a try I guess" you thought it was worth a try.

[Jarcy]

You also get insurers that'll grant you a full year's NCD for part year policies - typically when you join the family multicar fleet.
My 20 year old son ended up with 5 years NCD! Took some explaining when looking elsewhere for quotes though.

[moffat]

NCD is just a BS marketing tool... it's also used to try and detect liars. Apart from that your claims history is way more important about your riskiness as a driver.

[lbc]

TR4man said:

It puzzles me that with all the information sharing that goes on between insurers, why do consumers still have to prove their NCB. Surely the new insurer can see the information themselves?

When I changed to Admiral a few years ago they asked for proof, but chaged insurer this year and no proof was requested.

[Graveworm]

jondude said:

Indeed....I have run the quote 3 weeks before renewal so will get it in writing they accept things. My objection here is with them being all over the place and no agreed standard, it does mean some of us can be buying a policy in good and true faith but then be told by insurers we lied....leaving us open to a refused policy and all manners of worms.

Hopefully not though for as you say, the renewal gives their NCD level and if you know you entered differently, get in touch.

I just wish it could be more agreed and standard so this potential trap was avoided.

Most online quote systems ask for your NCD and define it as how long you have been insured claim free not an arbitrary number. I always enter the former, I have submitted NCD proof a couple of times for the lower amount eg 15 years for 20+ years and just explained in the covering letter without any issue. I have never been dishonest.
But it has been some time since I have had to prove NCD if I remember correctly.
Insuring this car was really amusing as it was way cheaper to cancel my existing policy and take out a new policy with the same insurer than change cars mid policy. The stroppy customer assistant said that by doing that I was losing out on the NCD for this year so he recommended I pay the extra couple of hundred pounds. Even kept it up when he agreed I couldn't actually accrue any new NCD on their system.