NCB used on more than one car
Discussion
I can't quite believe that at 50 I still never really got my head around this aspect of car insurance.
Right now I have 2 cars and both are insured by me, for me, with full NCB.
However, I think, in practice I am only supposed to be able to use my NCB on one car, which makes zero sense to me.
This never came up in the last 30 years but I am looking to buy another car, so 3 in total, and the latest company says I can't use my NCB. I can't see why not, the other insurers all came through moneysuerpmarket and so share the data and I never had an issue.
So, am I doing something I should not with the other two cars and how the fk do I avoid a big premium on my third car for 'in theory' not having any NCB? Try another insurer?
Right now I have 2 cars and both are insured by me, for me, with full NCB.
However, I think, in practice I am only supposed to be able to use my NCB on one car, which makes zero sense to me.
This never came up in the last 30 years but I am looking to buy another car, so 3 in total, and the latest company says I can't use my NCB. I can't see why not, the other insurers all came through moneysuerpmarket and so share the data and I never had an issue.
So, am I doing something I should not with the other two cars and how the fk do I avoid a big premium on my third car for 'in theory' not having any NCB? Try another insurer?
It has always been the norm that NCD can only be used on one policy at a time. You should not assume that just because no insurer has picked you up on it before that they are OK with it. They don't actually share as much data as you think, certainly not pre-inception, and may not check until you actually make a claim. (Unless you've built both NCD's up separately from zero, in which case you've done nothing wrong.. so far(
As to why you can't use it on two cars at once, well the important thing to understand is that NCD is a marketing gimmick - nothing more, nothing less.
In days of yore it was a form of loyalty bonus. A way of enticing your customers, particularly the good ones who didn't make claims, to renew, and the idea was that you would only get it if you stayed with the same insurer year after year.
That didn't last long though. Soon enough insurers realised that if they wanted to attract new customers they would have to offer to match the no claims discounts that their rivals were offering their customers. So it became de facto transferable. A bit like how Tesco might offer to accept Sainsbury's money-off vouchers - not because they're under any moral or legal obligation to accept them, but just because they think it's a good way of poaching Sainsbury's customers.
However if you aren't renewing a policy (for example because you're insuring a second car for the first time, or because you've been driving a company car for a few years) you won't have a current insurer who is offering you a no claims discount on your renewal - so there's no incentive for a new insurer to offer you a no chains discount either.
So in short, asking why you can't use your NCD on two policies at a time is a bit like getting one of those "£10 off your next shop" vouchers from Tesco, then asking why you can't use it twice at two different supermarkets. Because... well, of course you can't.
That's the theory at any rate. In practice of course NCD had been rather uncomfortably forced into the general risk-based pricing structure that insurers use, so if you look around hard enough you might find an insurer willing to mirror your NCD on a second car. Or you might find that when you tick the boxes to say that your own another car and haven't had any claims for 5 years the insurer just gives you a quote equivalent to what you'd expect with a reasonable amount of NCD anyway. Truth is NCD has become a bit of a phantom - something like 80+% of people have full NCD, depending on just how "full" is defined, so in reality the price with NCD is just the standard price - like those "70% OFF" jackets at Mountain Warehouse which are never, ever sold at "full price". You may well find out that not having any makes a lot less difference to your premium than you think.
As to why you can't use it on two cars at once, well the important thing to understand is that NCD is a marketing gimmick - nothing more, nothing less.
In days of yore it was a form of loyalty bonus. A way of enticing your customers, particularly the good ones who didn't make claims, to renew, and the idea was that you would only get it if you stayed with the same insurer year after year.
That didn't last long though. Soon enough insurers realised that if they wanted to attract new customers they would have to offer to match the no claims discounts that their rivals were offering their customers. So it became de facto transferable. A bit like how Tesco might offer to accept Sainsbury's money-off vouchers - not because they're under any moral or legal obligation to accept them, but just because they think it's a good way of poaching Sainsbury's customers.
However if you aren't renewing a policy (for example because you're insuring a second car for the first time, or because you've been driving a company car for a few years) you won't have a current insurer who is offering you a no claims discount on your renewal - so there's no incentive for a new insurer to offer you a no chains discount either.
So in short, asking why you can't use your NCD on two policies at a time is a bit like getting one of those "£10 off your next shop" vouchers from Tesco, then asking why you can't use it twice at two different supermarkets. Because... well, of course you can't.
That's the theory at any rate. In practice of course NCD had been rather uncomfortably forced into the general risk-based pricing structure that insurers use, so if you look around hard enough you might find an insurer willing to mirror your NCD on a second car. Or you might find that when you tick the boxes to say that your own another car and haven't had any claims for 5 years the insurer just gives you a quote equivalent to what you'd expect with a reasonable amount of NCD anyway. Truth is NCD has become a bit of a phantom - something like 80+% of people have full NCD, depending on just how "full" is defined, so in reality the price with NCD is just the standard price - like those "70% OFF" jackets at Mountain Warehouse which are never, ever sold at "full price". You may well find out that not having any makes a lot less difference to your premium than you think.
BertBert said:
There's was a poster on the subject a few days ago who said just lie about it. Say you have it to transfer!
But you have to share the proof and if you have an accident and they investigate then they could deny cover and you could have a big problem.I'm absolutely not an expert but they have some kind of database to share information so they can cover themselves.
These days as mentioned, many do mirror. Sky (or whatever they're called these days) do the mirroring.
I agree though it's b
ks! The insurance man always wins. 
I have lots of cars each insured separately that have built up their own NCD.
Up until around 5 years ago, every time I bought a new policy I was asked to provide proof, by getting a letter from the previous insurer (sometimes their renewal letter, stating NCD was acceptable), then sending/emailing/uploading it to the new insurer.
I haven’t been asked to do this in recent years. I assume that there’s a central database now and a new insurer can simply look up the registration and see the NCD from the old insurer.
Up until around 5 years ago, every time I bought a new policy I was asked to provide proof, by getting a letter from the previous insurer (sometimes their renewal letter, stating NCD was acceptable), then sending/emailing/uploading it to the new insurer.
I haven’t been asked to do this in recent years. I assume that there’s a central database now and a new insurer can simply look up the registration and see the NCD from the old insurer.
PhilboSE said:
I have lots of cars each insured separately that have built up their own NCD.
Up until around 5 years ago, every time I bought a new policy I was asked to provide proof, by getting a letter from the previous insurer (sometimes their renewal letter, stating NCD was acceptable), then sending/emailing/uploading it to the new insurer.
I haven’t been asked to do this in recent years. I assume that there’s a central database now and a new insurer can simply look up the registration and see the NCD from the old insurer.
There is a database but not all insurers subscribe to it so it has not fully replaced manual checking of renewal letters.Up until around 5 years ago, every time I bought a new policy I was asked to provide proof, by getting a letter from the previous insurer (sometimes their renewal letter, stating NCD was acceptable), then sending/emailing/uploading it to the new insurer.
I haven’t been asked to do this in recent years. I assume that there’s a central database now and a new insurer can simply look up the registration and see the NCD from the old insurer.
Checking NCD history takes time and resource so different insurers prioritise it differently. Some check at the point of purchase, some only check at the point of claim, some check at the point if purchase of they consider you to be high risk but not if they consider you to be lower risk, some might check a random proportion of customers at point of purchase.
Personally I've only had to send proof of NCD a couple of times in my 30 years of driving, but then I've never claimed for anything more than a cracked bumper, and I've generally owned a single fairly unexciting car. If you've been finding that you haven't had to send in proof as often as you once did it might because you're fitting into a lower risk demographic - more middle aged, more middle class postcode or occupation perhaps?
Aretnap said:
Personally I've only had to send proof of NCD a couple of times in my 30 years of driving, but then I've never claimed for anything more than a cracked bumper, and I've generally owned a single fairly unexciting car. If you've been finding that you haven't had to send in proof as often as you once did it might because you're fitting into a lower risk demographic - more middle aged, more middle class postcode or occupation perhaps?
Just one claim in 30 years of driving, and that was a no-fault when someone rear-ended the wife (oooer).I’ve been middle aged and middle class and same occupation for quite a while! I’m quite a tart on insurance and use any old company, so the drop off in proving NCD I can only assume relates to more companies sharing data. Suits me, saves a bit of faff.
BertBert said:
Interesting, if the insurance company doesn't check at time of purchase but wants to check if you have an accident, as that could be a year later that's pretty unreasonable.
And, as we all know very well the insurance companies will take any chance handed to them to miss out on a claim, so they deliberately trust you until they need to do their job & then they check if they can get out of it.The general idea is to not be the one giving them that chance.
No claims discount is just a marketing tool and varies from company to company. If the OP uses a comparison site to get quotes for the new car with and without his "full" no claims discount I bet the difference won't match the discount he thinks he is getting!
I have 3 cars and returned from overseas so had no discount. Was't a problem or particularly expensive. I did have two cars on a multi vehicle policy, when I changed insurer they sent me a letter with both cars having accumulated discount for the period I had with them......
The cheapest car to insure is a classic on a policy which doesn't attract discount
Are you happier paying £500 to Company A with no discount or £600 to Company B which includes a 80% discount?
I have 3 cars and returned from overseas so had no discount. Was't a problem or particularly expensive. I did have two cars on a multi vehicle policy, when I changed insurer they sent me a letter with both cars having accumulated discount for the period I had with them......
The cheapest car to insure is a classic on a policy which doesn't attract discount
Are you happier paying £500 to Company A with no discount or £600 to Company B which includes a 80% discount?
BertBert said:
Interesting, if the insurance company doesn't check at time of purchase but wants to check if you have an accident, as that could be a year later that's pretty unreasonable.
Fair point. If agree that it's not going to be reasonable to expect a customer to have their renewal letter to hand many months after the policy started, though checking could also take the form of checking the database or asking permission to contact your previous insurer etc.Most of the big data providers have very mature and developed databases now. Hence the need to no longer to supply NCB proof when taking a new policy out.
At point of claim, most of the big insurers get a slug of data to check the car isn't (or hasn't) been insured elsewhere, mileage changes, MOT history, previous accidents, classified ads, valuation quotes from some of the car buying websites, salvage auctions sales, and in some cases service history!
And then the policy holder gets checked for other policies, claims, etc. The the bigger change is the wider network of associations - who lives at your address / previous addresses, have they got markers for fraud etc.
It's all very impressive - and not all insurers pay all the money at point of sale / point of claim / point of settlement, they will have something. Then CUE database is on top of this, as well as their own data.
Then you have 3rd party tools that assist with fraud using voice analytics etc.
At point of claim, most of the big insurers get a slug of data to check the car isn't (or hasn't) been insured elsewhere, mileage changes, MOT history, previous accidents, classified ads, valuation quotes from some of the car buying websites, salvage auctions sales, and in some cases service history!
And then the policy holder gets checked for other policies, claims, etc. The the bigger change is the wider network of associations - who lives at your address / previous addresses, have they got markers for fraud etc.
It's all very impressive - and not all insurers pay all the money at point of sale / point of claim / point of settlement, they will have something. Then CUE database is on top of this, as well as their own data.
Then you have 3rd party tools that assist with fraud using voice analytics etc.
I noticed on Moneysupermarket recently, the same issue. Every company uses their template once you click through and that template asks if you built your NCB on the current car or are swapping it to a new one. It seems they are stopping people from using their NCB on more than one car now.
Aretnap said:
It has always been the norm that NCD can only be used on one policy at a time. You should not assume that just because no insurer has picked you up on it before that they are OK with it. They don't actually share as much data as you think, certainly not pre-inception, and may not check until you actually make a claim. (Unless you've built both NCD's up separately from zero, in which case you've done nothing wrong.. so far(
As to why you can't use it on two cars at once, well the important thing to understand is that NCD is a marketing gimmick - nothing more, nothing less.
In days of yore it was a form of loyalty bonus. A way of enticing your customers, particularly the good ones who didn't make claims, to renew, and the idea was that you would only get it if you stayed with the same insurer year after year.
That didn't last long though. Soon enough insurers realised that if they wanted to attract new customers they would have to offer to match the no claims discounts that their rivals were offering their customers. So it became de facto transferable. A bit like how Tesco might offer to accept Sainsbury's money-off vouchers - not because they're under any moral or legal obligation to accept them, but just because they think it's a good way of poaching Sainsbury's customers.
However if you aren't renewing a policy (for example because you're insuring a second car for the first time, or because you've been driving a company car for a few years) you won't have a current insurer who is offering you a no claims discount on your renewal - so there's no incentive for a new insurer to offer you a no chains discount either.
So in short, asking why you can't use your NCD on two policies at a time is a bit like getting one of those "£10 off your next shop" vouchers from Tesco, then asking why you can't use it twice at two different supermarkets. Because... well, of course you can't.
That's the theory at any rate. In practice of course NCD had been rather uncomfortably forced into the general risk-based pricing structure that insurers use, so if you look around hard enough you might find an insurer willing to mirror your NCD on a second car. Or you might find that when you tick the boxes to say that your own another car and haven't had any claims for 5 years the insurer just gives you a quote equivalent to what you'd expect with a reasonable amount of NCD anyway. Truth is NCD has become a bit of a phantom - something like 80+% of people have full NCD, depending on just how "full" is defined, so in reality the price with NCD is just the standard price - like those "70% OFF" jackets at Mountain Warehouse which are never, ever sold at "full price". You may well find out that not having any makes a lot less difference to your premium than you think.
That's interesting, great reply. Assume this still applies even on a multicar policy, i.e. you still only get one of the cars with your NCB?As to why you can't use it on two cars at once, well the important thing to understand is that NCD is a marketing gimmick - nothing more, nothing less.
In days of yore it was a form of loyalty bonus. A way of enticing your customers, particularly the good ones who didn't make claims, to renew, and the idea was that you would only get it if you stayed with the same insurer year after year.
That didn't last long though. Soon enough insurers realised that if they wanted to attract new customers they would have to offer to match the no claims discounts that their rivals were offering their customers. So it became de facto transferable. A bit like how Tesco might offer to accept Sainsbury's money-off vouchers - not because they're under any moral or legal obligation to accept them, but just because they think it's a good way of poaching Sainsbury's customers.
However if you aren't renewing a policy (for example because you're insuring a second car for the first time, or because you've been driving a company car for a few years) you won't have a current insurer who is offering you a no claims discount on your renewal - so there's no incentive for a new insurer to offer you a no chains discount either.
So in short, asking why you can't use your NCD on two policies at a time is a bit like getting one of those "£10 off your next shop" vouchers from Tesco, then asking why you can't use it twice at two different supermarkets. Because... well, of course you can't.
That's the theory at any rate. In practice of course NCD had been rather uncomfortably forced into the general risk-based pricing structure that insurers use, so if you look around hard enough you might find an insurer willing to mirror your NCD on a second car. Or you might find that when you tick the boxes to say that your own another car and haven't had any claims for 5 years the insurer just gives you a quote equivalent to what you'd expect with a reasonable amount of NCD anyway. Truth is NCD has become a bit of a phantom - something like 80+% of people have full NCD, depending on just how "full" is defined, so in reality the price with NCD is just the standard price - like those "70% OFF" jackets at Mountain Warehouse which are never, ever sold at "full price". You may well find out that not having any makes a lot less difference to your premium than you think.
Bob T said:
No claims discount is just a marketing tool and varies from company to company. If the OP uses a comparison site to get quotes for the new car with and without his "full" no claims discount I bet the difference won't match the discount he thinks he is getting!
I have 3 cars and returned from overseas so had no discount. Was't a problem or particularly expensive. I did have two cars on a multi vehicle policy, when I changed insurer they sent me a letter with both cars having accumulated discount for the period I had with them......
The cheapest car to insure is a classic on a policy which doesn't attract discount
Are you happier paying £500 to Company A with no discount or £600 to Company B which includes a 80% discount?
Yes - I was a bit worried about this when I retired last year having been a long-term company car driver. None of the potential insurers accept fleet managers letters as proof of No Claims. In the end the best quote with no NCD seemed quite reasonable, but I wasn’t happy with the renewal this year that didn’t seem much cheaper than year one. I took my one year NCD somewhere else for an even better deal…I have 3 cars and returned from overseas so had no discount. Was't a problem or particularly expensive. I did have two cars on a multi vehicle policy, when I changed insurer they sent me a letter with both cars having accumulated discount for the period I had with them......
The cheapest car to insure is a classic on a policy which doesn't attract discount
Are you happier paying £500 to Company A with no discount or £600 to Company B which includes a 80% discount?
Aretnap said:
It has always been the norm that NCD can only be used on one policy at a time. You should not assume that just because no insurer has picked you up on it before that they are OK with it. They don't actually share as much data as you think, certainly not pre-inception, and may not check until you actually make a claim. (Unless you've built both NCD's up separately from zero, in which case you've done nothing wrong.. so far(
As to why you can't use it on two cars at once, well the important thing to understand is that NCD is a marketing gimmick - nothing more, nothing less.
In days of yore it was a form of loyalty bonus. A way of enticing your customers, particularly the good ones who didn't make claims, to renew, and the idea was that you would only get it if you stayed with the same insurer year after year.
That didn't last long though. Soon enough insurers realised that if they wanted to attract new customers they would have to offer to match the no claims discounts that their rivals were offering their customers. So it became de facto transferable. A bit like how Tesco might offer to accept Sainsbury's money-off vouchers - not because they're under any moral or legal obligation to accept them, but just because they think it's a good way of poaching Sainsbury's customers.
However if you aren't renewing a policy (for example because you're insuring a second car for the first time, or because you've been driving a company car for a few years) you won't have a current insurer who is offering you a no claims discount on your renewal - so there's no incentive for a new insurer to offer you a no chains discount either.
So in short, asking why you can't use your NCD on two policies at a time is a bit like getting one of those "£10 off your next shop" vouchers from Tesco, then asking why you can't use it twice at two different supermarkets. Because... well, of course you can't.
That's the theory at any rate. In practice of course NCD had been rather uncomfortably forced into the general risk-based pricing structure that insurers use, so if you look around hard enough you might find an insurer willing to mirror your NCD on a second car. Or you might find that when you tick the boxes to say that your own another car and haven't had any claims for 5 years the insurer just gives you a quote equivalent to what you'd expect with a reasonable amount of NCD anyway. Truth is NCD has become a bit of a phantom - something like 80+% of people have full NCD, depending on just how "full" is defined, so in reality the price with NCD is just the standard price - like those "70% OFF" jackets at Mountain Warehouse which are never, ever sold at "full price". You may well find out that not having any makes a lot less difference to your premium than you think.
That's interesting, great reply. Assume this still applies even on a multicar policy, i.e. you still only get one of the cars with your NCB?As to why you can't use it on two cars at once, well the important thing to understand is that NCD is a marketing gimmick - nothing more, nothing less.
In days of yore it was a form of loyalty bonus. A way of enticing your customers, particularly the good ones who didn't make claims, to renew, and the idea was that you would only get it if you stayed with the same insurer year after year.
That didn't last long though. Soon enough insurers realised that if they wanted to attract new customers they would have to offer to match the no claims discounts that their rivals were offering their customers. So it became de facto transferable. A bit like how Tesco might offer to accept Sainsbury's money-off vouchers - not because they're under any moral or legal obligation to accept them, but just because they think it's a good way of poaching Sainsbury's customers.
However if you aren't renewing a policy (for example because you're insuring a second car for the first time, or because you've been driving a company car for a few years) you won't have a current insurer who is offering you a no claims discount on your renewal - so there's no incentive for a new insurer to offer you a no chains discount either.
So in short, asking why you can't use your NCD on two policies at a time is a bit like getting one of those "£10 off your next shop" vouchers from Tesco, then asking why you can't use it twice at two different supermarkets. Because... well, of course you can't.
That's the theory at any rate. In practice of course NCD had been rather uncomfortably forced into the general risk-based pricing structure that insurers use, so if you look around hard enough you might find an insurer willing to mirror your NCD on a second car. Or you might find that when you tick the boxes to say that your own another car and haven't had any claims for 5 years the insurer just gives you a quote equivalent to what you'd expect with a reasonable amount of NCD anyway. Truth is NCD has become a bit of a phantom - something like 80+% of people have full NCD, depending on just how "full" is defined, so in reality the price with NCD is just the standard price - like those "70% OFF" jackets at Mountain Warehouse which are never, ever sold at "full price". You may well find out that not having any makes a lot less difference to your premium than you think.
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