insurance question
Discussion
Hi all
i have a question about no claims , i don't know if I'm in the right spot. I haven't had a car in 3 years due to medical issues and recently been given the okay to drive again , so im in a position to buy a cheapish runaround just for local things not grand travels. taking it easy to begin with. before this i had full no claims , i was with tesco insurance , given its 3 years since i had car insurance does this start from zero again or do the no claims i had class as still valid ? i have no points , never claimed , and 55 . as said im looking at something like a 1.3.or 4 clio or the like just small and a get from a to b car nothing fancy
i have a question about no claims , i don't know if I'm in the right spot. I haven't had a car in 3 years due to medical issues and recently been given the okay to drive again , so im in a position to buy a cheapish runaround just for local things not grand travels. taking it easy to begin with. before this i had full no claims , i was with tesco insurance , given its 3 years since i had car insurance does this start from zero again or do the no claims i had class as still valid ? i have no points , never claimed , and 55 . as said im looking at something like a 1.3.or 4 clio or the like just small and a get from a to b car nothing fancy
A lot of insurers only accept within 2 years, some 3.
Some may also do something where they reduce a year for each additional year over their limit which has passed. So if you have max (say they treat it as a max of 5 years for that) and they only accept within 2, they may then give you 4/3 year depending on whether it’s within 3 years or outside 3 years.
Either way you might find it makes little difference if you are otherwise low risk in terms of age/location etc.
You would have to contact them to discuss so I would runs comparison search with 0 and say 5/whatever you have. If there is little difference don’t worry about it, if there is speak to whoever is cheapest who you might want to insure with and see what they can do.
Some may also do something where they reduce a year for each additional year over their limit which has passed. So if you have max (say they treat it as a max of 5 years for that) and they only accept within 2, they may then give you 4/3 year depending on whether it’s within 3 years or outside 3 years.
Either way you might find it makes little difference if you are otherwise low risk in terms of age/location etc.
You would have to contact them to discuss so I would runs comparison search with 0 and say 5/whatever you have. If there is little difference don’t worry about it, if there is speak to whoever is cheapest who you might want to insure with and see what they can do.
I had 3 years of non-driving because of epilepsy (back in 2007, when the rule was 3 years no-driving, even if sleep-only seizures, now it would be just 1 year!). I kept my car insured and my wife drove it occasionally to keep it in fettle (it was a 9 year old E36 2.5 straight six, and a ‘keeper’ for a further 10 years). I don’t recall any particular penalty on premiums, nor any loss of discount during or after that time.
I started from scratch with zero no claims at age 50 after being on the ex’s insurance for donkeys years and lack of no claims made surprisingly little difference to quotes. Probably worth playing around on a comparison site with false details to see before you commit. Even the difference between a Citroen C1 1.0 hatch and the Saab 9-3 Aero convertible I ended up with was fairly minor.
It always used to expire if not used for more than 2 years, and I think that is still generally the case.
But some insurers might give you some sort of introductory discount if you have proof of your old entitlement.
Alternatively if you buy a classic car most classic insurers don't give NCD!
But some insurers might give you some sort of introductory discount if you have proof of your old entitlement.
Alternatively if you buy a classic car most classic insurers don't give NCD!
Mr Tidy said:
It always used to expire if not used for more than 2 years, and I think that is still generally the case.
There have usually been occasional exceptions - Aviva accepted it for up to three years for a while, later on the CoOp did. Currently the only exception that I know of is Admiral - they will accept it for the years max after it was last used.But as others have said it may not make as big a difference as you expect. Here are the average discounts offered by Admiral for example
Aretnap said:
There have usually been occasional exceptions - Aviva accepted it for up to three years for a while, later on the CoOp did. Currently the only exception that I know of is Admiral - they will accept it for the years max after it was last used.
But as others have said it may not make as big a difference as you expect. Here are the average discounts offered by Admiral for example
It’s a long time ago, but I’m sure NCB used to be more like 30% discount for the first year when I started driving. That certainly matched my experience of going from £500 to £350 with my first car. But as others have said it may not make as big a difference as you expect. Here are the average discounts offered by Admiral for example
Anyway, easy enough to confirm what’s accurate now with comparison websites.
Has been a while since I checked in detail but I do recall the 'new customer only' discount on comparison sites pretty much levelled full NCD at times.
Having said that, despite the broker/insurer and comparison site saying there shouldn't be more than 2 years between my last NCD and today (which it was), they then wrote demanding to know why I had not been driving the last 18 months - adding if the insurer was not satisfied with my explanation, the policy would be cancelled. £100 in fees.
Telling them I tried pushbikes but gave up due to hills, was 'satisfactory'.
Having said that, despite the broker/insurer and comparison site saying there shouldn't be more than 2 years between my last NCD and today (which it was), they then wrote demanding to know why I had not been driving the last 18 months - adding if the insurer was not satisfied with my explanation, the policy would be cancelled. £100 in fees.
Telling them I tried pushbikes but gave up due to hills, was 'satisfactory'.
hi all and again thank you , i have done some comparisons and it does seem that there is relatively not much difference in quotes with or without the no claims , which does now seem to be void . but still a 1.4. clio runabout for me comes in fully comp and breakdown cover at 450 quid , with no claims would be 425 so not the end of the world . thing that surprised me more than anything is road tax nowadays . but as they say only 2 certainties in life , death and taxes . but i wont feel it anyway , got a hmrc letter saturday , they owe me 2 and a half grand in overpaid tax so cheap car and insurance and tax and a tank of fuel and not dipping into the bank account . be nice just to get used to driving again . it feels like im getting my legs back hahaha. hated using buses , horrible things
I'd start by phoning Tesco Insurance and seeing what they say - they will have your previous policy details and might be able to make an exception to rules because you were a previous customer.
jondude said:
Has been a while since I checked in detail but I do recall the 'new customer only' discount on comparison sites pretty much levelled full NCD at times.
Having said that, despite the broker/insurer and comparison site saying there shouldn't be more than 2 years between my last NCD and today (which it was), they then wrote demanding to know why I had not been driving the last 18 months - adding if the insurer was not satisfied with my explanation, the policy would be cancelled. £100 in fees.
Telling them I tried pushbikes but gave up due to hills, was 'satisfactory'.
Possibly that insurer might have suspected you were banned and hadn't disclosed it? They might have a report they run which identifies "at risk" customers they run further checks on.Having said that, despite the broker/insurer and comparison site saying there shouldn't be more than 2 years between my last NCD and today (which it was), they then wrote demanding to know why I had not been driving the last 18 months - adding if the insurer was not satisfied with my explanation, the policy would be cancelled. £100 in fees.
Telling them I tried pushbikes but gave up due to hills, was 'satisfactory'.
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