Multiple No Claims Discount

[Classic_Blend]

Morning All,

I am fortunate enough to own a few different cars, for some reason or other, I have always kept them on separate polices. In that time each policy has built up its own no claims discount.

Lets narrow it down to 2 policies I have and call them policy A and Policy B.

Policy A - 3 years NCB
Policy B - 4 years NCB

If I have a claim on policy A and lose that NCB. Can I reinsure that Car on Policy B keeping the 4 years NCB ? car currently on policy B is due for some long term works so will be moved to a SORN Policy under a different provider - so just wondered if worth jiggling it around.

Do I lose my NCB across all policies - not just the one with a claim ?

I am unsure if NCB relates to car itself of the driver.

Situation has arose and I'm just looking at options, not that it really makes a huge difference either way.

Hope the above isn't too muddied.

Thanks

Edited by Classic_Blend on Thursday 19th May 11:13

[vonhosen]

You can move the car across & use that NCB from that policy B which is retained. You just need to inform the insurer B that you have recently made a claim on a different policy (A) that you have.

[48k]

OP is you NCD not protected ?

[Classic_Blend]

vonhosen said:

You can move the car across & use that NCB from that policy B which is retained. You just need to inform the insurer B that you have recently made a claim on a different policy (A) that you have.

Good news, yes of course, I would notify them of the claim.

Thank you for clearing that up.

[Classic_Blend]

48k said:

OP is you NCD not protected ?

Alas, on policy A that the claim is on, no. Oversight on my part but its classed as a disposable car to me as is the ultimate cheap banger/Dog mobile/Anyone can borrow it in a pinch - so its run on a shoe string.

In hindsight it was probably the one car I should have protected my NCB on

No biggie, have run an insurance quote with my Policy B NCB and an estimated value claim (will be less than 5k) and it will stand to cost me around £70/year more so not too grave a concern my end.

[BertBert]

vonhosen said:

You can move the car across & use that NCB from that policy B which is retained. You just need to inform the insurer B that you have recently made a claim on a different policy (A) that you have.

To be specific, you just need to answer the questions asked (which will include accident and claim history).

To the OP:
There are other considerations that might play in to it regarding timing.

You won't pay any more until the policy renews, so perhaps only move them about then. Also if you make changes mid-term there might be an admin fee.

[Classic_Blend]

BertBert said:

To be specific, you just need to answer the questions asked (which will include accident and claim history).

To the OP:
There are other considerations that might play in to it regarding timing.

You won't pay any more until the policy renews, so perhaps only move them about then. Also if you make changes mid-term there might be an admin fee.

Noted and heard, I'll let the policy play out on A (ends November) and have a play about then.

Appreciated.

[NGee]

vonhosen said:

You can move the car across & use that NCB from that policy B which is retained. You just need to inform the insurer B that you have recently made a claim on a different policy (A) that you have.

Are you sure about this?

You don't need to 'inform' your insurer of anything. As already stated, just answer the questions they ask you when you renew your insurance.
Have you had any claims or accidents in the last x years? Yes.

The insurance company will then decide how to treat your reply in regards to NCB and their T&Cs. There will probably be a lot of different responses depending on the company.

There have been numerous threads on here over the years of people having to pay increased premiums on several different policys if they have several different vehicles but only make a claim regarding one vehicle. There has also been threads where people have had several policy premiums increase, when a car that they don't even own and weren't even in, but they were a named driver on that policy at the time of the claim. (Often their partners car).

I don't think that 'just' swapping around NCB is quite that simple.
Hopefully Twig will be along soon to explain it better or to tell me I'm talking bks. (Hopefully the former!)

[TwigtheWonderkid]

NGee said:

vonhosen said:

You can move the car across & use that NCB from that policy B which is retained. You just need to inform the insurer B that you have recently made a claim on a different policy (A) that you have.

Are you sure about this?

You don't need to 'inform' your insurer of anything. As already stated, just answer the questions they ask you when you renew your insurance.
Have you had any claims or accidents in the last x years? Yes.

The insurance company will then decide how to treat your reply in regards to NCB and their T&Cs. There will probably be a lot of different responses depending on the company.

There have been numerous threads on here over the years of people having to pay increased premiums on several different policys if they have several different vehicles but only make a claim regarding one vehicle. There has also been threads where people have had several policy premiums increase, when a car that they don't even own and weren't even in, but they were a named driver on that policy at the time of the claim. (Often their partners car).

I don't think that 'just' swapping around NCB is quite that simple.
Hopefully Twig will be along soon to explain it better or to tell me I'm talking bks. (Hopefully the former!)

The latter I'm afraid. it's bks.
Vonhosen is right.

No insurance company is going to reduce your ncb on policy B following a claim on policy A. It's a no claim bonus, and you haven't made a claim on policy B, so you keep any no claim bonus, for not claiming. They may want a loading because you've had an accident on a different policy, they may not. If they do, the 4 years ncb discount will come off the premium after that loading, as the ncb is always the last discount in the calculation. .

[Nigel Worc's]

TwigtheWonderkid

If you know about things insurance wise you may be able to answer this.

I have multiple Vehicles on separate policies, a van, a car, a motorcycle and a motorhome. I am also a named driver on my wifes, and childrens cars.

I've only had the motorcycle (this one) for two years and hadn't ridden for a few years before that, I've only had the motorhome for a month, the van is on a full commercial policy, the car has class A business use, the bike & motorhome are just SDP & commute (important for me as I have a workshop and if I bring the bike or motorhome here to work on them, it is actually my workplace).

The only one I truly have full (9+ years) NCB on is the car, but insurers "shadow" this onto the other vehicles.

I'm not complaining, insurance is stupidly cheap for me (the motorhome & bike cost more to tax than insure, the car isn't far off even, the vans is a bit more expensive but given the commercial use for two drivers I'm not complaining about it).

So, given they could charge me more why do they shadow my NCB ?

[vonhosen]

Because they see you as a good risk & want your business.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

That's the gist of it.

[Classic_Blend]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

The latter I'm afraid. it's bks.
Vonhosen is right.

No insurance company is going to reduce your ncb on policy B following a claim on policy A. It's a no claim bonus, and you haven't made a claim on policy B, so you keep any no claim bonus, for not claiming. They may want a loading because you've had an accident on a different policy, they may not. If they do, the 4 years ncb discount will come off the premium after that loading, as the ncb is always the last discount in the calculation. .

Thank you for confirming, I did run through some quotes last night with an at fault claim of a guesstimate (worst case) value and it had little effect on my premium.

Perks of not being a twenty something anymore I suppose.

Cheers all, put me at ease and I know what my next moves are end of year.

[NGee]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

The latter I'm afraid. it's bks.
Vonhosen is right.

No insurance company is going to reduce your ncb on policy B following a claim on policy A. It's a no claim bonus, and you haven't made a claim on policy B, so you keep any no claim bonus, for not claiming. They may want a loading because you've had an accident on a different policy, they may not. If they do, the 4 years ncb discount will come off the premium after that loading, as the ncb is always the last discount in the calculation. .

OK, thanks for correcting me (I did say I might be talking bks!!)

I think I was getting muddled up with the difference between premium increase/loading going up and NCB going down.

(An easy mistake to make as they both mean you pay more, and that m'lord is my excuse!!)

Apologies if I misled anyone.

[OutInTheShed]

Bear in mind that NCB, in itself is not what it used to be.
I put some details to the meerkats with 9+ years NCB and no NCB, and get a difference of £20.

[BertBert]

OutInTheShed said:

Bear in mind that NCB, in itself is not what it used to be.
I put some details to the meerkats with 9+ years NCB and no NCB, and get a difference of 20.

Agreed, so how does that work then? Are the NCB percentage discounts published by the individual insurers?

[OutInTheShed]

BertBert said:

OutInTheShed said:

Bear in mind that NCB, in itself is not what it used to be.
I put some details to the meerkats with 9+ years NCB and no NCB, and get a difference of 20.

Agreed, so how does that work then? Are the NCB percentage discounts published by the individual insurers?

As I understand it, there is no fixed % discount for any given number of years with most insurers.

There is a big calculation taking all the inputs, like age, postcode, vehicle group, years you've held a licence, years claim free driving, convictions, accidents or incidents whether there was a claim or blame or not etc etc.
NCB as in the number of years you've had a policy in your name without a claim is a crude measure which was more relevant before IT was sophisticated.
Back in the dark ages, you could see a table of motorbike policy prices in MCN, it was as simple as age, cc, postcode, NCB.
Things have moved on.
Actuaries have many clever ways to estimate your risk now, and whether you're juggling policies to cultivate NCB might not be telling them what they want to hear..
Somebody insuring a second car with no NCB is quite likely a lower risk than someone insuring the same car as their only car with NCB.

[BertBert]

Yes indeed, but back in the day, the NCB percentages were known up to about 65%. That has changed I guess.

[OutInTheShed]

BertBert said:

Yes indeed, but back in the day, the NCB percentages were known up to about 65%. That has changed I guess.

In ye olden days, it tended to be, you just lost your NCB when you had a claim.
These days, you get a loaded premium when you have a claim. The loading is not so much to make the old premium look like a 65% discount, but people still pay more for some years.
New drivers still get caned for being young, but older drivers with no record either way perhaps get a better deal?

Cars have changed too, as have the roads.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

OutInTheShed said:

BertBert said:

OutInTheShed said:

Bear in mind that NCB, in itself is not what it used to be.
I put some details to the meerkats with 9+ years NCB and no NCB, and get a difference of 20.

Agreed, so how does that work then? Are the NCB percentage discounts published by the individual insurers?

As I understand it, there is no fixed % discount for any given number of years with most insurers.

Most insurers do have a fixed bonus scale that applies to all regardless of other factors. Typically 30% for a year, 40% for 2, 50% for 3, 60% for 4 or more, some do 65% for 5 or more.

An insurance company cannot refuse to give you ncb if you have it, even if they think you don't deserve it. So if you've had 3 big fault claims on your company car, but have max ncb on your own car, they must give you your 60 or 65% discount. They can load the premium because you've had 3 accidents, but the 60/65% discount comes off that loading.

But the confusion arises because the opposite doesn't apply, and they can allow you a ncb if they think you deserve it, even though you have none. So you've had a company car for years claim free, you buy your own car for the first time, they are free to allow you 3 or 4 years ncb because they want to. That's why often a quote on max ncb might only be very slightly less than a quote on no ncb, where they see you as a good risk and choose to throw a discount at you to try and get the business.