Please help me understand no claims bonuses.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Alex said:

dibblecorse said:

MrBen1 said:

Alex said:

All you need to know is:

A no claim bonus can only be used on one car.
If you make a claim, it affects the no claim bonuses on every car you own.

WHAT A RIP-OFF!!

Not true?

Indeed, load of old tosh .... only the NCD on the policy that the claim is set against as 'fault' would be affected ///

OK, a correction: It affects the renewal premium on every car, as you have to declare the claim.

Again, not true. It MAY affect the renewal premium on other policies, it may not. Depends on the insurer and their attitude to a claim in the last year made on another policy. it certainly won't affect the bonus on other policies.

You're not doing very well with this, Incorrect initial statement, corrected with another incorrect one.

[Ilovecbrs599999]

Hmm seems like effort calling and asking various ones if they mirror...wish they'd state it somewhere...

[InitialDave]

Ilovecbrs599999 said:

Hmm seems like effort calling and asking various ones if they mirror...wish they'd state it somewhere...

I'm sure it's been discussed on here, if you have a search, you can probably find a few threads and build up a list of likely suspects.

Though a company mirroring NCB onto two cars may cost more than insuring the cars separately, one with NCB and one without.

Unfortunately, doing the leg work of getting lots of quotes and checking policies has always been the way of such things.

[Bennet]

The whole thing makes little sense. They should just ask you how many years you've held a policy and what, if any, claims you've made, build a risk profile and give you a price.

I don't understand the rationale behind this "can't use an NCB on more than one car" thing because it doesn't affect the risk they are exposed to. If anything, having use of another car actually decreases the risk.

[TartanPaint]

Ilovecbrs599999 said:

Hmm seems like effort calling and asking various ones if they mirror...wish they'd state it somewhere...

Google search for "multicar policy" and you should see which companies offer this.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Bennet said:

I don't understand the rationale behind this "can't use an NCB on more than one car" thing because it doesn't affect the risk they are exposed to. If anything, having use of another car actually decreases the risk.

If they reduced your NCB on all your vehicles following a claim on one, you'd be saying you don't understand that either.

[akirk]

Alex said:

dibblecorse said:

MrBen1 said:

Alex said:

All you need to know is:

A no claim bonus can only be used on one car.
If you make a claim, it affects the no claim bonuses on every car you own.

WHAT A RIP-OFF!!

Not true?

Indeed, load of old tosh .... only the NCD on the policy that the claim is set against as 'fault' would be affected ///

OK, a correction: It affects the renewal premium on every car, as you have to declare the claim.

and the usual misunderstanding - a NCD is not what sets your premium.
There is no 'fixed amount of premium' and then you get a NCD which brings it down
You have a premium based on your individual circumstances - then a % reduction for NCD
Even if you have a protected NCD - make a claim and the underlying premium will rise - you will still get a discount, but against a higher premium, so your costs go up...
If you have several policies - your circumstances have rightly changed for all of them as you are seen as a higher risk - so yes, premiums will rise...

[Mr2Mike]

Bennet said:

The whole thing makes little sense. They should just ask you how many years you've held a policy and what, if any, claims you've made, build a risk profile and give you a price.

I don't understand the rationale behind this "can't use an NCB on more than one car" thing because it doesn't affect the risk they are exposed to. If anything, having use of another car actually decreases the risk.

The insurers would still have to cover all cars for theft or consequential damage e.g. if they caught on fire so the risk would always higher with more cars. Note I have zero love of insurance companies and their underhand/illogical/dishonest practices but in this case I think it's justifiable.

[anonymous-user]

I wouldn't even bother trying to understand no claims bonuses.

Answer the questions asked truthfully and disclose the amount of years on your schedule.

It's treated differently by more or less every company so their isn't one "correct" answer.

[LuS1fer]

In short, you get one year NCB after a full year. If you cancelled the policy after 360 days, you would lose that year.
You can carry the NCB earned on one car over to a new car but you can't use it twice unless the insurer "mirrors" it or you have a multicar policy.

Once you reach maximum NCB, you can protect it, at a cost but, generally, that cost is often quite a lot and the policy tends to tell you how much of your NCB you will lose for each claim.

What you can't do is multiply your NCB to 70% by owning and insuring 7 cars for one year, it's still only one year. A bit like Vincent Van Gogh.

[anonymous-user]

some insures used to give you extra ncb, like 3/4 year you get 1 year, but can only use it with them.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

akirk said:

Alex said:

dibblecorse said:

MrBen1 said:

Alex said:

All you need to know is:

A no claim bonus can only be used on one car.
If you make a claim, it affects the no claim bonuses on every car you own.

WHAT A RIP-OFF!!

Not true?

Indeed, load of old tosh .... only the NCD on the policy that the claim is set against as 'fault' would be affected ///

OK, a correction: It affects the renewal premium on every car, as you have to declare the claim.

and the usual misunderstanding - a NCD is not what sets your premium.
There is no 'fixed amount of premium' and then you get a NCD which brings it down
You have a premium based on your individual circumstances - then a % reduction for NCD
Even if you have a protected NCD - make a claim and the underlying premium will rise - you will still get a discount, but against a higher premium, so your costs go up...
If you have several policies - your circumstances have rightly changed for all of them as you are seen as a higher risk - so yes, premiums will rise...

Might rise. Not every policy will attract a loading for one claim, especially if made on another policy.

[dibblecorse]

Alex said:

dibblecorse said:

MrBen1 said:

Alex said:

All you need to know is:

A no claim bonus can only be used on one car.
If you make a claim, it affects the no claim bonuses on every car you own.

WHAT A RIP-OFF!!

Not true?

Indeed, load of old tosh .... only the NCD on the policy that the claim is set against as 'fault' would be affected ///

OK, a correction: It affects the renewal premium on every car, as you have to declare the claim.

It can, but doesn't always, not all insurers load for non fault claims on all policies, so this ones a might, might not ....

[TwigtheWonderkid]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Just not true. For some insurers, one non fault claim does not affect your risk rating. For some, it does.

I had a fault claim with Zurich about 10 years ago. I was told by them that at my age, mid 40s then, and with an otherwise clean record, and an ordinary car, they ignored one fault claim. So as I had protected bonus, my renewal didn't increase at all.

[Mr Tidy]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Good luck with that twig!

Back in the early 80s I worked for an insurer that provided a protected NCD after 7 years at no cost. (as in free)!

If you had that you only lost the protection for one "fault" claim but there was no premium loading, you just had to make it past the next 2 renewals to get the protection back.

Nowadays you have to pay for a protected NCD, will almost certainly still get a "loading" for any claim and even be asked about windscreen claims (which in the 80s were covered in full with no excess).

It's a total p*sstake these days. A cunch of bunts springs to mind!

[Bennet]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Bennet said:

I don't understand the rationale behind this "can't use an NCB on more than one car" thing because it doesn't affect the risk they are exposed to. If anything, having use of another car actually decreases the risk.

If they reduced your NCB on all your vehicles following a claim on one, you'd be saying you don't understand that either.

To be honest, I'm not trying to make a case for the allowance of the use of NCB on more than one car. I'm making a case for dropping the concept of "bonus" or "discount" all together and basing price on risk alone. (Based on driving experience and claims history.)

I don't understand why the bonus is a separate concept from the risk, since really, building up an NCB is primarily a reflection of being a low risk insurance prospect.

The only way "bonus" makes any sense is as a loyalty discount for staying with the same insurance company, but since NCB seems to be universally transferable accross any insurer, all they are rewarding you for is loyalty to the industry as a whole. Which makes no sense.

Edited by Bennet on Wednesday 17th January 09:29

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Mr Tidy said:

Nowadays you have to pay for a protected NCD, will almost certainly still get a "loading" for any claim and even be asked about windscreen claims (which in the 80s were covered in full with no excess).

Sorry, but this is utter rubbish. Very few insurers are bothered about windscreen claims. A small minority. Loads of insurers are not in the least bothered about a non fault claim, especially if the driver is mature with a "normal" car.

And even if you were right, and it was "almost certainly", that still isn't always, so "might" and not "will" increase your premium would be correct.

[akirk]

Bennet said:

I don't understand why the bonus is a separate concept from the risk, since really, building up an NCB is primarily a reflection of being a low risk insurance prospect.

Marketing / psychology

you feel you are getting a discount - and because it comes from the insurer you think that they are giving it to you - so their insurance becomes more sticky... there is no real logic - I have no idea whether I have a NCD / bonus, or if so how much - I insure 3 cars on a join private client policy - so all I look at is: is the price affordable / have any of the terms changed... but for most people, they see it as an incentive to stay put...