No Claims Bonus - Why base it on time and not mileage?

[budfox]

If I drive 30k miles in a year without a claim I think I should be entitled to more of a bonus that someone who drives 3k miles in a year without a claim.

Maybe this has been discussed many times. If not, well I'm just putting the suggestion out there.

[R8Steve]

How would you prove how many miles you drove?

Time is a constant figure and easy to record, mileage not so much.

[DJP]

Easier to measure.

It is a bit daft though. In theory, you could insure a car, never drive it and still clock up full NCB.

But then again, from an insurer's point of view, that's pretty much an ideal customer.

[forzaminardi]

Similarly, paying 'road tax' (you're welcome, pedants) on an chronological basis is unfair too; but its hard to see how else it could be organised without massive scope for manipulation.

[poing]

DJP said:

Easier to measure.

It is a bit daft though. In theory, you could insure a car, never drive it and still clock up full NCB.

But then again, from an insurer's point of view, that's pretty much an ideal customer.

A friend at university built up years of no claims while he was there. He was insured on a heap in his dad's garage but never drove it (don't think it was actually drivable) so did zero miles but had 4 years no claims when he finished university. It was his dads idea and actually genius in many ways. The argument would be cost over that period versus saving later and I'm not sure it really works.

[kambites]

Don't forget a significant chunk of your no-claims bonus is building a statistical model of where the car lives when it's parked, both in terms of theft risk and accidental damage risk.

[kambites]

forzaminardi said:

Similarly, paying 'road tax' (you're welcome, pedants) on an chronological basis is unfair too; but its hard to see how else it could be organised without massive scope for manipulation.

Easy, put the tax on road fuel instead.

[TTmonkey]

poing said:

A friend at university built up years of no claims while he was there. He was insured on a heap in his dad's garage but never drove it (don't think it was actually drivable) so did zero miles but had 4 years no claims when he finished university. It was his dads idea and actually genius in many ways. The argument would be cost over that period versus saving later and I'm not sure it really works.

yes this... lots of scope to save serious money. Use classic car insurance to keep it really really low.

Do you even need to prove that the car exists or that you even own it? No. Use a classic car, put on an extremely low annual mileage allowance, also insure your dad on it... Say the car is kept in secure parking every night (hey, just insure something that's in a museum.... !!)

Insurer will take your money off you and in return after 3 years you've got 50% NCB. Could cost as little as £500.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

No claims bonus is nothing to do with your abilities as a driver. It's purely a reward for having insurance and not claiming.

A nun has a tree fall on her car in a storm, loses her bonus. A violent drug dealer gets 5 yrs in jail and forgets to cancel his car insurance which is paid on direct debt, comes out to 5 yrs ncb.

[numtumfutunch]

Would 12k miles in central London have the same risk as driving 12k miles up and down the M6 on Sunday mornings?

No - it wouldnt

So mileage isnt fair either

[sunbeam alpine]

OP - the flip side of your argument could be that as you're driving 30000 miles a year, you're actually exposing yourself to a greater level of risk than someone driving 3000 miles.

[mikal83]

poing said:

A friend at university built up years of no claims while he was there. He was insured on a heap in his dad's garage but never drove it (don't think it was actually drivable) so did zero miles but had 4 years no claims when he finished university. It was his dads idea and actually genius in many ways. The argument would be cost over that period versus saving later and I'm not sure it really works.

I was advised to do the same yrs ago when I went away on deployment for a few yrs. Sold my big bike, bought a scrap of iron with 2 wheels. Continued with the insurance and racked up 3 more yrs ncd!Also when OH and myself went abroad for yrs, we were put down as additional drivers on the in-laws policy. Cost them peanuts, saved us a lot when we came back to the UK.

[KungFuPanda]

TTmonkey said:

poing said:

A friend at university built up years of no claims while he was there. He was insured on a heap in his dad's garage but never drove it (don't think it was actually drivable) so did zero miles but had 4 years no claims when he finished university. It was his dads idea and actually genius in many ways. The argument would be cost over that period versus saving later and I'm not sure it really works.

yes this... lots of scope to save serious money. Use classic car insurance to keep it really really low.

Do you even need to prove that the car exists or that you even own it? No. Use a classic car, put on an extremely low annual mileage allowance, also insure your dad on it... Say the car is kept in secure parking every night (hey, just insure something that's in a museum.... !!)

Insurer will take your money off you and in return after 3 years you've got 50% NCB. Could cost as little as £500.

Ordinarily you don't accrue NCB on classic policies do you?

[luckystrike]

KungFuPanda said:

Ordinarily you don't accrue NCB on classic policies do you?

It depends on the policy but quite a few don't.

[xRIEx]

budfox said:

If I drive 30k miles in a year without a claim I think I should be entitled to more of a bonus that someone who drives 3k miles in a year without a claim.

Maybe this has been discussed many times. If not, well I'm just putting the suggestion out there.

Assuming situations don't change, next year you're going to drive 30k miles, so you're a higher risk; the other person is going to drive 3k miles, so a lower risk. Your year(s) of earned bonus represents a year's discount of your driving.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

xRIEx said:

budfox said:

If I drive 30k miles in a year without a claim I think I should be entitled to more of a bonus that someone who drives 3k miles in a year without a claim.

Maybe this has been discussed many times. If not, well I'm just putting the suggestion out there.

Assuming situations don't change, next year you're going to drive 30k miles, so you're a higher risk; the other person is going to drive 3k miles, so a lower risk. Your year(s) of earned bonus represents a year's discount of your driving.

Yes, and his percentage ncb will get him a bigger premium reduction in money, because the premium will be higher for 30K miles than for 3k miles. Same the dame percentage is worth more money.

[Winky151]

luckystrike said:

It depends on the policy but quite a few don't.

Not normally & it also depends on the age of the car. Insurers won't class a car as classic until its 25 years old, or 21, or 20 or 30 depending on the insurer. You can have a 'cherished' policy which is similar to classic but does build NCD.

Its another argument for another thread (unless its already been discussed) as to 'what defines a classic?'.

[thebigmacmoomin]

budfox said:

If I drive 30k miles in a year without a claim I think I should be entitled to more of a bonus that someone who drives 3k miles in a year without a claim.

Maybe this has been discussed many times. If not, well I'm just putting the suggestion out there.

I do under 3k miles a year, why should I be penalized for living closer to work / not using my car for work and doing a lot less miles a year ?

[TA14]

Winky151 said:

Not normally & it also depends on the age of the car. Insurers won't class a car as classic until its 25 years old, or 21, or 20 or 30 depending on the insurer. You can have a 'cherished' policy which is similar to classic but does build NCD.

Its another argument for another thread (unless its already been discussed) as to 'what defines a classic?'.

I think that you could fairly safely say that there has never been a classic car policy, only old car policies. I've never heard of one whereby they exclude your car on a basis that is not age related. "I'm sorry sir, but a '63 Wartburg is not a classic car"

[TwigtheWonderkid]

thebigmacmoomin said:

budfox said:

If I drive 30k miles in a year without a claim I think I should be entitled to more of a bonus that someone who drives 3k miles in a year without a claim.

Maybe this has been discussed many times. If not, well I'm just putting the suggestion out there.

I do under 3k miles a year, why should I be penalized for living closer to work / not using my car for work and doing a lot less miles a year ?

Insurance should be changed so that the lowest premiums apply to whatever car I'm driving at the time, my postcode, my age group, and my occupation. If I change any of those, Insurance companies should alter their rating so that my new circumstances give the cheapest insurance. That seems fair to me.