Car No Claims Bonus

[SueH]

Back in the day, I was a car owner and had built up nearly 20 years no claims bonus.  Then in 2008 we went down to one vehicle which was in Martins name.  I became a named driver and assumed that I would keep my NCD as the company stated they did a 'named driver NCD'.  This week we got me a little run-around, so I thought that the insurance bill would be quite low with everything that had been accrued.

 

How wrong I was, I had gone down to no NCD at all.  The NDNCD appeared to be just a con.

 

We both feel rather let down by the insurance companies and now wish that we had kept both cars running even if we kept one off the road.

 

Grouch over.  Mind you the run-around is snazzy a little Toyota Aygo.  A super thing to drive.

 

SueH

 

 

[ranworthbreeze]

Hi Sue,

 

When you went down to one car and you rescinded your own insurance you should have had a letter from the insurance company showing your level of NCD.

 

This letter would be your proof of NCD that you should be able to offer this to your new insurance company.

 

The trouble with insurance companies is that you have to do all the running around for them in order to get the best price from them, they are not inclined to help unless you pressurise them into action.

 

Regards

Alan

[donnygeoff]

This letter would be your proof of NCD that you should be able to offer this to your new insurance company.

 

Yes, OFFER, the magic word.....

 

I had been a company car driver for 20 years, no need for my own insurance, Mrs DG had her insurance on her car...

 

Long story short... I lost the company car (and the job the B*&*&%&*DS) got a car, sent letter to insurance company from the company I worked for, telling them I had had a company car for 20 years, and no claims in the last 15, insurance quotes of £1300.... £1200...and the best one £1150......

 

For a Corsa............

 

was it direct line with the named driver no claims....

 

Anyway if you have an accident with an uninsured driver... don't hit me

 

Insurance companies...love taking your money...hate paying it out

 

 

 

[littlesprite]

Insurance!

Can't live with it yet struggle without it.

 

I think the NCD letter can't be more than 2 years old with most companies so they've got you there.

 

What is NCD for anyway it means very little, you can even pay more money for NCD protection, trouble is it doesn't stop them raising your premium.

 

i.e. If your premium is £1000 and NCD 70% you pay £300.

you make a claim but have NCD protection so think your insurance won't go up, then you find the premium is now £2000 so even though the NCD is still 70% you now pay £600.

[Guest]

No Claim Bonuses do not last indefinitely when they are not running on an active policy.

 

I guess there's some logic there, they would probably argue that the driver is no longer earning a reputation of safe driving when no longer insured. Admittedly, that assumes no driving at all, which may not be true.

 

Shifting the thread topic slightly, I would say that I have dramatically reduced my car and home insurance costs over the last couple of years or so, by using Gocompare.

 

I'd ignored them for many years, probably because of the irritating TV adverts, and had stayed "loyal" to the AA, which I had mistakenly believed to be the best value, since they boasted that they they "searched for the best quote" each year.

 

I then tried GoCompare's online service and was startled !  Not only about half the price of the AA quotes for renewing, but the cover was actually with the same Insurers !

 

I then tried them with my Buildings Insurance, and then House Contents Insurance, and saved nearly 50% each time.  Finally, to cap it all, when they were due for renewal, I tried GoCompare again, and once again, they were 40% or so cheaper than simply renewing the existing insurances.

 

It's quite apparent now that the cheapest way to get insurance is to change company every year, to get the "New Customer" discounts, a complete reversal of customer loyalty bonus logic.

 

Best of all, once you've registered your details with GoCompare, they keep them on their system, so you don't have to re-enter everything each year, or for each quote.

 

I'm afraid I can't help this sounding like a blatant plug for them, but I'm glad I started using them, despite their irritating advertising on TV, which was having a negative effect on me....  

[ranworthbreeze]

As with all services I check it out each year and confess go for the cheapest known brand.

 

The worst thing to compare is electric & gas because of the none level playing fields. All we need to compare is the daily charge plus the cost of each unit, but if most companies told you that outright they would get little business.

 

Currently with First-Utilities and I can't see any point going for fixed term.

 

As Strowger says it is best to offer yourself as a new customer, there is loyalty these days as can be seen with banking.

 

Regards

Alan

[littlesprite]

There are many comparison sites you can use provided you realise they aren't necessarily always independent, that isn't suggesting there is anything funny going on but it's just nice to be aware.

 

I had a quote from Confused.com which had Admiral, Bell, Elephant as the best 3 quotes, all 3 companies are part of the same group which also includes "confused".

 

Again I'm not suggesting that there is anything wrong with that but always worth knowing. 

[SueH]

Going off the subject slightly.  I have just driven 'Ruby' the Red Aygo for the first time at night.  Night driving is something that I am not comfortable with - the headlights are rather glary.  It seemed better in Ruby but still an acquired taste I think.

 

SueH

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

No Claim Bonuses do not last indefinitely when they are not running on an active policy.

 

I guess there's some logic there, they would probably argue that the driver is no longer earning a reputation of safe driving when no longer insured. Admittedly, that assumes no driving at all, which may not be true.

 

Shifting the thread topic slightly, I would say that I have dramatically reduced my car and home insurance costs over the last couple of years or so, by using Gocompare.

 

I'd ignored them for many years, probably because of the irritating TV adverts, and had stayed "loyal" to the AA, which I had mistakenly believed to be the best value, since they boasted that they they "searched for the best quote" each year.

 

I then tried GoCompare's online service and was startled !  Not only about half the price of the AA quotes for renewing, but the cover was actually with the same Insurers !

 

I then tried them with my Buildings Insurance, and then House Contents Insurance, and saved nearly 50% each time.  Finally, to cap it all, when they were due for renewal, I tried GoCompare again, and once again, they were 40% or so cheaper than simply renewing the existing insurances.

 

It's quite apparent now that the cheapest way to get insurance is to change company every year, to get the "New Customer" discounts, a complete reversal of customer loyalty bonus logic.

 

Best of all, once you've registered your details with GoCompare, they keep them on their system, so you don't have to re-enter everything each year, or for each quote.

 

I'm afraid I can't help this sounding like a blatant plug for them, but I'm glad I started using them, despite their irritating advertising on TV, which was having a negative effect on me....  

 

 

 

Exactly so Strow.

 

Although in the past we have had vastly different views on varying subjects, i`m in complete aggreement with you on this one. I`ve found out to my cost in the the past that LOYALTY means nothing to insurance companies, so every year i use a different company sourced through searching "compare the meerkat", and every year, they have been considerably cheaper. The result is that i`m now paying LESS for ALL my vehicle insurance, be it the car or the bike, than i was 17 years (and YES, that IS 17 years) ago. 

 

That said, my current insurer for my car have just sent me a renewal quote this week which is actually CHEAPER than last year by around £30, not bad when i`m paying £176 fully comp for a Peugeot 407 2ltr petrol. Howeber, had i have been "loyal" to one insurer, i`d imagine by now i`d be paying somewhere around £7-800 a year.

 

The worst thing i found with insurance companies is when they send you a "best renewal quote", and you find it cheaper elsewhere, their immediate reply is "why did`nt you come back to us, we could have offered you a cheaper quote". Is`nt that what they`ve already said they`ve done?.

 

Thieves and robbers all of them, but a legal requirement, so they can charge what they like with impunity, so they have us over a barrell.

 

 

Regards to all ......................... Neil.

[Guest]

...... LOYALTY means nothing to insurance companies, so every year i use a different company sourced through searching "compare the meerkat", and every year, they have been considerably cheaper......

 

Yes Neil, the most disappointing aspect of all this.

 

For two years running, my buildings Insurance renewal quote through the AA was around £120, and on checking with GoCompare, I had quotes of just over £60 for exactly the same cover.

 

Even more astounding, those £60 quotes were also with the AA, via GoCompare instead of directly with the AA through their automatic renewal process.  

 

When I rang them to cancel the automatic DD renewal, they asked "who is the cheaper quote with", and they weren't the least bit phased when I said "You"....

 

So they would rather offer half price deals to new customers via an agency they have to give a commission to,  than keep the loyalty of their existing customers and have reduced admin and commision overheads.

 

Ludicrous...

[Siddy]

"So they would rather offer half price deals to new customers"  "than keep the loyalty of their existing customers"

 

Kaz told me her car is due and to be honest DirectLine have been cheap for me even when I went on her insurance 5 years ago after passing her test the year before they took my NCD and took £600 of bill.

 

Just looked and price has dropped by £50 but as in the last few years I go online with them and get a fresh quote which normally is cheaper which they accept so see what happen next week.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Yes Neil, the most disappointing aspect of all this.

 

For two years running, my buildings Insurance renewal quote through the AA was around £120, and on checking with GoCompare, I had quotes of just over £60 for exactly the same cover.

 

Even more astounding, those £60 quotes were also with the AA, via GoCompare instead of directly with the AA through their automatic renewal process.  

 

When I rang them to cancel the automatic DD renewal, they asked "who is the cheaper quote with", and they weren't the least bit phased when I said "You"....

 

So they would rather offer half price deals to new customers via an agency they have to give a commission to,  than keep the loyalty of their existing customers and have reduced admin and commision overheads.

 

Ludicrous...

 

 

Ludicrous is certainly the word i`d use.

 

A friend and colleague at work had exactly the same experience as you say above.  His bike insurance was due for renewal, and his insurers quoted an increase which took it up to around £190ish, so when he went on the comparison sites, he got it down to around £140ish (memory of actual quote is`nt good), and that was with the same company he was already insured with. The stupid thing is when he rang his insurers, he told them of the lower quote, and they said they could`nt match it, he then told them it was with THEM and they still said they could`nt match the lower quote through the comparison site. Very strange, but at least they did`nt lose a customer.

 

 

 Regards to all .................. Neil

[SueH]

As it is a number of years since I have to use these companies for a claim.  I wonder if they are as quick to pay-out as they are to take your money in the first place.

 

SueH

[donnygeoff]

some insurers do save you money.....

our car insurance has been due on 1st sept, every year since day blob.....

My OH in her wisdom had a little accident, on 2nd sept about 6 or so years ago...

The car was a write off, the other car was a write off, the other driver, (when I got there was taking his tools out from his boot, that included site transformers, and heavy stuff) he decided that after contacting insury for you, that he had whip lash....

total claim 29K... but as I had just insured for the year, not a monetary problem...

The next year....it went up from 400ish to 1300 quid......

phoned around got NFU....

Have you had an accident in the last year,

me...yes 2nd sept last year

them...could you wait until tomorrow to insure your car then you can say NO to that question,

Me, yes will that help

NFU... Yes you premium won't be 1200 that I was going to quote, but 385

Me... I'll call you tomorrow


Sorted


 

[Siddy]

You also have to check what you get for your coin. With D!r@ct line on the few claims I've made both have been fast. Few year ago a we had 2 windows put in and the iron bar over the door/roof along with a few other cars. Call DL and within the hr 2 towtrucks came to collect it and a hire car on route.