Leaving car insurance lapse ?

sillycow

Currently abroad with work and car insurance up for renewal.

Prob won't be home for a year or so.

If I don't renew my car insurance do I loose my no claims bonus when I get back?

puppetmaster

sillycow wrote: »

Currently abroad with work and car insurance up for renewal.

Prob won't be home for a year or so.

If I don't renew my car insurance do I loose my no claims bonus when I get back?

Last time i was away for two years my insurance company told me that if at least 1 of my ncb years was within the last three years i was ok.

This is only my experience though with Axa. Other insurance companies might have a different view and might look for proof of insurance from where you are living now. and other hoops to jump through. Give your insurance company a call, whats the worse they can say

sillycow

sillycow wrote: »

Currently abroad with work and car insurance up for renewal.

Prob won't be home for a year or so.

If I don't renew my car insurance do I loose my no claims bonus when I get back?

You have 2 years from the renewal date to use the bonus. It will expire after that but saying that if you call an insurance company directly they will probably be flexible if there is a month or two in the difference.

Make sure you tell your insurance company you aren't renewing as some companies will automatically renew your policy and take it out of your account if you were on direct debit.

CiniO

sillycow wrote: »

Currently abroad with work and car insurance up for renewal.

Prob won't be home for a year or so.

If I don't renew my car insurance do I loose my no claims bonus when I get back?

Make sure it won't renew automatically, as some insurance companies do it.

I was really surprised when my wife's policy was renewed automatically when we were away.

slimjimmc

Just make sure the car is not parked anywhere the public have vehicular access otherwise you'll need to keep insurance and motor tax up to date.

djimi

slimjimmc wrote: »

Just make sure the car is not parked anywhere the public have vehicular access otherwise you'll need to keep insurance and motor tax up to date.

Is it a requirement to have insurance on a car parked in a public place? (Im not doubting you; I genuinely didnt know this). I know tax is required.

CiniO

djimi wrote: »

Is it a requirement to have insurance on a car parked in a public place? (Im not doubting you; I genuinely didnt know this). I know tax is required.

It is requirement indeed.
However traffic warden can fine you only for no tax. He has no power to fine you for no insurance.
It would have to be a garda to issue a fine.

djimi

Makes sense now that I think about it!!!

Blut2

This whole NCB expiring thing seems like a complete racket by the insurance companies to me. If someone has 5+ years NCB but decides to leave the country for two years why exactly does their NCB reset to 0 when they come back? They havnt made a claim, theyre no less qualified to drive than when they left...it seems extremely unfair to me.

People (young males especially) spend years expensively building up their NCB, having to do it twice just because they emigrated for 24 months is pretty rough.

CiniO

Blut2 wrote: »

This whole NCB expiring thing seems like a complete racket by the insurance companies to me. If someone has 5+ years NCB but decides to leave the country for two years why exactly does their NCB reset to 0 when they come back? They havnt made a claim, theyre no less qualified to drive than when they left...it seems extremely unfair to me.

People (young males especially) spend years expensively building up their NCB, having to do it twice just because they emigrated for 24 months is pretty rough.

If they don't drive over those 24 months, they might forget how to do it