Can I save my No Claims Bonus?

mrsmags16

So I stopped driving and sold my car in July 2015 - simply didn't need it as could walk to work and insurance was going crazy - from 350 to 600 despite not so much as a single penalty point and no claims of 8 years.
I know my no claims bonus runs out after 2 years and if I go to drive again after that I will be hit with a higher insurance premium.
Is there any way to try to cut these costs before it expires in July this year? I would say in a year or two I will definitely need a car again.
For example, I tried to get insured on my husband's car but because it is a company car with open drive policy, I am already insured to drive it. I drive it a few times a month. Their financial advisor said he made a note that I drive it under that policy but this isn't enough to keep my own no claims going.
My mum suggested getting insured as a named driver on her car but I doubt this will allow me to retain a no claims discount in my own name?
Any ideas?
Thanks

Sue Pa Key Pa

The only solution is to take out a policy in your own name on a car owned by you and registered to you.

Car99

Why don't you "get" the cheapest possible car to insure and insure it third party . Keep you policy live for a year even if you never drive it. Then take another two years off . The cheapest quote you get divided over three years should be a worthwhile expense to keep and add another year to your no claims.

VandC

Sorry to jump on your thread here, but would be interested to have some knowledge on this too.

To go from a 2 car to a 1 car family, only one person could be the main driver on the policy and hence the other would be at risk at loosing no claims. Can one person be the main driver one year and then do a swap so the other person is the main driver. So essentially alternating the main drivers yearly and then no one looses their no claims? Would the car have to be in both names (is this even possible)?

jameshayes

VandC wrote: »

Sorry to jump on your thread here, but would be interested to have some knowledge on this too.

To go from a 2 car to a 1 car family, only one person could be the main driver on the policy and hence the other would be at risk at loosing no claims. Can one person be the main driver one year and then do a swap so the other person is the main driver. So essentially alternating the main drivers yearly and then no one looses their no claims? Would the car have to be in both names (is this even possible)?

I do this with my other half, swap every 2 years. A pain to be honest.

Special Circumstances

jameshayes wrote: »

I do this with my other half, swap every 2 years. A pain to be honest.

They have stats to prove that having these hoops to jump through results in safer drivers.


No, really. I mean... they always say they can back these things up don't they?

dev100

VandC wrote:

To go from a 2 car to a 1 car family, only one person could be the main driver on the policy and hence the other would be at risk at loosing no claims. Can one person be the main driver one year and then do a swap so the other person is the main driver. So essentially alternating the main drivers yearly and then no one looses their no claims? Would the car have to be in both names (is this even possible)?

It works but you have to be careful . In theory you should be changing the name on the log book to match the name of the policy holder. It may be different for married couples but by law you can't profit from someone else's loss . Eg you can't insure your mates car and benefit if you crash it .

Special Circumstances

dev100 wrote: »

It works but you have to be careful . In theory you should be changing the name on the log book to match the name of the policy holder. It may be different for married couples but by law you can't profit from someone else's loss . Eg you can't insure your mates car and benefit if you crash it .

The accepted knowledge on this for many years (careful now, all bets seem to be off in insurance land these days) is that as a married couple each partner has an insurable interest in the other partner's car and there is no issue in "Mrs" being insured as primary driver on "Mr's" car.

Obviously you never assume anything when dealing with insurance.

VandC

jameshayes wrote:

I do this with my other half, swap every 2 years. A pain to be honest.

What makes it a pain?

VandC

dev100 wrote:

It works but you have to be careful . In theory you should be changing the name on the log book to match the name of the policy holder. It may be different for married couples but by law you can't profit from someone else's loss . Eg you can't insure your mates car and benefit if you crash it .

Special Circumstances wrote:

The accepted knowledge on this for many years (careful now, all bets seem to be off in insurance land these days) is that as a married couple each partner has an insurable interest in the other partner's car and there is no issue in "Mrs" being insured as primary driver on "Mr's" car.

If anyone can find a loophole out of paying you it'd be an insurance co

And I suppose what is now doesn't mean it will be the case in a few years. You would think as a married couple/common law spouses or whatever that you would both have "equal rights" to the car, especially if it can't be registered in joint names.

CiniO

OP there actually is a cheap way to do this.

Buy a cheapest car you can find. Probably you can find something below €100. If you're not intending to drive, it doesn't matter if it drives or not.

Then you'll have yo purchase policy in your own name on this car, and pay the full price of annual policy (whether in one payment or in instalments) so this is going to cost you a bit at that stage.

But once policy is active, you can contact the insurer and request policy suspension by sending them a written request together with your disc and cert.
Just keep it suspended until the end of the policy and you will receive between 80% to 90% premium back once policy expires.
So together with your car paying for policy premium and receiving refund for the fact that policy was suspended for the most of the policy period, it shouldn't cost you much more than €100 to €150
IMO not bad for keeping your NCB for another few years.

Car99

CiniO wrote: »

OP there actually is a cheap way to do this.

Buy a cheapest car you can find. Probably you can find something below €100. If you're not intending to drive, it doesn't matter if it drives or not.

Then you'll have yo purchase policy in your own name on this car, and pay the full price of annual policy (whether in one payment or in instalments) so this is going to cost you a bit at that stage.

But once policy is active, you can contact the insurer and request policy suspension by sending them a written request together with your disc and cert.
Just keep it suspended until the end of the policy and you will receive between 80% to 90% premium back once policy expires.
So together with your car paying for policy premium and receiving refund for the fact that policy was suspended for the most of the policy period, it shouldn't cost you much more than €100 to €150
IMO not bad for keeping your NCB for another few years.

At the end of the policy term when you get your refund do they also supply you with an NCB cert with that year included eventhough it was suspended for the majority of the policy term?

Special Circumstances

Car99 wrote: »

At the end of the policy term when you get your refund do they also supply you with an NCB cert with that year included eventhough it was suspended for the majority of the policy term?

That sounds like something that individual companies could arbitrarily change whenever it suited them unfortunately. It would be a good solution if you were SURE you would be given a cert at the end.

CiniO

Car99 wrote: »

At the end of the policy term when you get your refund do they also supply you with an NCB cert with that year included eventhough it was suspended for the majority of the policy term?

In my experience (Aviva) they do. However I never had it suspended for the whole year. Usually it was 2 to 3 months max 5 months. Ncb statement was always issued.



I think that offering option for policy suspension is not their own will but must be required by some insurance law/regulations as every single insurer have this as an option.
Also I'm sure all insurers are required to issue ncb cert at the end of the policy, and I never seen any mention in any policy that suspension could affect it.

Worth a try imo

jameshayes

VandC wrote: »

What makes it a pain?

Some companies are funny about the car owner so it limits your market - we are with a company at the moment that allow the car to be owned by the main insured driver or their spouse

galwaytt

dev100 wrote: »

It works but you have to be careful . In theory you should be changing the name on the log book to match the name of the policy holder. It may be different for married couples but by law you can't profit from someone else's loss . Eg you can't insure your mates car and benefit if you crash it .

Yes, you're correct. You cannot insure something you do not have an 'interest' in.

But, if you think about it, you don't own the car on HP either, it specifically says in the finance agreement it remains the property of the (financer) until the last payment is made. I'm sure PCP is the same.

The name on the Reg Cert therefore, is not necessarily the legal owner.

The UK have this covered as the name on the V5C is the 'registered keeper', which is sublety different from 'owner'.

Just sayin'...................

grogi

dev100 wrote: »

It works but you have to be careful . In theory you should be changing the name on the log book to match the name of the policy holder. It may be different for married couples but by law you can't profit from someone else's loss . Eg you can't insure your mates car and benefit if you crash it .

No. One does not profit from a claim made against TPL policy.

grogi

galwaytt wrote: »

Yes, you're correct. You cannot insure something you do not have an 'interest' in.

But, if you think about it, you don't own the car on HP either, it specifically says in the finance agreement it remains the property of the (financer) until the last payment is made. I'm sure PCP is the same.

The name on the Reg Cert therefore, is not necessarily the legal owner.

The UK have this covered as the name on the V5C is the 'registered keeper', which is sublety different from 'owner'.

Just sayin'...................

You are not insuring a car. You are insuring other people for losses made by you. You would not benefit from the loss you make.

There really is no sense in talking about insurable interest when talking about TPL policies.

Sue Pa Key Pa

grogi wrote: »

You are not insuring a car. You are insuring other people for losses made by you. You would not benefit from the loss you make.

There really is no sense in talking about insurable interest when talking about TPL policies.

There is.

A 3rd party technically, doesn't claim under your policy. Despite the common usage of the language used in the process and the way it is administered. The POLICYHOLDER is the only one claiming under a policy, even for a loss caused by him/her to a 3rd party

The authorised driver under the policy causes the injury or damages to the 3rd party and is fully liable for the costs that follow his actions. The policy gives the driver the money for this to give to the 3rd party. In other words, it indemnifies him for the costs incurred by his actions. Practice dictates that insurers will pay the 3rd party directly, but legally it is Insurer -> Insured -> 3rd party.

Insurable interest is essential to obtain this indemnity

grogi

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

There is.

A 3rd party technically, doesn't claim under your policy. Despite the common usage of the language used in the process and the way it is administered. The POLICYHOLDER is the only one claiming under a policy, even for a loss caused by him/her to a 3rd party

The authorised driver under the policy causes the injury or damages to the 3rd party and is fully liable for the costs that follow his actions. The policy gives the driver the money for this to give to the 3rd party. In other words, it indemnifies him for the costs incurred by his actions. Practice dictates that insurers will pay the 3rd party directly, but legally it is Insurer -> Insured -> 3rd party.

Insurable interest is essential to obtain this indemnity

So... If it is the insured that claims to cover the losses he/she caused, there is no requirement for it to be the owner of the vehicle to have the insurable interest. ;-)

Wheety

Are you sure you are insured to drive your husband's company car? I thought, even with an open drive policy, that the driver still needed to be insured elsewhere?

Sue Pa Key Pa

grogi wrote: »

So... If it is the insured that claims to cover the losses he/she caused, there is no requirement for it to be the owner of the vehicle to have the insurable interest. ;-)

I have no idea what you are saying there, sorry

mrsmags16

Wheety wrote: »

Are you sure you are insured to drive your husband's company car? I thought, even with an open drive policy, that the driver still needed to be insured elsewhere?

Yep, we checked this carefully as I would have thought the same.

mrsmags16

So just an update on this. My mum has offered to give me her car and switch the policy for two years so that I am the main driver and she is a named driver. This will cost about 150 euro to me to keep my NCB alive and I would think within 2 years I will be driving my own car again and she can revert to her own policy and keep a hold of her NCB.

Should we switch the name on the log book to make it formal?

CiniO

mrsmags16 wrote: »

Should we switch the name on the log book to make it formal?

Yes.