Direct Line car insurance named driver no claims. HELP!

citytaz

Hi,

Im new to this website and im hoping someone can help me with my problem.

I have been a named driver, not the policy holder with direct line for 5 years in total. However I left the country for 2 years and so my no claims was split up. I had 3 years no claims, went travelling and now ive had another 2 years no claims. Total 5 years!

I have now taken out my own car insurance with direct line and wanted to carry over and use my no claims, which they have stated everywhere on their website you can do.

However when i spoke to them, they said that i can only use 2 years of my no claims as there is more than a 90 day gap between the other 3 years (this is when i went travelling). I checked all their policy paperwork and it does not mention anywhere that you can only use 'no claims' that has been continuous. When I told them this, they said "it is not noted anywhere, its just our own policy which we have".

I was just wondering if I have any rights? Surely they have to state somewhere in their policy that you can only use all your no claims if they are continuous.

Can anyone give me any advice, or has experienced a similar thing.

Thanks,

mrcow

Generally being a named driver doesn't accrue you no-claims. You have to be the policy holder. It sounds like they are being quite generous.

Idiophreak

mrcow wrote: »

Generally being a named driver doesn't accrue you no-claims. You have to be the policy holder. It sounds like they are being quite generous.

Direct line, Tescos (iirc) and a number of others offer this, mainly to encourage loyalty from younger drivers.

OP, I fully see your point. I've never been a fan of this "it's our policy". "can I see your policy?" "err, no" - thing.

Don't really know where you stand, though - have you spoken to customer services about this? Do you know how much difference this makes to your premium?

mrcow

Idiophreak wrote: »

Direct line, Tescos (iirc) and a number of others offer this, mainly to encourage loyalty from younger drivers.

Exactly - it's a policy that they have adopted as a company. Many others aren't nearly so generous with their NCD.

So you're happy to accept one company policy, but not another?

medders2604

No matter whether you are main or named driver on a policy having a 2 year gap in car insurance means you lose your no claims discount and have to start again from scratch.
(should add that was the case a few years ago when I worked in insurance but may have changed since then)

Idiophreak

medders2604 wrote: »

No matter whether you are main or named driver on a policy having a 2 year gap in car insurance means you lose your no claims discount and have to start again from scratch.
(should add that was the case a few years ago when I worked in insurance but may have changed since then)

Tbh I'd have assumed that was the case, also - but if it's not written down anywhere, can they really enforce it?

Quentin

medders2604 wrote: »

No matter whether you are main or named driver on a policy having a 2 year gap in car insurance means you lose your no claims discount and have to start again from scratch.
(should add that was the case a few years ago when I worked in insurance but may have changed since then)

That is not the case. There is no hard and fast rule. A 2 year gap doesn't necessarily mean your NCD is lost.

Some insurers will allow longer gaps, others shorter.

You can check out with a broker if you have a gap and see which companies will still accept your NCB.