Avoid More Than car insurance if you have over 6 yrs no claims bonus

silps

Hi,

Last year we went with More Than car insurance and we had 8 years no claims bonus from my previous insurance. A year later I am not renewing with More Than but they will only issue a letter stating 6 years bonus.

The reason being that when you get a quote from More Than the maximum you can enter is 5 years. Apparently the maximum years bonus differs with different companies but my renewal quote is costing more with some companies if I enter 6 years as opposed to the 9 I could have earnt. I feel ripped of by More Than.

dauphin

I had a similar problem after changing from MoreThan, but my new insurers (M&S) were willing to look at the NCB I had earned prior to going to MoreThan. Try asking your new insurers if they will contact the company you were with before MoreThan to get proof of 8 years NCB (or contact that company yourself) - coupled with proof of another year from MoreThan, this should allow you the full 9 years NCB. If you happened to still have the previous renewal invitation from the old company, that would probably do the trick.

silps

Thanks for that. Just called AA who are my current insurers and they were also my insurers before More Than and they said that they will give me the correct bonus. She said that even if I was with the AA 30 years they still send a letter saying 30 years.

Astaroth

The problem is that traditionally insurers only gave a discount for up to 5 years NCD and so when the computer systems were designed there was no point in it counting to a higher number.

There are now insurers that do give higher discounts for having more than 5 years NCD but for the majority of insurers who still "max out" at 5 years that isnt much incentive to spend the money needed to change the system to count to a higher number and also change all the letters/ rating tables to know what to do when your NCD hits 30 etc

As dauphin says, you can trace your NCD back through previous companies to varify the total number of years NCD you have.

silps

If I trace my no claims bonus through all my insurance companies would that stand legally? I just called AA again and this time another person said they would only take my bonus from More Than and not my previous history with AA. I told her what the other person had told me before and she said I would have to send in my details and they would look at it.

Astaroth

Legally? dont know to be perfectly honest, but if you can show an unbroken chain of insurance then I cannot see it being a real problem - the main concern for insurance companies is that one person is using the same NCD on more than one vehicle.

Effectively the insurers that give more than 5 years NCD know the problems that their customers will have if they go else where and so could use this as a tie in clause in a similiar way that bonus accelerator schemes typically are only honored by the insurer that has given you 1 years ncd for only 10 months of cover.

ArchieB_2

Most renewal notices that come from a bonus accelerator policy show the years of NCD rather than saying xx months so the new insurer only sees x years NCD. Some may be getting wise to this but I haven't seen any evidence.

I would always keep a copy of the bonus proof (renewal notice/schedule) from my past insurers as this should prove the unbroken chain.

johnk

Just got the same from Tesco (6 + 1 -> 6). Phoned CS and they said it wouldn't make a difference to the premium but they would send me a update with 7 year NCD.

Just wondering if, say, you have protected 8 years NCD but only 6 is accounted for by your insurer, and you have accidents that two years need to be knocked down. How many would you get left, 6 or 4?

silps

johnk wrote:

Just got the same from Tesco (6 + 1 -> 6). Phoned CS and they said it wouldn't make a difference to the premium but they would send me a update with 7 year NCD.

Just wondering if, say, you have protected 8 years NCD but only 6 is accounted for by your insurer, and you have accidents that two years need to be knocked down. How many would you get left, 6 or 4?

This is exactly why I am concerned about the differences in bonus awarded by different insurers. Our insurance went up £22 because More Than are only going to confirm 6 years rather than our true 9 years. I always get a protected bonus anyway but I wonder if that makes much difference if you have had an accident because when you renew your insurance they still ask for details about any claims made. I really don't think there is enough transparency in the insurance industry and every year when I renew I come away with a bad taste in my mouth.

Astaroth

johnk wrote:

How many would you get left, 6 or 4?

Most insurers take the 2 years off the max they count to - so if an insurer counts up to 5 years... you have 20 years ncd and have an accident you go down to 3 years. If you had 20 years and had insurance with a company that discounts go up to 9 years then you would normally drop to 7 after a fault claim. As with all things all companies have their own rules so you need to check.

It is also worth noting that some insurers that "only" count up to 5 years NCD actually give more discount to someone with 5 years than another insurer that counts up to 9 years give to someone with 9 years. Dont assume that the fact they count to a higher amount means they give a higher discount.