Building NCD for all named drivers

Shimrod

We have recently sold our second car, and my wife and I now share the same car. This is fine at the moment because we both work in the same place! However, we would like to maintain her no claims bonus should we need to buy a second car again at some point in the future.

I know Direct Line offer a policy that enables all drivers to have their own NCD, but I have found Direct Line to be relatively expensive (around £300 more than the cheaper policies).

Does anyone know of any other insurers who offer this type of policy? I was reading an article on teletext that implied there were others, but it did not give any names.

Thanks

Shim

MarkyMarkD

I don't believe that anyone but Direct Line offers this.

I also can't see why the other insurers tolerate this - it doesn't cost Direct Line anything, as they only have one customer and only give one NCD, and the likelihood is that the cost will be mainly borne by other insurers who rely on this "spurious" NCD.

That said, the whole idea of NCD is a bit of a strange thing and I'm surprised it has survived as long as it has.

immoral_angeluk

Be aware that the NCD earned by named drivers (ie anyone on the policy but not the main driver) will only be able to be used with the same company that gave them the NCD. For example if your wife was on your policy with directline as a named driver (but it was YOUR policy) and earned 3 yrs no claims with them, but then decided to switch to a different insurer in her own right, her NCD would start all over again at 0 unless she took out a new policy with Directline, with whom she'd be given 3 yrs no claims.

MarkyMarkD

Ah, right, that sounds marginally more reasonable.

But after the wife had the policy for one year with Direct Line (with her 3 years of Direct Line only NCD) wouldn't she then have a transferable 4 years of NCD?

shelly

MarkyMarkD wrote:

Ah, right, that sounds marginally more reasonable.

But after the wife had the policy for one year with Direct Line (with her 3 years of Direct Line only NCD) wouldn't she then have a transferable 4 years of NCD?

I don't think so. If she earned the 3 yrs NCD as a named driver, then had insurance in her own right with Direct Line for one year, if she stayed with DL then she would have 4 yrs NCD. Moving to another co I believe she would go down to 1 yrs NCD as other co's won't acknowledge/accept the NCD built up as a named driver from DL.
Bottom line is (IMO) that soon as a the person who started as named driver moves away from DL, the NCD built up as a named driver becomes invalid.

Tim_Dodd_2

Shelly has nailed it here. It's all well and good when you're with the company but moving away from them changes things.

I have also been told before that you can retain your NCB for up to 2 years without taking out a policy in your name. You'll need to check that out for yourself - no doubt someone else will comment in here to help - but it could be something useful to consider if that is the case.

Shimrod

Thanks for the replies.

I was aware that should we require separate policies again at some point in the future, the NCD only applies if a Direct Line policy is taken out. How it works beyond the first year I am not so sure, because evidence of NCD is generally the renewal letter provided by the insurer, which would list the total NCD?

How long the NCD from the policy we have just cancelled remains valid for depends on the company you re-insure with - for morethan, they will only consider NCD provided it has not been more than 6 months since the insurance lapsed - for esure they will allow 2 years.

Coming bakc to the original question - who else besides Direct Line offers this type of policy, it sounds like the answer is no one. I need to work out whether the extra cost of the Direct Line insurance will offset a possible higher car insurance charge at some point in the future.

Shim

sainthalo

considering using direct line for this service. is anyone else now offering ncd for named drivers?

shelly

Just done a quick google search for co's that will give named drivers NCD and only 2 co's came up. Direct Line, which we all know about and CIS came up too. They will offer up to 3 years NCD but only if the named driver has been claim free. Doesn't matter if policy holder or other named drivers have claimed so long as the named driver trying to get their own policy hasn't claimed.
In the small print it states that that the NCD given cannot be transfered to another co and that the renewal documentation will only show the amount of NCD the person has earned on the policy. (Not the 3 years or less they give you discount for)

MarkyMarkD

There are insurers who will match the spouse's NCB in any case, and this would then be transferable I believe. I can't recall who offhand (not very helpful, I know). Others will give an introductory NCB if you can demonstrate claim-free driving on another's policy (including ex-company car drivers).

Shimrod

I also found CIS offered NCD for all named drivers, but they wouldn't quote for my car online unless it had a tracker fitted.

Tesco also give NCD to all named drivers.

However, I also got a couple of insurance quotes for my wife, assuming no NCD and the quotes were not outrageous anyway. The difference between Direct Line and Kwik-Fit (who were insured with) was £400. That saving more than covers the loss of the NCD for my wife.

You might find it worthwhile doing the same thing youself.

Shim