car insurance help please

DON79

Hi all, we currently have two cars, both are registered in my husband's name and the insurance for the first car is in his name.

He has taken out insurance on the second car and put down his no claims years as five. When he did the insurance quote, he confirmed it would be a second car he owned etc. So he paid the deposit and agreed to set up the direct debit payments as agreed.

Now he has called the insurance company as they are requesting proof of no claims discount in the form of the original letter etc. However this we cannot get from the insurer on the first car to send proof of the no claims discount as it is mid-policy.

When this was explained to the new insurer of the second car, they refused to take the no claims discount into consideration at all even if we could provide proof. They claimed that you have to start to build up your no claims again if you are owning and insuring a second car.

Surely this is not correct?

Also, he has paid the deposit already and agreed the direct debit amounts to be taken when they were fully aware on the quote that this was a second car. Should he cancel now and insist on his deposit back?

would appreciate some advice, thanks!


crossposted in motoring section as not sure on best place to put this

eschaton

What they say is correct.

Some will give an introductory discount NCD or mirror it on a 2nd policy but you have to build the actual 2nd NCD.

DON79

thanks. we are cancelling the second policy and doing a multicar policy instead which is working out cheaper will tell the other company to get lost and get our deposit back

McKneff

Expect a penalty if you do cancel with the other insurance company. Even if you are in the 'cooling off' period there may well be an admin fee. If out of the 'cooling off period' expect an admin fee and a cancellation fee.

InsideInsurance

There are two separate things.... there is the period you have been claim free, which counts on every single policy you are a driver on. The NCD however is a separate thing and cannot be used on multiple vehicles at the same time, split, merged etc etc.

If you buy an additional car you still count as having X years of no claims but 0 years NCD. That said, if you speak to your current insurer some will mirror the NCD across onto the second vehicle, this is most likely to occur when there are no named drivers on either policy (given you can't actually drive two cars at the same time)

If your cancelling and going for a multicar policy then you're potentially going to be paying a cancellation fee on both of your policies (generally £50 a policy) plus only receive partial refunds (or have more premium to pay if your on monthly installments)

One key thing to do is act. If you sit on your hands and do nothing your new insurer potentially will cancel the policy for failing to prove your NCD and this will have to be declared to every insurer going forward for every policy and can easily triple your premiums as mainstream insurers will no longer touch you.

DON79

We are within the 14 day period before a cancellation charge will apply on the second policy.

Am not cancelling the first policy, will leave that running as is now and add it to the multicar policy when it falls due for renewal. It is going to work out cheaper.

Separate quotes for the second car alone with the second insurer were going to come in at £1500 just for the second car.

With the multi car policy, it is going to cost £1000 at most for both cars so its good.

bouncydog1

Don't be so sure about the cancellation charge. Anything extra that was bought with the policy may not be refundable. The insurers will also likely charge you an admin charge. Before buring your boats you might be best to find out the costs involved.

It also sounds a bit strange that you can buy a multicar policy with no bonus and one car, adding the second car later (perhaps) for a combined cost of what you have quoted. This may indeed be correct but again double check. It may be that in this case you have to pay a larger premium up front and will get a refund when you add the second car and bonus.

lisyloo

We are within the 14 day period before a cancellation charge will apply on the second policy.

A lot of policies charge cancellations fees even in the cooling off period and you have to pay for time on cover if that applies.
If you are saving £500 then the cancellation fee doesn't matter, but you will be lucky if you don't have to pay one because it's the norm these days.