Car Insurance - please help with a total mess!

vikinggreen

This will be a bit long - apologies in advance. Please can comeone who knows what they are doing on car insurance help? In brief, the people and the cars:

Husband, 50s, full no claims bonus, clean licence, .
Me, 50s, no claims ever, but no no claims bonus as I haven't been insured for a car in my own name for years. One SP30 that expires Feb 2013.
Son, 17, provisional licence, no claims (yet ...)

BMW 5 series, 05 reg, driven by husband and me
Ford Galaxy people carrier 2.3 lit, 02 reg, driven by husband and me
Nissan Micra 998cc, 03 reg, driven by us all instead of using the gas guzzlers locally. (We are not doing the fraudulent thing of insuring it in our name and letting son be the principal driver, by the way)

All three cars are registered in husband's name and he drives all of them for far more miles than son and me.

I have just fought for days to find an even vaguely reasonable deal for insurance on the Micra and breathed a sigh of relief when I found a policy that was cheaper than the car (with Elephant Insurance).

Yesterday I realised that all three cars are insured in husband's name and the policies are all using his NCD and therefore all three policies are invalid in the event of a claim.

The Micra obviously has to take priority for applying husband's NCD because otherwise the cost will be eye-watering.

Can anyone suggest some way out of this mess? Will it help if we move all 3 cars to the same insurance company, for example? (They are with 3 different companies at present.)

I am sorry to go on at such length but I had never realised that the NCD could only apply to one policy. It also means that the same has happened for the last 10 years. I feel so stupid it is untrue, and now I am also really worried.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

dacouch

Is your son driving the micra to college or work ?

Have you taken the policies out yet?

vaio

Don't panic too much, if your husband has had three policies for 10 years then he will have three lots of ten years no claims so nothing wrong.

antrobus

vikinggreen wrote: »

...Yesterday I realised that all three cars are insured in husband's name and the policies are all using his NCD and therefore all three policies are invalid in the event of a claim. ...

vaio wrote: »

Don't panic too much, if your husband has had three policies for 10 years then he will have three lots of ten years no claims so nothing wrong.

That's what I always thought was the case - generally speaking the NCD attaches to the car not the driver.

mikey72

Yes, I've four policies in my name, 2 with full ncd, and 1 kit car, and 1 classic. But my wife also has a policy in her name with her own full ncd. The only problem you may have, would be justifyng how your husband is main driver on all cars, as it would be fair to guess the BMW is his, and you drive the people carrier, if you use the Micra when it's a local journey, and he drives that instead of one of the onther two. I'd look at changing at least one policy to you. If you haven't had all the cars for years, and the micra was bought when your son started driving, that would be hard to justify though, particuarly if you haven't owned it since he was seven.

mildred1978

We have 3 cars insured under one multicar policy with admiral. You have to ring for a quote, but it's very efficient. We save over £1k per annum on seperate policies.

Worth a try (although it does look dodgy as hell in your scenario).

vikinggreen

Thanks everyone - that is starting to help me see this more clearly.

Son is not driving to college or work - just using the Micra for very occasional practice. I am using it for shopping runs locally and DH is using it for slightly longer runs to nearby towns. We are keeping a log-book of mileage because we are so conscious of the issue of fraud.

Husband is the main driver of all three cars because he does far more miles than either son or me. I don't drive on motorways, so husband drives hundreds/thousands of miles in both the BMW and the Galaxy. In any given year he will drive more miles in either car than me (and son, of course.

How do insurance companies assess who is the main driver though? I probably drive the Galaxy more often, but most of the journeys are within a mile or two!

We have owned the BMW and Galaxy since first ration, Mikey.

bouncydog1

How long have you had the BMW and people carrier and how long have they been insured in your husbands name?

How long have you had the micra and how long has it been insured in your husbands name?

I suspect from what you haven't told us, that you have recently purchased the micra and obtained a quote assuming full bonus? Now of course you have realised that the bonus is already being used on the BMW and people carrier?

If I am correct, then you are very unlikely to find an insurer who is going to believe that your husband is the main user on three vehicles.

Insurers will sometimes accept that one driver is main user on two vehicles and if the drivers are husband and wife of similar age etc, then they wouldn't be too bothered.

The issue is your 17 year old provisional licence holder who is either going to have to start a policy in his own name or your husband is going to have to declare him as main driver on the policy your husband holds for the micra and pay pretty much the same as if the policy was in your son's name.

Forget about moving the BMW bonus to the micra - the groupings on BMW's are usually pretty high and the premium with nil bonus will be pretty high.

Post back with the full facts on how long each vehicle has been owned/insured and then we can try to provide a little more help.

Crossed with your post! Micra recently bought then? Son can't drive anywhere at present without a co-driver - what is happening when he passes his test?

Also you have added that your probably drive the Galaxy most, so I guess insurers will put husband as main user BMW, you as main user Galaxy - and the micra will be for your son.

dacouch

When did you buy the Micra

mikey72

If you did buy the micra a few months ago, I'm afraid it's unlikely any insurer would believe a BMW driver would suddenly go eco friendly, particuarly if it happened to coincide with his son learning to drive, and allow him to have it as his third car, as main driver.

mikey72

No offense to the op, and if you read my normal posts, you're see I'm not pro insurance, but re-reading the fact you are keeping a log-book suggests you know the score, and tbh, would work against, rather than for you, if I was on the other side of the fence.