Car insurance - do I need to prove 15 years of no claims?

tumptyteapot

I've over 15 years of no claims bonus which I've always protected, the insurance company say that because the previous company capped it at 9 years they can only give me 9 years which means I pay extra than I should. Is there anything I can do to prove I've got all that no claims?

I hate the minefield that is car insurance, even though I asked the current company to take me off auto renew I still got a bill for £360, comparison sites make my insurance more like £250 and when I phoned the current one to stop the auto payment, all of a sudden they could match that price but wanted an extra £20 because they say I can't claim for 15 years of no claims. Any idea where I stand on this would be much appreciated.

InsideInsurance

What "extra" do you have to pay? I dont know of any insurer that gives any credit at all for more than 9 years NCD and therefore it is possibly just an admin fee they are charging. Most insurers only give credit for up to 5 years and if you have 5 or 55 makes no difference.

You can trace back your previous insurers and ask them to provide conformation of what you brought and that you had no claims whilst with them (or you did and the NCD was protected and so not impacted) but that can be a long and arduous process

tumptyteapot

Thank you, I'll call the insurers and see what they have to say about it. I only have documents that go back 7 years anyway!

InsideInsurance

It is a well known issue and your current insurers should be trying to help you really as they will come across it a lot.

Many insurers core computer systems are 20+ years old and how you programmed was very different back, as was the cost of hardware and processing power etc. Therefore a lot of things were hard coded and if everyone only gave credit for up to 5 years NCD as they did back then then there was no point spending extra money and processing time holding a 2 digit NCD number.

To modernise the system is exceptionally expensive, very high risk and with the example of NCD as it only benefits people leaving the company a benefits case would be exceptionally difficult to make stack up

tumptyteapot

Thank you, do I have any clout at all if I speak to the current insurers? They were a bit hostile on the phone yesterday and implied it was my fault for not being with them before as they would have tracked it.

dunstonh

I dont know of any insurer that gives any credit at all for more than 9 years NCD and therefore it is possibly just an admin fee they are charging. Most insurers only give credit for up to 5 years and if you have 5 or 55 makes no difference.

I can think of a few that internally will go up above 9 years for existing policyholders at renewal but not for new business.

Thank you, I'll call the insurers and see what they have to say about it. I only have documents that go back 7 years anyway!

I scan the documents each year they are sent. Never been asked for them but its a good way of keeping your historic documents without building up stacks of paperwork.

Faith177

I always thought that anything from 5-9 years attrached the same level of discount.

So just take the 5 years from currect co and it should be the same

InsideInsurance

dunstonh wrote: »

I can think of a few that internally will go up above 9 years for existing policyholders at renewal but not for new business.

Who actually gives enhanced discounts for more than 9 years? There are certainly some that "count" to a higher number but not aware of them actually giving more than X% discount

I always thought that anything from 5-9 years attrached the same level of discount.

No, some give more for higher years but by "more" I mean more than what THEY give for 5 years - in some cases their 9 year % discount may actually be less than the 5 year discount with another insurer.

Insurers will remain nameless but one example was two insurers that gave a 60% discount for 4 years, one gave a 70% for 5 years (for older drivers) and that was the end of it, the other gave a 61% for 5 years and continued to give 1% extra per year until 9 years at which point you are at their maximum discount (65% again)

Makes a good marketing message though to say you recognise up to 9 years ncd

tumptyteapot

if I go directly to the insurers that I said I have 15 years no claims with will they then query it when the proof I have is of only 9 years?

InsideInsurance

It would always be best to speak to them before pressing the big green buy button. Many insurers websites wont even allow you to enter 15 anyway

jamhun

Agree with InsideInsurance.
The majority of insurers will only go to 5 years, although on your policy it might state 9 years, they will only take the 5 for ncd calculations.

James