Classic car insurance and no claims bonus

kazca

Hi

I have a daily runabout car and an occasional use little sports car. Both have been owned by me for over 10 years.

My problem is making sure I don't lose my full no claims bonus on the sports car. Classic insurance is available much more cheaply than standard insurance at around half the price. As well as being cheaper, there is a guaranteed valuation service as opposed to market value and the excess tends to be lower.

Classic insurance makes sense with this car to save money for a better product but the no claims does not get taken into account, as it is not used on the policy. Whilst I have the classic policies in force, there is no problem but if I choose to buy a replacement car that is not a classic, the no claims will be required.

If I use classic insurance for over 2 years, do I lose my no claims, despite not claiming and in theory extending the claim free period of insurance?
If yes, is there any way around this?

Thanks

Quentin

The usual time limit is 2 years. Though currently cis take it 3 years old.

You need to use it to reset the clock. Presumably the savings with classic car policies make it cost effective over the long run even if you go back to normal cover years later with nil ncd?

marlot

You could swap the insurance around on the daily car - one year on one no claims, the next on the other, so keeping both alive?

vaio

^^ what he said, all you need to do is don't renew the runabout policy and rotate the NCB every year or two when you take out a new policy.

Sports car can then go on a classic policy

forgotmyname

The cheapest classic policies dont use no claims and usually require it to be garaged with a 2nd car used for main transport.

But you can get everyday classic type policies where the no claims can be used and built up and no garage required etc.

Need to play around with the figures to see how much extra you would pay to have a policy where you can use your no claims.

kazca

Thanks for your replies.

It appears that there is no clever way around this which is a shame because no claims is no claims, whether it accrues or not. Negating 15+ years of no claims whilst current insurance on car with documented no claims is in place without a claim is wrong IMO.

There are a few companies that allow three years on no claims rather than the usual 2 - AXA is another one that does.

Unfortunately my daily runaround, despite being a 1996 car doing very low annual mileage does not appear to qualify as a classic, so the no claims shuffle would not work.

I will have to insure the sports car on a standard policy for a year to allow a further two years of superior and cheaper classic insurance.

maninthestreet

kazca wrote: »

Thanks for your replies.

It appears that there is no clever way around this which is a shame because no claims is no claims, whether it accrues or not. Negating 15+ years of no claims whilst current insurance on car with documented no claims is in place without a claim is wrong IMO.

There are a few companies that allow three years on no claims rather than the usual 2 - AXA is another one that does.

Unfortunately my daily runaround, despite being a 1996 car doing very low annual mileage does not appear to qualify as a classic, so the no claims shuffle would not work.

I will have to insure the sports car on a standard policy for a year to allow a further two years of superior and cheaper classic insurance.

You can maintain your NCB on your 1996 daily runaround.
Classic car insurances are already discounted, due to the restrictions in place on the use of the classic car that result in a reduced risk for the insurer.

Quentin

kazca wrote: »

.....It appears that there is no clever way around this.......

I will have to insure the sports car on a standard policy for a year to allow a further two years of superior and cheaper classic insurance.

Why?

To keep your NCDs alive you need to use them to buy a policy. They (currently) will stay alive for 2 years (and 3 years with some insurers)

So do the shuffle each year on your non classic car, and buy a classic policy for the sports car.

Don't rely on the insurers you know that now accept 3 year old NCD, as they may change their attitude in future.