Loss of no claims when switching companies

focaldepth

Hi, all, new here.

The fashion these days is to switch providers frequently to save money. However I worry that this can often be a short term gain, long term loss.

I have just noticed that my car no-claims (protected) is only 7 years. It is over 20 years since my last claim. My providers maximum is 9 years.

What I suspect is that, because I have switched a number of times, I have lost years several time during the switch.

For example (made up scenario to illustrate):

Had 9 Years and switch to company with max of 5 years.
One year later, now have 6 Years and big price hike.
Switch back to 1st but ony 4 years transferred.
3 years later now have only 7 years.

Question: is this common and how do we protect our protected no claims against this sharp practice?

dunstonh

Question: is this common and how do we protect our protected no claims against this sharp practice?

It is not sharp practice. Some insurers have an internal no claims discount that is higher than standard. Others stick with the standard. It would be nice if there was a common standard figure but the fact is is up to each provider to decide does not make it wrong.

All you need to do is keep your own records (such as scanned copies of the renewal) for each year and that will suffice.

Dangermac

focaldepth wrote: »

Hi, all, new here.

The fashion these days is to switch providers frequently to save money. However I worry that this can often be a short term gain, long term loss.

I have just noticed that my car no-claims (protected) is only 7 years. It is over 20 years since my last claim. My providers maximum is 9 years.

What I suspect is that, because I have switched a number of times, I have lost years several time during the switch.

For example (made up scenario to illustrate):

Had 9 Years and switch to company with max of 5 years.
One year later, now have 6 Years and big price hike.
Switch back to 1st but ony 4 years transferred.
3 years later now have only 7 years.

Question: is this common and how do we protect our protected no claims against this sharp practice?

I appreciate that you are possibly not very intelligent, however, this is simply not sharp practice.

When you took a policy with your current insurer, clearly they were competitive, otherwise you wouldnt have proceeded. Just because their maximum discount is only x years doesnt mean that they are ripping you off.

It also doesnt mean that you are unable to declare 9, 10, 20 etc years no claims discount when going to a new insurer. It just means that you may need to provide your new insurer with an additonal piece of paper from the previous insurer to confirm that you previous had x years no claims discount.

Furthermore, the current insurer should have provided you with a Summary of Cover and Policy, which should have shown the no claims discount scale that they use. This can vary between insurers.

I really dont see how this is a rip off, just because different insurers have a slightly different scale.

Do you feel that an insurer who has a higher scale (i.e 30 years No Claims Discount) but who are more expensive, are a better option?

DM

focaldepth

Thank you both for your comments.

However I do not believe that when taking out a new insurance policy, you can cherry pick a renewal note with a high no-claims discount.

Insurers that I have been in contact with today say it is the No-Claims provided by your previous insurer that counts.

So as far as I can see we need to be very careful when switching based on cost as we can loose no claims discount which would have come in handy when switching again.

Unfortunately I have only just realised this (possibly due to my lack of intelligence). I should have noticed and done something about it a few years ago but I did not.

My current insurer has agreed to look back at records and see if they can give my no-claims a boost, so it may not be all doom and gloom.

keith1950

Several times in the past I have ended up with an insurer whose ncb stops at 5 years, however I have kept copies of every renewal since I started driving.

So by sending in the lastest 5 year proof off the current insurer plus enclosing previous renewals I have been given all the 'lost' years.

I have never had a problem with this and by pre-empting the situation on the photocopier it saves a lot of hassle in the long run.

focaldepth

Thanks Keith, that is reassuring, I will see what happens.

focaldepth

Just to close this thread, I did get my NCD boosted to 9 years and a "Discount" of £160, which left the price slightly higher than the competition but close enough to stick with them, for now.

Thanks again for all the useful comments.