9 years NCB Insurer only accepts 5 years

sebastianj

Dear all,
I am in a dilemma, I have 9 years No Claim bonus and last week I had a slight bump with another car. My insurer say that now you only have 3 years NCB as I loose 2 years for the accident. They don't recognise No claims bonus more than 5 years.
Can any one suggest what I should do, I will go with another insurer now but what is my status. Pls help I am really stressed.

thanks
Sebastian:(

Cornucopia

NCD is a bit less formal than many people imagine.

It's basically whatever your present insurer says it is.

5 years maximum is pretty typical across the industry. Some (LV, I think) recognise up to 7 years.

In practice, you will save much more by shopping around than from differences in NCD years. 3 is enough to get you a reasonable renewal price.

If you are of a "certain age" you should be able to get NCD protection for virtually £0, so that may be an option for the future.

Quentin

sebastianj wrote: »

.....Can any one suggest what I should do, I will go with another insurer now but what is my status. Pls help I am really stressed.

All you can do is pay extra on your premiums to protect your NCD.

It's too late now, but when you get back to 5 years it may be worth thinking about. (Some companies do allow you to protect it at 4, though your recent claim may cloud the issue).

If you have no more claims this policy year then your status is you have 3 years NCD at renewal time to take to a new insurer.

Filip

Although quite a few insurers will discount up to 9 years the vast majority will still 'step back' your NCB from the 5 year mark should you make a claim.

InsideInsurance

Plus some companies discount for 9 years NCD is actually less than other insurers discount for 5 years. Plus there is always the question of what the base premium the discount is being applied to.

As you didnt have NCD protection you now have 3 years NCD and this is what to declare to other insurers

sebastianj

Thank you all very much for the help,
Based on your experience, any good insurers any one can think of will also help. I am going to start reading all the small prints, hope it makes sense as I don't know what to watch out for.
seb

InsideInsurance

sebastianj wrote: »

Based on your experience, any good insurers any one can think of will also help.

Motor is a relatively straight forward product and so there isnt the greatest of differentiation between providers from a what you get covered for these days. The only variances tend to be around european cover, driving other cars and glass claims and in most cases these simply become optional extras.

There are a couple of high end providers who do give exceptional coverage and service but you very much pay for it and to be honest, for the majority of us, it isnt worth paying an extra £1,000 a year to just get DoC cover for all named drivers etc.

Have a look at Defaqto for product coverage and Which? for customer service reviews

Cornucopia

Most of the big names have good customer service.

What varies hugely are the premiums.

My recent experience has been that of the big names, Direct Line group (includes eSure & Churchill) have been good value for me, but Aviva, for example, want twice as much for the same cover.

For others, it'll probably be the other way around. The best option is to go through a comparison site to get a basic idea of the best premium, and then compare with the big guys who are not on those sites.

It's much easier to say no, when they ask "how does that sound" if you already know you can get it for half as much elsewhere.

sebastianj

Has any one heard of 'Autonet' insurance group?
seb

InsideInsurance

They're a brokerage. Been around for a while, originally they specialised in van insurance