NCD for 2 separate car insurance policies

Gilead

Hoping to get some advice on this one, as I think i’ve made a mistake.

I have a policy with Direct Line, I am the policy holder and main driver with my wife as a named driver. We purchased a new car that I was going to drive and my wife was going to drive my old car. We were advised i could change on the current policy my wife to primary driver and myself as named, and get a new policy with a different company for the new car. I duly did this.

The assumption I made, which I believe now to be incorrect, is that my no claims discount ran up until my wife became the primary driver and I could then use them on the new insurance policy. The new insurer asked for ncd proof, but state it is still active on the old policy until cancellation.

The reason for the switch is that my wife previously had a motobility car, and could not collect ncd due to the nature of the insurance cover. So, when the contract came to an end, it appeared to be financially better for me to insure and drive the new car, and her to start building ncd on the old.

What would be the best way to proceed? I imagine getting the DL policy in her name only via a cancellation is probably the cost effective outcome.

Thanks in advance.

iainscomputer

When we bought a 2nd car for my wife to use, I rang my insurance company at the time (LV) & asked if they would give my wife 2 years NCD for the new car as she had been a named driver for 2 years without an accident. (She had actually been driving 3 years but had a at fault claim the 1st year).
They said just wait & I'll check, then gave her the same NCD as I had which was 8 years. Our policy with LV that year was about £400 instead of £2400!
I'm not saying all insurance companies will do this, but you won't lose anything by asking.

chrisw

I was in exactly the same situation but Direct Line advised me the other way round.

So the existing policy in my name was changed to the new vehicle and my wife was set up with a new policy for the old vehicle.

This means I have the NCD for the new vehicle and she has DL Named Driver NCD on the old one.

My policy came up for renewal a couple of months after and I moved it to a different cheaper company. My wife is still with DL, it will be interesting to see how many years NCD she is credited with at the end of year 1 renewal. Worse case scenario, she will stick with DL for a couple of years while her NCD builds up, the premiums only about £180.

Gilead

Just an update and resolution in case anyone finds themselves in a similar predicament.

It was my mistake - you can have multiple policies, but only accrue NCD on one policy. New policy is with Churchill and found them very helpful. Ended up paying an uplift, but it was reasonable. It was also the cheaper option compared with either ending the NCD on the other policy, or cancelling and setting up under my wife's name only.

However, when the old policy finishes, I can then get it back for myself, and my wife (if we stay with Direct Line) should be able to get named driver NCD and a policy in her own name.

Thanks for the help.