Car Insurance - No Claims Discount Years

dogfonos

Would really appreciate an explanation regarding NCD years...

On previous car Insurance documents/policies, going back 20+ years, my NCD always states "9+" years - but never the actual period during which I haven't had an accident or made an insurance claim. When gathering online quotes for this year's car insurance renewal, I note that one big comparison website asked for the exact number of years of NCD. If I input the actual number of years, "37", rather than "9", I get a cheaper quote but I can't easily prove that I haven't had an accident or made a claim in 37 years. Am I misunderstanding something?

Ironically, I also always add NCD protection too!

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

DullGreyGuy

Most insurers max out their NCD at 5 years, and never seen any that give any credit for over 9 years. 

Its common practice for insurers to use the X+ type notation, for a variety of reasons, and so if you have found someone who gives more discount for 37 years they will be very used to having to deal with customers with 9+ on their paperwork. Traditionally you'd effectively glue evidence together which works ok if you have 5+ on your paperwork but your new insurer has offered you more for 7 years but will be challenging to go that far back... most insurers will be deleting their records long before 37 years are up.

Speak to the company in question before buying as it will be a very common problem that they will be used to dealing with.

dogfonos

Yes, a first for me too.

The car insurance comparison I did was on Confused.com. The NCD question gave NCD year options from zero to over 30 (40, I think). I imagine everyone who applies for a quote on Confused.com will get the same question and options.

Choosing 37 NCD years gave lower quotes across the board than when I chose 9 NCD years. It's possible that had I pursued any of the quotes displayed, the price shown for 37 NCD years may not have been honoured - I wouldn't know as I haven't followed up any quote with a particular insurer as yet.