Car Insurer Not Recognising My NCD After 2 years This is criminal.

born_again

The above charts mean nothing as you never get to see what the full (no ncd) would be. So the % figures mean nothing.

I would like to see the FCA look at this & force the insurance companies to show a breakdown of the policy cost. 
So you have base premium, then the discount off. 
Would make it nice & clear to see exactly how NCD is reducing your premium.

Dave_5150

OP has probably missed that car insurance has gone bonkers whilst they did not have a policy.

My current policy was around £250 in April with 20+ years NCD. I've just a comparison site quote with the same details at around £750, and taking my 20+ off brings it closer to a grand; so about 30% increase.

WellKnownSid

born_again said:

The above charts mean nothing as you never get to see what the full (no ncd) would be. So the % figures mean nothing.

I would like to see the FCA look at this & force the insurance companies to show a breakdown of the policy cost. 
So you have base premium, then the discount off. 
Would make it nice & clear to see exactly how NCD is reducing your premium.

In what way would that help anyone? Company A offers a £1,000 policy which includes £200 in discount whilst Company B offers a £1,000 policy but that includes a £600 discount.

Both cost you £1,000.

Are you saying you’d opt for B over A because you are getting a better deal on a more expensive policy or A over B because you would worry less about losing your (lower) NCD?

midimanuser

Update. 

I spoke to my broker and they said it was the underwriters policy not theirs.
But they have agreed to continue my policy as if I had no NCD for an additional £300. 

That will solve the problem but it means I would have lost 16years of hard grind, safe driving and plenty of £££££ for sweet FA in return. 

The max discount they give is 24%. So in theory all of these insurance companies have been erroding my NCDs for years and they practically amount to nothing. 

A meager £300 off for 9 years NCD. That's about £33 for every year of NCD they take into effect as they disregard anything about that. 

So now I have two options. 
1. Pay the extra £300 and lose my 16yrs NCB. 
2. Purchase a bargain car and insure it for as little as possible with someone that gives 3 years grace. 

You thoughts.  

Aretnap

midimanuser said:

The max discount they give is 24%. So in theory all of these insurance companies have been erroding my NCDs for years and they practically amount to nothing. 

A meager £300 off for 9 years NCD. That's about £33 for every year of NCD they take into effect as they disregard anything above that.

This is a Good Thing.

Obviously there's a maximum number of years insurers will take into account at all. They don't care whether your 17 year old self had an accident 20 years ago or not - why would they? I'm a very different person to my 17 year old self and I'm sure that you are too.

Plus if insurers did give you credit for decades and decades of "hard graft and safe driving" (most of us just call it "owning a car"), the flip side would be that if you'd had an accident on the way to an Oasis gig, you'd still have to declare it, and pay extra as a result, a couple of decades later. Plenty of people would see that as an outrage as well.

In any event as had already been mentioned, the notion that NCB represents a "discount" in any meaningful sense of the word has always been a fiction. The large majority of people have full NCB, so what you get with full NCB is really the standard price. By "eroding your NCDs to practically nothing" all they're actually doing is penalising people less heavily for having had accidents, or for having little driving history. Or indeed for having not insured a car of their own for the last couple of years.

I'm not really sure what you're angry about now -the fact that the thing they've so wantonly and unfairly taken away turned out not to have been worth all that much after all? Or just the fact that you're not being penalised enough for not having and various NCB?

midimanuser said:

So now I have two options. 
1. Pay the extra £300 and lose my 16yrs NCB. 
2. Purchase a bargain car and insure it for as little as possible with someone that gives 3 years grace. 

Going to the expense of buying and insuring another car just to save (less than) £300 on next year's insurance bill seems a little drastic, but if preserving your NCD is really a hill that you want to die on then go right ahead.

Or you mention sharing a car - if that means sharing with your spouse or partner you could always insure your partner's car with someone who will recognise for up to 3 years. Then your NCB will be available to use on your own car again in a year's time. Alternating the policyholder every year is the standard way to keep two NCBs going when you're temporarily a one car family. 

Or you could always just shrug and get on with life.

Mr.Generous

Out of interest what car costs £1300 to insure? My car is group 29 and costs about £250 on a multi car with wife's car for just over £400)

Money_Grabber13579

Mr.Generous said:

Out of interest what car costs £1300 to insure? My car is group 29 and costs about £250 on a multi car with wife's car for just over £400)

Just because your car is group 29 and £250 doesn’t mean that someone else in the same group or even a lower group might not be a lot more. My car is group 28 and was £600 last year, possibly £8-900 this year. And that is with c. 15 years NCD.

midimanuser

Mr.Generous said:

Out of interest what car costs £1300 to insure? My car is group 29 and costs about £250 on a multi car with wife's car for just over £400)

Wow where do you live and what do you drive. 

Prices in my area can go up as much as £250 for living on a different street around the corner and that is without all the price hikes that we are getting. 

I shouldn't be paying anymore than £700. But they have near doubled premiums and someone needs to clamp down on it. 

They have seen it as a chance to grab more money under the guise of inflation,. High energy costs, the cost of paints, manufacturer parts. 

All of which has sweer fa to do with me since I have never claimed but I'm paying for it. 

midimanuser

Aretnap said:

midimanuser said:

The max discount they give is 24%. So in theory all of these insurance companies have been erroding my NCDs for years and they practically amount to nothing. 

A meager £300 off for 9 years NCD. That's about £33 for every year of NCD they take into effect as they disregard anything above that.

This is a Good Thing.

Obviously there's a maximum number of years insurers will take into account at all. They don't care whether your 17 year old self had an accident 20 years ago or not - why would they? I'm a very different person to my 17 year old self and I'm sure that you are too.

Plus if insurers did give you credit for decades and decades of "hard graft and safe driving" (most of us just call it "owning a car"), the flip side would be that if you'd had an accident on the way to an Oasis gig, you'd still have to declare it, and pay extra as a result, a couple of decades later. Plenty of people would see that as an outrage as well.

In any event as had already been mentioned, the notion that NCB represents a "discount" in any meaningful sense of the word has always been a fiction. The large majority of people have full NCB, so what you get with full NCB is really the standard price. By "eroding your NCDs to practically nothing" all they're actually doing is penalising people less heavily for having had accidents, or for having little driving history. Or indeed for having not insured a car of their own for the last couple of years.

I'm not really sure what you're angry about now -the fact that the thing they've so wantonly and unfairly taken away turned out not to have been worth all that much after all? Or just the fact that you're not being penalised enough for not having and various NCB?

midimanuser said:

So now I have two options. 
1. Pay the extra £300 and lose my 16yrs NCB. 
2. Purchase a bargain car and insure it for as little as possible with someone that gives 3 years grace. 

Going to the expense of buying and insuring another car just to save (less than) £300 on next year's insurance bill seems a little drastic, but if preserving your NCD is really a hill that you want to die on then go right ahead.

Or you mention sharing a car - if that means sharing with your spouse or partner you could always insure your partner's car with someone who will recognise for up to 3 years. Then your NCB will be available to use on your own car again in a year's time. Alternating the policyholder every year is the standard way to keep two NCBs going when you're temporarily a one car family. 

Or you could always just shrug and get on with life.

You say all it might save me is £300. 
But it it will cost me £300 the next so on without it. 
Say £1500 in 5 years. 

It's take me 16 years of careful driving, no claims, and plenty of money just to get that discount. 
Now to have someone take it away is rubbish. 
I have been sharing a car, while insured on a van too without no lapse in cover. 
I have just not been a main driver on a vehicle policy for 2.4 years. 

If insurers bend the rules again and I have to reply on any NCD I would have sweet fa to show for myself and missed the opportunity to get them restored by going to someone that accepts a max 3 year lapse. 

The cars insurance that I am sharing doesn't run out until next March. So I can't put myself as a main driver on that with anyone else and my 3 years would have run out by then. 

Aretnap

midimanuser said:

Aretnap said:

midimanuser said:

The max discount they give is 24%. So in theory all of these insurance companies have been erroding my NCDs for years and they practically amount to nothing. 

A meager £300 off for 9 years NCD. That's about £33 for every year of NCD they take into effect as they disregard anything above that.

This is a Good Thing.

Obviously there's a maximum number of years insurers will take into account at all. They don't care whether your 17 year old self had an accident 20 years ago or not - why would they? I'm a very different person to my 17 year old self and I'm sure that you are too.

Plus if insurers did give you credit for decades and decades of "hard graft and safe driving" (most of us just call it "owning a car"), the flip side would be that if you'd had an accident on the way to an Oasis gig, you'd still have to declare it, and pay extra as a result, a couple of decades later. Plenty of people would see that as an outrage as well.

In any event as had already been mentioned, the notion that NCB represents a "discount" in any meaningful sense of the word has always been a fiction. The large majority of people have full NCB, so what you get with full NCB is really the standard price. By "eroding your NCDs to practically nothing" all they're actually doing is penalising people less heavily for having had accidents, or for having little driving history. Or indeed for having not insured a car of their own for the last couple of years.

I'm not really sure what you're angry about now -the fact that the thing they've so wantonly and unfairly taken away turned out not to have been worth all that much after all? Or just the fact that you're not being penalised enough for not having and various NCB?

midimanuser said:

So now I have two options. 
1. Pay the extra £300 and lose my 16yrs NCB. 
2. Purchase a bargain car and insure it for as little as possible with someone that gives 3 years grace. 

Going to the expense of buying and insuring another car just to save (less than) £300 on next year's insurance bill seems a little drastic, but if preserving your NCD is really a hill that you want to die on then go right ahead.

Or you mention sharing a car - if that means sharing with your spouse or partner you could always insure your partner's car with someone who will recognise for up to 3 years. Then your NCB will be available to use on your own car again in a year's time. Alternating the policyholder every year is the standard way to keep two NCBs going when you're temporarily a one car family. 

Or you could always just shrug and get on with life.

You say all it might save me is £300. 
But it it will cost me £300 the next so on without it. 
Say £1500 in 5 years. 

It certainly won't cost you £300 every year going forward, because you'll be building it up again, and as you can see from the table I posted above the bulk of the discount comes in the first couple of years or so anyway.

So you'll have maybe a 20% discount with 1 year's NCD - which means only a £100 extra cost next year. Then maybe £50 the year after. In 5 years time the difference between 5 years and twenty-something years NCD will likely be a rounding error on your premium. 

midimanuser said:

The cars insurance that I am sharing doesn't run out until next March. So I can't put myself as a main driver on that with anyone else and my 3 years would have run out by then. 

If you're really desperate you could always look into cancelling the current policy on the car that you've been sharing and insuring it yourself from now. There'll be a cancellation fee to pay - but balance that against the savings from preserving your NCD. 

It's who the policyholder is who matters from an NCD perspective by the way - the main driver and the policyholder are not necessarily the same person.