Maintaining NCD for additional driver

roadweary

I'm married and have just sold my car.  My wife has a car on which I have always been a named driver and we have a new quote now that there will only be 1 car in the household.

Eventually I'll save up and get a new car....but that's in a timescale of years not months.

As a named driver, how long will I maintain my no claims discount for?  Is there any way to maintain it permanently, or will we need to change the insurance each year alternating the main driver?  And does it matter that the car is in my wife's name if we want to do this?

Another thing, very very rarely used, but I believe with fully comp insurance, as the holder of that insurance (the main driver) you are insured to drive any vehicle, with permission, on a 3rd party insured basis.

You don't get this as a named driver on another policy.  Again, is there any way to maintain that right to drive other cars with 3rd party insurance?

Thanks

Car_54

1. NCD is normally honoured for two years.

2. Alternating the policy holder is the way to go. Insurers generally don't care if the car is in a partner's name.

3. Driving other cars (DOC) cover used to be the norm on fully comp policies. That's no longer the case: some do, some don't.

4. AFAIK there's no way to get that as a named driver. 

wongataa

roadweary said:

As a named driver, how long will I maintain my no claims discount for?  Is there any way to maintain it permanently, or will we need to change the insurance each year alternating the main driver?  And does it matter that the car is in my wife's name if we want to do this?

Named drivers don't accrue NCD as a general rule.  Some insurers may give named drivers NCD if they get their own insurance policy with that insurer.

The way to keep NCD alive between two people is have one person insure the car with the other a named driver for one year and then swap for the next year and so on.  NCD is generally valid for two years.

Another thing, very very rarely used, but I believe with fully comp insurance, as the holder of that insurance (the main driver) you are insured to drive any vehicle, with permission, on a 3rd party insured basis.

You don't get this as a named driver on another policy.  Again, is there any way to maintain that right to drive other cars with 3rd party insurance?

Driving other cars cover for insurance holders is not guaranteed.  Check the policy documents.  Named drivers do not get this cover even if the main driver has it.  If you want cover to drive another car you can get temporary insurance cover for short term periods (day/week/month).

Aretnap

roadweary said:

Another thing, very very rarely used, but I believe with fully comp insurance, as the holder of that insurance (the main driver) you are insured to drive any vehicle, with permission, on a 3rd party insured basis.

You don't get this as a named driver on another policy.  Again, is there any way to maintain that right to drive other cars with 3rd party insurance?

Probably not with a mainstream policy. There are high net worth insurers like Hiscox and Chubb who will sell you a policy that provides comprehensive cover for all named drivers to drive other cars, but (1) it's not cheap and (2) they tend to only be interested if you have a rather expensive car, and often you have to use their expensive home insurance as well. Assuming you don't want to jump through those hoops, I don't think any bog-standard policy sold through comparison sites includes driving other cars cover for anyone other than the policyholder.

As above do not assume that even as policyholder you automatically have cover to drive other cars - some policies include it, some don't. You would need to read your policy documents to find out - if they don't say whether you are covered to drive other cars, it means that you're not.

roadweary

Thanks all.  My wife has called and confirmed she is insured to drive other cars.  It's a renewal with Ageas and seems quite reasonable, so we'll go with that and swap drivers - which effectively means cancelling the policy and taking a new one in my name, next year.

It's a bit of a faff and potentially will cost more money - although who knows, sometimes they offer better deals to new customers - but we'll find out then.

In the meantime, I'll be sure to get proof of my no-claims from my current insurer.  I think it's currently around 12 years.

Thanks again.

DullGreyGuy

roadweary said:

Another thing, very very rarely used, but I believe with fully comp insurance, as the holder of that insurance (the main driver) you are insured to drive any vehicle, with permission, on a 3rd party insured basis.

Make sure you read the policy carefully, not all insurers offer this any more, its normally just the policyholder not main driver but could be the other way round, some specify the lent car must have a policy itself too others dont etc.

I assume you're aware but DoC is third party only cover so no cover for any damage to the vehicle you are driving and no assistance at all in a non-fault claim. 

There are some High Net Worth policies that do give DoC to named drivers and even give Comprehensive cover but HNW Car is not always sold standalone, for example Hiscox do sell it but you must hold their Home insurance before they'll vote for Motor. 

chrisw

It's unlikely you'll lose 12 years, the discount usually max's out between 5 and 9 years. If you are middle aged-ish with an average car living in an average area the difference between no and 12 years NCD might not be that great.

And some companies may offer a named driver discount if you subsequently take out a policy with them.

Bigphil1474

Also remember that the driving other cars bit doesn't include your own other car, and (probably) other cars in the household. 

DullGreyGuy

Bigphil1474 said:

Also remember that the driving other cars bit doesn't include your own other car, and (probably) other cars in the household. 

Or vehicles hired/leased to you 

As always read the policy book as there are nuances of difference between each policy and you dont want to fall foul of such a nuance leaving you uninsured for an accident.