No claims bonus and mobility car.

Thea

My disabled mum is needing a mobility car. I will be the one driving it. I have my own car but it’s not suitable for her needs and has no space for a wheelchair.

The plan is to get a mobility car (she qualifies) and give up my own car since I live with her and have no need or space for 2 cars. However the mobility car comes insured so I won’t be able to earn no claims bonus- currently I have 15+ years ( although I think they stop counting after 9).

I know the no claims bonus last for 2 years when not insured on a policy. Should I give up my car and lose my NCB or should I buy a cheap run around and keep it off the road just to keep the insurance going. Obviously I would report any accidents to both insurance policies at renewal. I don’t really want to give up my NCB as my insurance was an extra £300 this year despite nothing changing. My mum has a life limiting illness so I will need to buy my own car again at some point. 

knightstyle

Cheap run around will cost more than you will save on future insurance.
You can only use a motability car for the benefit of the person it is registered to.
Years ago I was in a similar position and Direct line would honour the discount earned as a named driver on a motability car, not sure if they still do.

Herzlos

Assuming you're not paying much for insurance you're probably better off just changing your car for a more suitable one and using the disability payment to pay towards it.

Motability will give you a new car on a 3 year lease for some/all of the disability payment, and include tax, insurance and servicing, but the car is only meant to be used for the direct benefit of the disability user. That means you're not technically able to use it for your own work/leisure etc. You'd also lose any NCB if you go more than 2 years without your own car and can have the car taken off you at more or less a whim should they decide that your mum doesn't qualify for whatever reason.

The other consideration is reliability; with motability you're getting a new car with a guaranteed courtesy car if it's not available, so if you *need* a car for day to day life it's maybe worth it from the perspective, but if you can manage for a few days without one it may be better to have your own.

We bought a year old ex-mobility car that's paid for entirely from the mobility part of the budget, but my insurance is only about ~£300/year. The equivalent car via motability would cost more because there would have been a fairly substantial deposit as well. In another 2 years the car will be paid off and we plan to keep it until it's no longer suitable.