Question about No Claims Discount Certificates

LouiseAH

For the last few years I have changed insurance companies on my car to get the best price and have forgot to get the No Claims Certificates at the end of the policy. Can the Insurance Companies check to see if I have got the 9 Years No Claims that I entered into website when I got my latest quote.

400ixl

In many cases yes, if it has been updated on the central database.

If they can't and want proof they will contact you and request it. Usually they want to see your renewal letter which states the level of NCD you have.

ButterCheese

I've changed companies every year (except 1) for the last 8 or so years, and never been asked for any proof.  I think (and the post above supports this) they have a central database which is automatically updated with your years of NCD upon the expiry of the policy.  I'm assuming that's the case becasue how else would they know?  And knowing what I do about insurance companies, they would not take your word for it if there wasn't some sort of official record to back it up

Mildly_Miffed

There's no such thing as a universal formal certificate - normally, your renewal letter will suffice, if the insurers can't confirm the details among themselves.

DullGreyGuy

ButterCheese said:

I've changed companies every year (except 1) for the last 8 or so years, and never been asked for any proof.  I think (and the post above supports this) they have a central database which is automatically updated with your years of NCD upon the expiry of the policy.  I'm assuming that's the case becasue how else would they know?  And knowing what I do about insurance companies, they would not take your word for it if there wasn't some sort of official record to back it up

Insurance is a contract of trust... even before the NCD db was created some insurers didnt validate NCD until point of claim. In the same way insurers dont validate when you become the owner of the vehicle or what points you have on your licence etc (slightly different now that you can give your driving licence number). There are some brokers who do ask for proof of everything as part of their post sales checks. 

It's ultimately a commercial decision as to what point they want to run things. 

LouiseAH said:

For the last few years I have changed insurance companies on my car to get the best price and have forgot to get the No Claims Certificates at the end of the policy. Can the Insurance Companies check to see if I have got the 9 Years No Claims that I entered into website when I got my latest quote.

The MIB run a number of industry centralised db like CUE, MID and NCD, whilst MID is compulsory all its other databases are optional... some are even a bit naughty and read what others have entered but dont contribute themselves. 

vacheron

In my experience the inusrer will only check the accrued NCD of the last policy and assume that the previous insurer did their due dilligence for the years before that, etc. etc. 

Often you don't need to provide it, on my last 2 or 3 switches they have done some kind of automated check and quickly sent me confirmation that I do not need to send any further proof as it has already been electronically verified. 

Poorly_Feet

Does anybody know if Aviva ask for proof or check against a database? I'm thinking of switching to them and I have 28 years of NCD yet my renewal from LV says 9 yrs+ (maximum). Playing with the comparison websites shows that putting 9 yrs NCD gives a higher price with Aviva than selecting 20 years+ (the real figure) so if Aviva rely on my renewal letter, I'm going to pay more. Thanks in advance.

Car_54

Poorly_Feet said:

Does anybody know if Aviva ask for proof or check against a database? I'm thinking of switching to them and I have 28 years of NCD yet my renewal from LV says 9 yrs+ (maximum). Playing with the comparison websites shows that putting 9 yrs NCD gives a higher price with Aviva than selecting 20 years+ (the real figure) so if Aviva rely on my renewal letter, I'm going to pay more. Thanks in advance.

AFAIK there is no such database. Insurers simply accept what the previous insurer says. So your "real" figure is 9, not 25. 

DullGreyGuy

Car_54 said:

Poorly_Feet said:

Does anybody know if Aviva ask for proof or check against a database? I'm thinking of switching to them and I have 28 years of NCD yet my renewal from LV says 9 yrs+ (maximum). Playing with the comparison websites shows that putting 9 yrs NCD gives a higher price with Aviva than selecting 20 years+ (the real figure) so if Aviva rely on my renewal letter, I'm going to pay more. Thanks in advance.

AFAIK there is no such database. Insurers simply accept what the previous insurer says. So your "real" figure is 9, not 25. 

https://www.mib.org.uk/media/390912/roadmap_2016_final.pdf

There is one operated by the MIB, was launched in June 2015, its on page 12 of the above doc. 

Poorly_Feet said:

Does anybody know if Aviva ask for proof or check against a database? I'm thinking of switching to them and I have 28 years of NCD yet my renewal from LV says 9 yrs+ (maximum). Playing with the comparison websites shows that putting 9 yrs NCD gives a higher price with Aviva than selecting 20 years+ (the real figure) so if Aviva rely on my renewal letter, I'm going to pay more. Thanks in advance.

Historically Aviva for its core business would only check NCD at the point of claim but checked earlier for some of its side brands (eg QuoteMeHappy), affinity deals and via brokers is a totally different beast. 

Have neither worked with them on Motor nor held a policy with them for a long time. 

DjangoUnchained

i assume that insurance companies never bother checking anything until you make a claim and then checks are made and if youve been false they can invalidate your cover?

DullGreyGuy

DjangoUnchained said:

i assume that insurance companies never bother checking anything until you make a claim and then checks are made and if youve been false they can invalidate your cover?

Varies by company, there are two infamous (on here at least) brokers that will ask you to send your driving licence, V5c etc as soon as the policy incepts. If you said you bought your car April 2024 and the V5c shows it was actually May 2024 then you'll get a bill for the admin of them correcting the date and one for the change in premiums... normally adds circa £160 to the price. Plus a large chunk is admin fees which are all theirs/not shared with the underwriter so nicely doubles their margin.

Insurers run checks in the background, eg against CUE, and will highlight problems then and there. Claims is when most problems are found because its then they get to see what they've been insuring (eg someone insuring what they claim is an unmodified Mini but when inspected has a massive whale tail spoiler, blacked out windows and dropped suspension) and get to have a conversation with them (like all those claims where people say "I was driving to work when..." and the claims handler sees they only have SD&P and had select "no" to commuting.