Can you collect No Claims Discount on Home Insurance?

bigpappa

Does no claims discount work for home insurance like it works for car insurance?

I have been with the same insurer but their prices crept up so I changed but my previous insurer said they don't provide evidence of no claims though I told my new insurer   I had x years from my previous provider.

dunstonh

Does no claims discount work for home insurance like it works for car insurance?

No.

Some providers have it as a marketing gimmick that is specific to them but its not an industry norm in the same way car insurance is.

Aretnap

It's not a well developed concept in home insurance - some insurers use it, some don't use it at all, some will phrase a question along the lines of "how many years have you held home insurance for without making a claim?", without referring to NCD as a formal thing as such. 

The ones that do use it are presumably fairly used to dealing with people switching from insurers that don't so if they ask for "proof of NCD" they presumably have a mechanism for people who can't provide it as they can with car insurance. 

NCD is little more than a marketing gimmick in any type of insurance - it's just that for car insurance it's one than nearly all insurers have adopted; for home insurance its adoption has been much patchier for some reason.

MyRealNameToo

bigpappa said:

Does no claims discount work for home insurance like it works for car insurance?

I have been with the same insurer but their prices crept up so I changed but my previous insurer said they don't provide evidence of no claims though I told my new insurer   I had x years from my previous provider.

NCD has no legal basis, it all comes down to contract terms and different companies practices. 

In Motor it is fairly well developed and 90% of companies do more or less the same thing but there are definite variances given some have things like a "vandalism promise" saying they won't reduce your NCD if you claim for vandalism to your car whereas most would count it as a fault claim and reduce your NCD. 


In Home it's very undeveloped. Many insurers dont have a concept of NCD, they instead ask how many years you have continuously held insurance and how many claims have you made in the last X years. It has become more common in recent years though but still the rules between companies vary more than motor... with Motor you have a (fault) claim and if you have 5+ years NCD you drop to 3, in Home some do that, some will drop you to 0 and others didnt have an NCD to start with. 

I've seen a few that have even started offering NCD Protection of late but didnt bother reading how it works to compare it to motor. 


If your proposed new insurer does offer NCD then speak to them BEFORE buying about how to answer the Q if your old insurer had no such concept. As soon as people start deviating from the norm they need to work out how they are going to deal with scenarios like this... like when the first motor insurer started offering up to 9 years NCD but most renewal letters said 5+ years. 

flaneurs_lobster

Aretnap said:

NCD is little more than a marketing gimmick in any type of insurance - it's just that for cat insurance it's one than nearly all insurers have adopted; for home insurance its adoption has been much patchier for some reason.

I assume you mean car, but maybe NCD for pet insurance is a thing?

Still a gimmick.

MyRealNameToo

flaneurs_lobster said:

Aretnap said:

NCD is little more than a marketing gimmick in any type of insurance - it's just that for cat insurance it's one than nearly all insurers have adopted; for home insurance its adoption has been much patchier for some reason.

I assume you mean car, but maybe NCD for pet insurance is a thing?

Still a gimmick.

just cats, dogs can't be trusted with a NCD

bigpappa

So there is no benefit to being loyal to your current insurer? 

MyRealNameToo

bigpappa said:

So there is no benefit to being loyal to your current insurer? 

NCD moves with you so it never created loyalty. 

Some do try to create loyalty, like Direct Line with their Named Driver NCD which they hoped only they would accept, and certainly it lasted a while but then some others also started accepting the NDNCD which DL has no control over. 

Historically, financially there was benefit for being disloyal. new customers got discounts that loyal customers didnt. Prices increase on the quiet as discounts for the car being older, one more years ncd, one year more driving experience etc weren't passed on but the regulations were changed and all that was banned. 

The main benefit of loyalty is not being questioned so much at claims stage. One key fraud indicator is proximity of the claim to when you joined. I mean its not rocket science, someone doesnt have insurance then on Monday decides to buy insurance for the first time, covers a diamond ring, Tuesday they phone to say it was stolen from their pocket and so claim the £2,000 for a replacement. 

Now it could be true but you have other admit it smells, whereas as a claims handler I look, I can see you have been paying an extra £75 premium to insure a £2k ring for the last 20 years, yes your policy only renewed on Monday but I have a lot less immediate concerns of if the theft is real or made up etc.