Keeping unused No Claims Bonus after 2 years

[fooman]

Hi, it's coming up 2 years since we went down to one car (which my wife insures) so I've not had an active insurance policy in that time.

I had 10+ years NCB and would like to keep it, but might not be accepted after 2 years (3 for Admiral though) are there any options other than getting and insuring a banger? Years ago Adrian Flux offered me a retainer policy but I did had insurance with them at the time. I suppose I could have switched insurance on our primary car but wife recently reinsured anyway.

[blue_haddock]

swap between you and your wife insuring it each year?

[Hoofy]

I've wondered this. Wonder how the insurers would feel if you bought a car for £200 then let it rot on your drive just to have something to insure?

[Dingu]

Hoofy said:

I've wondered this. Wonder how the insurers would feel if you bought a car for £200 then let it rot on your drive just to have something to insure?

Pretty damn good, premium with basically no chance of a claim. Sounds ideal.

OP would be out of pocket unless it’s quite a short period.
Depending on the OPs age his 10 years may well be worth relatively little.

[Hoofy]

Dingu said:

Hoofy said:

I've wondered this. Wonder how the insurers would feel if you bought a car for £200 then let it rot on your drive just to have something to insure?

Pretty damn good, premium with basically no chance of a claim. Sounds ideal.

OP would be out of pocket unless it’s quite a short period.
Depending on the OPs age his 10 years may well be worth relatively little.

Yep. I wonder if he bought a £200 shed off Facebook, he could sell it to a scrap collector for that price or more in 2-3 years' time when he wants a second car? It depends on the premium the OPer is currently paying, I guess. And it only needs to be done at the end of the 2nd year when he needs to use it or lose it. However, as you say, it might not be worth the cost and losing it might only cost him an extra 30% if he bought his next car after 5 years.

[bodhi]

I insured an old Punto I had on the drive for specifically this purpose - to keep my no claims - and Tesco were more than happy to oblige. I even got a massively reduced premium as the car wouldn't be going anywhere.

That was 15 years ago - not sure if it's still offered?

[ARHarh]

Before doing anything get a quote for a car using your ncb and one without using it. If you are old enough to have gained 10 years ncb it probably won't make nearly as much difference as you think.

[srappy]

ARHarh said:

Before doing anything get a quote for a car using your ncb and one without using it. If you are old enough to have gained 10 years ncb it probably won't make nearly as much difference as you think.

Indeed. Strangely enough my insurance was actually a few pounds cheaper without any NCB. No idea how that works at all.

[Pit Pony]

My mum hadn't had insurance in her name since 1994.
Dad died in January and as she'd been a named driver since 2001 when he retired (before that he worked for the NHS and had a crown car with no insurance (insured by the government for any driver).
Insurance company cancelled his policy and refunded the remaining premium and gave her 15 years no claims bonus with a policy at the same price.

I recently got a quote (not agreed value) for my Sorned mx5 with no ncb ready for when i finally mot it again. . £190.

[andy43]

Hoofy said:

Dingu said:

Hoofy said:

I've wondered this. Wonder how the insurers would feel if you bought a car for £200 then let it rot on your drive just to have something to insure?

Pretty damn good, premium with basically no chance of a claim. Sounds ideal.

OP would be out of pocket unless it’s quite a short period.
Depending on the OPs age his 10 years may well be worth relatively little.

Yep. I wonder if he bought a £200 shed off Facebook, he could sell it to a scrap collector for that price or more in 2-3 years' time when he wants a second car? It depends on the premium the OPer is currently paying, I guess. And it only needs to be done at the end of the 2nd year when he needs to use it or lose it. However, as you say, it might not be worth the cost and losing it might only cost him an extra 30% if he bought his next car after 5 years.

I have also wondered if you actually need to own it? Buy it, insure it third party for almost sod all, sell it, carry on insuring. Would anyone notice?

[MattsCar]

Cancel wife's insurance and pay cancellation fee.

Insure in your name with wife as a driver and cancel after a month.

Ask for a NCD certificate.

Reinsure in wife's name.

Can't see any issues with that?

In fact, I wonder if there would be any issues with them providing an NCD certificate if you cancelled within the 14 day period...you would have to ask the insurance.

[stevemcs]

It seems to expire after 2 years - i got caught out a few years ago, so either swap between yours and hers or buy a banger.

[rhamnousia5]

blue_haddock said:

swap between you and your wife insuring it each year?

Isn’t this the simplest way to do it? Just alternate it. As others have said, NCD seems to make little difference (some, but not a huge amount) as you reach your mid-30s onwards.

[Sheepshanks]

We did this with LV, but my wife remained policyholder, but with me as the NCB holder. One advantage is we could both have DOC cover (even though we've never used it, I like to have it) on the policy.

As others have suggested though, NCB hardly makes any difference when you get a new quote. They go off driving record - as long as you've got a clean record my experience of adding a second car recently is that NCB hardly makes any difference.

[Chromegrill]

Is there a limit to the duration of insurance? At the end of the two years, could you buy and insure a banger for a month then sell it, cancel the insurance and wait another two years before taking out a new policy again?

[Hoofy]

andy43 said:

I have also wondered if you actually need to own it? Buy it, insure it third party for almost sod all, sell it, carry on insuring. Would anyone notice?

I wondered that but does it come under fraud?

I mean, as you say, do you need to own it? Just pick a random shed in your street and insure it. Don't tell the owner, continue to rack up NCB years.

[LastPoster]

Hasn't there been an issue as posted on PH before of people failing to cancel a policy on a sold car, which the new owner fails to insure then has an accident and the existing policy (in the name of the previous owner) is claimed against?

[p4cks]

Ask yourself... how much is it worth?

Go on to a price comparison site and use the same vehicle, but one with your NCD and one without. You'll likely find the difference is minimal... I recently lost my NCD after a fault claim and the insurance on my daily (ID3) my weekend car (Gallardo) only went up by just over £100 each

[ARHarh]

How much are you guys paying for insurance, that buying a car and insuring it to keep your NCB is a cost saving?

I pay £650 a year to insure 3 cars, the most expensive is £260 odd. I know they are old and not of great value but I can't see that if you NCB is saving you, the cost of a a car and insurance, to save 50% on your insurance. Or have I done the maths wrong??

[Donbot]

Hoofy said:

andy43 said:

I have also wondered if you actually need to own it? Buy it, insure it third party for almost sod all, sell it, carry on insuring. Would anyone notice?

I wondered that but does it come under fraud?

I mean, as you say, do you need to own it? Just pick a random shed in your street and insure it. Don't tell the owner, continue to rack up NCB years.

You can't have two separate policies on one vehicle. A new policy overwrites the existing one, so if they claim / get stopped by the police you are going to have some explaining to do . . .