FAQ: What is No Claims Discount and when does it expire? 6 November 2019

Q:What is a no claims discount?

A.No claims discount is a discount you get on your car insurance premium for each claim-free year of driving on the policy. It's your insurance company's way of saying thank you for being a safe driver. The more claim-free years you have, the better your discount will be.

Q:How do you build up no claims?

A.You build up your no claims discount for each claim-free year on your car insurance policy.

If you do have an accident that isn’t your fault, your no claims discount will not be affected if your insurer is able to recover all the costs of the accident from the other driver’s insurers.

Q.How do you prove what no claims discount you are entitled to?

A:Your renewal notice from your current insurer will include information on how many years no claims you have and you can use this to back up your application when you switch to a new insurer.

Q:What can impact your no claims discount?

A. Your no claims discount is affected by claims on your policy, but it won’t be affected by claims on your policy caused by another driver as long as your insurer can recover all the costs of the claim from the other driver’s side.

However, if there is no other car involved and no other insurer to recover from, your no claims discount will be affected.

Windscreen claims also don’t affect your no claims discount.

Q:What happens to my no claims discount if I cause an accident?

A.Insurers have different scales of no claims discount and the extent to which your no claims discount is affected will depend on the individual insurer’s scale, what level of no claims discount you start the policy year with, and how many fault claims you have in the policy year. For information on how your own discount could be affected, it’s always best to speak to us.

Q:Can named drivers build up no claims?

A.It’s only the policy holder that earns the no claims discount.

So usually, if you're a new driver using your parents' policy or are the second driver of your spouse's car, you'll start from zero if you get your own car insurance in the future. Depending on certain criteria we do have companies which will give “introductory” NCB discounts so please contact us to discuss this further.

Q:What if I get into an accident and don't tell my insurer?

A.Sorting out the costs of an accident privately might sound like a good way to avoid impacting your no claims discount, but it's never a good idea. The other party’s claim could turn out to be more expensive than originally thought, meaning that they claim through their own insurer who in turn may contact your insurer. This could result in your insurer refusing to deal with the claim, declaring your policy invalid, and could also affect your no claim discount. You still don't have to make a claim, it's just important to let them know what's going on.

Q:What is no claims discount protection – and do I need it?

A.It takes a lot of careful driving to build up no claims discount, and most drivers desperately want to protect it once they earn it. No Claims Discount Protection lets you keep your discount even if you do get into an accident or need to claim, subject to a maximum number of claims allowed within a certain period.

Q: How long does proof of no claims remain valid?

A.Your proof of no claims will usually be accepted for up to two years after the expiry date shown on your previous policy (some insurers will accept up to three years but this is not the norm). So if you’re off the road or not driving for more than two years, you may have to start from scratch and build up new no claims.

If you have any further queries with regards to No Claims Bonus, or you require some assistance with a quotation please contact us!

Source:https://www.axa.co.uk/car-insurance/tips-and-guides/guide-to-no-claims-discount/