I just received my renewal quote from Direct Line. To my surprise they've given me 2 years no claims bonus even though I've only been insured for one year (it's my first car). All the other details are correct. Should I just accept their quote price? I was just concerned that it might invalidate the insurance if they've given me the incorrect discount.
Thanks, Blinky
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I've just started my second year with DirectLine. I did my usual trek online around the direct insurers about a month before the car insurance ran out and kept a note of the best two or three.
To my surprise DirectLine's renewal note not only beat them all handsomely, but the premium was also cut from £193 to £176...:-)
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Direct Line used to have an introductory offer of 1 years NCB for new drivers, if your first year was claim free the next year you would have 2 years NCB. Maybe this is the reason for your confusion.
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Thanks Marc, probably explains it.
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These "introductory" or "bonus" NCDs make a mockery of the whole system. My girlfriend has just genuinely earnt her third year and it's renewal time. She phoned for a quote and they asked if she has use of another car. She said yes (mine, though she never actually drives it although she is insured). They asked how many years I have (six, although it's really fourteen?!) They then said that if she sends in my renewal notice, they'll raise hers to 5 years.
Of course, I don't mind if my missus gets to save money she's not entitled to (who wouldn't!) But across the industry, the system is being degraded, people who don't deserve to are getting cheap insurance, which inevitably means that the rest of us are paying a bit more to compensate.
Just to contradict myself a bit, my insurance this year inexplicable dropped (though I did change company) from £650 to £470 on a Civic Type-R. Not bad.
--
Mattster
Boycott shoddy build and reliability.
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Mattster,
I don't understand your points. What they are doing is totally logical;
There is something about you/her which makes you a reasonable or at least better risk
1) 17 year old, licence 1 week, beaten up wreck of a car
Probably quite a high risk and not worthy of any discount.
2) 27 year old, licence 2 years, nice car
Probably still a higher risk, but certainly not as high as 1) and therefore worthy of an intro discount
3) partnered with someone who has good car, high discount, which she drivers.
You trust her, she has experience of driving a fast car, probably her car does less miles because you go out places together in yours, you are responsible indicated by your bonus, she has already confirmed this by earning discount in her own right, then reasonably an even lower risk than 2) and probably worthy of a higher discount.
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But Mark, whilst not wishing to challenge your wealth of insurance knowledge:
Assuming fully comp insurance for both 1 and 2...
Surely the 17yo is no greater risk than the 27yo, in terms of cost of claim during a given time? The 17yo's banger would cost say £1000 to replace when written-off (£500 taking into account 17yo's excess), whereas 27yo could easily cost insurance company £10000 for a bad accident, with a lower excess due to age.
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Thi is an insanely complex area and far too deep to go into here; There are various issues and various implications of those issues.
However, if we keep it a high level then you forget three factors;
likelihood of accident
frequency of accident
severity of accident
It is reasonable to suppose that the AD portion of a claim is quantifiable since that is essentially the value of the insured vehicle. Don\'t forget that whilst a new car will cost more if it is damaged, it is less likely to be damaged.
It is reasonable, although slightly less so, to suppose that the TPD portion of the claim is likely to be similar across the three instances.
However, it is most likely that the likelihood of an accident and the frequency of those accidents will be the truly variable factors between the differing risk profiles. And for that you pay.
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Why does it matter? Insurance premuims are not us to us; they are up to the insurance company!!
Treat it like a black box; you tell the nice people at the ins. co. the answers to your questions and they tell you a number. Ta Dah! Then, choose the one with the number you prefer!
If they are willing to insure you for 50p, great! If they are only willing to insure you for £9,999, they that is their choice, it's a free world.
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Personally I tend to change insurance companies every year - there will always be another one who will insure you for less.
Or I did until I tried Liverpool Victoria. If you've got any speeding/claims history...they only ask if you've had MORE THAN one speeding ban (and only for a single offence, not totting up!!!) and you get inclusive Class 1 business insurance for two drivers. Only £50 excesses as well!!! No mileage questions...in fact very few questions.
Payment by instalments with very small penalty.
You can even guranteee your no claims bonus for about £20 per year - unlimited claims and no loss of bonus.
They were the cheapest for me this year, beating Elephant and Direct Line by a golden mile...
That's the benefit of them being a non-profit making mutual!!!
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True - I have just rung Liverpool Victoria for a renewal for my wife's car: they are £100 cheaper than Direct Line (who have aklways been competitive).
Still £377 for a one litre Micra but tht's the price you pay for 'allowing' your (teenage) daughter to write off both previous car and NCB!
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Please take care with LV.
I have no experience with them, but they are currently being roasted on the Porsche Club GB forum as (it is reported) they unilaterally changed certain policy terms - sometimes without telling policyholders because they "didn't want to swamp them in paperwork".
Many Porsche drivers took their policies because (i) track day cover was free & automatic and (ii) modifications were of no concern provided they didn't affect power output. They later received letters telling them that they were no longer covered for track days. One driver who called (just as a courtesy) to tell them about some mods (new seat, roll cage IIRC) was told in no uncertain terms that this poliy condition had been changed, that his policy was cancelled and that all cover would cease in 7 days.
As I say, though, none of this is from my direct experience.
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As with the terms and conditions of any insurance company, they can change the terms of your policy, however I VERY much doubt that they did this without writing to the insured customers.
I would take the spleen venting of Porsche drivers with a very large pinch of salt!
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They may well have changed the Ts&Cs at renewal.
However, there is no way I believe that they did it during a policy year, nor do I believe that they didn't send out revised documentation.
Now, as to whether the broker passed it on or not, that may be a different matter.
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As I said, all the info is secondhand. If anyone is interested then the link is:
www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=75204&mpage=1&...2;
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