# Expired no claim bonus



## stingray (30 Apr 2003)

I hold a full u.k drivers licence.
I travelled to one of the Gulf States as a medical consultant for three years and arrived Dublin to take up another appointment only to be told by an insurance company i asked for a quote that i cannot be given a quote because my u.k no claim bonus expired within the three years i wsa in the gulf states.
what do i do?


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## Joey (30 Apr 2003)

*NCB*

Did you drive in the gulf states?


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## Slash (30 Apr 2003)

*Re: NCB*

If you did drive a car while you were abroad, you may be able to get a letter from an insurance company in that country stating that you had a claim free driving period. An Irish insurance company may accept this and grant you one or two years' no claims bonus, but they are *not* obliged to do so. It would be purely at the discretion of the insurance company.


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## garrettod (5 May 2003)

*...*

Hi,

This really pi$$es me off .... Another scam by the insurers.  

If they insurance companies believe that people should be "rewarded" with "cheaper" renewals for continued good driving & no claims on their policies, then why should it matter if one has not been insured for a period of time ?

Bottom line here is that once you've had no claims, you've had no claims !

... also raises the question of why it's a case of *"guilty until proven innocent" *with the insurance companies ?

Why can't we all start off with a "100% no claims bonus" & only lose part, or all of it when we make a claim ?

Reminds me, my own car insurance is due in less than 2 months & having (thankfully) had another year with no claims, I wonder how much my current insurer will try and increase my premium by ? :roll: :cry:

regards

G>


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## SlurrySlump (7 May 2003)

*Don't become a named driver, stay "the insured".*

My wife drove her own car for 25 years with full insurance. I got a company car and kept my own private car as our second car. I was insured as the main driver on our private car and my wife as a named driver as she always had been. We sold her car on which she had the full insurance as the insured.  After 10 years of owning a company car I left the company and gave up the company car and bought a private car. When I tried to get full no claims insurance for my wife she was refused by the insurance company. Despite the fact that she had been driving continuously for 35 years without a claim. The fact that she dropped to a named driver as distinct from "the insured" for 10 years meant she lost her full no claims bonus.


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## rainyday (7 May 2003)

*Re: Don't become a named driver, stay "the insured&quot*

Hi SlurrySlump - I understand your frustration, & I'm likely to face the same problem myself, if I ever get my own car again. Having given up a company car at the time of my last move, I'm now only a 'named driver', & I'm dreading the cost of insurance if I do get back behind the wheel fulltime.

However, I just want to point out that being a main driver or named driver is not a matter of choice or convenience. You're either the main driver or you're not. Anyone who chooses to fudge this issue when applying for insurance risks invalidating their whole insurance policy.


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## Ludraman (7 May 2003)

*Re: Don't become a named driver, stay "the insured&quot*

Hi,

Through my own experience recently, and I know I'm within topic, I was on a Company Insurance for 8 years, so had lost my no claims bonus. On leaving them recently I grappled with the Insurance companies and one of the big-players settled for a letter from the Company Insurer and my MD.

I got the NCB benefit. If anyone needs the name of the Insurer, send me a message.


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## daltonr (8 May 2003)

*Re: Don't become a named driver, stay "the insured&quot*

I know of an Irish guy who lived and worked in Germany
(where they have a real driving test).  He tried to get insurance here are was loaded because he had a German license not an Irish one.  Brilliant.

My own Driving Instructor had been a driving instructor in the UK.  Got loaded when he tried to get insurance in Ireland because he had a UK license.
(He was an instructor for crying out loud).

This was a good few years ago, don't know if things have changed.  

The funniest thing I heard was last time I renewed.  After complaining to the Broker she told me...Get this.....
She reckoned the Insurance Industry would collapse soon if they kept raising premiums.  I couldn't stop laughing.  
Have you warned the companies whose products you sell of their impending demise?  Do you even pass on your customers complaints to them?   Didn't think so.

-Rd


"Some will rob you with a six gun, 
 and some with a fountain pen"


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## SlurrySlump (8 May 2003)

*Don't always opt for a company car.*

Both myself and my wife both drove the same make of car. I was the insured on one car and my wife the named driver. On her car she was the insured and I was the named driver. We each drove each others car an equal amount of times so in effect there was no main driver on either car. Which ever car happened to be nearest the gate was taken. I am not sure how I can explain this to the insurance company as to who the "main driver" is?


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## rainyday (8 May 2003)

*Re: Don't always opt for a company car.*



> so in effect there was no main driver on either car.



But given that on your proposal form, you nominated yourself as the main driver for one of the cars, you could possibly end up having a fight with the insurance company if a large claim came in - Insurance companies are very inventive at finding ways to avoid paying out large claims, or putting the liability onto the policy-holder (though in fairness, I've no personal knowledge of attempts to avoid liability in this way re.motor insurance).


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## Alex (9 May 2003)

*Re: Don't always opt for a company car*



> "Insurance companies are very inventive at finding ways to avoid paying out large claims, or putting the liability onto the policy-holder (though in fairness, I've no personal knowledge of attempts to avoid liability in this way re.motor insurance)"



A large motor claim will invariably be a personal injury claim and there is no way for an insurance company to avoid paying out on these.  They might be (justifiably) annoyed that the customer lied on their proposal form about who the main driver was but the claim will be paid.


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## rainyday (9 May 2003)

*Re: Don't always opt for a company car*



> They might be (justifiably) annoyed that the customer lied on their proposal form about who the main driver was but the claim will be paid.



Hi Alex - Will they 'go after' the driver to try to recover some/all of the costs of the claim directly from the driver? If not, will they take any further action against the driver?


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## Alex (11 May 2003)

*Re: Don't always opt for a company car*

In a husband/wife/2 cars situation, very unlikely.  For a 45 year-old 'main driver' where the 17 year-old son is actually the main driver, there could be a loading at next renewal and if there is a comprehensive part to the claim (ie damage to own car), the insurance company could refuse to pay that bit.  There could also be a request/demand for a 'contribution' (several thousand pounds) towards the cost of a really big claim - in return for not being prosecuted for fraud (it wouldn't be worded this way obviously and would only be done for claims running to several hundred thousand euros).

In case anyone feels like slamming the unfairness of this type of action, just think that, in a situation like this, the family unit (parent/child) is paying a much lower premium (the parent's) than is justified by the risk (the child's).  This is fraud, can run into several thousand pounds a time and is ultimately paid for by all other policyholders.


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## rainyday (12 May 2003)

*Re: Don't always opt for a company car*

Thanks for the update, Alex - Just in case my position wasn't clear, I think it would be absolutely right/fair/reasonable for an insurance company to go after the driver in such a case.


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## Liam D Ferguson (12 May 2003)

*Named drivers*

People should also remember that having someone as a named driver also poses two problems: - 

(1) The named driver will not be accumulating any No Claims Bonus in their own right.  There are very few companies who will acknowledge Named Driver status in full when calculating a premium.  
(2) If Joe Parent, who has a full No Claims Bonus built over a number of years, insures Little Johnny or Mrs. Parent as a Named Driver and either of them has a claim, who's No Claims Bonus gets eliminated?  That's right - Joe Parent.


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## Out There (14 May 2003)

*No Claims Bonus*

I have a full NCB but I'm going to away from Ireland for 2 or 3 years, coming back every 4-6 weeks for weekends etc. 

I'll be insured in the country that I'm going to. Would it be worth my while to replace my current car with something cheap just to keep my NCB?


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