What is a no claims bonus?
Your no claims bonus is how many years you have held car insurance without making a claim.
As the years without any claims increase, your no claims bonus will increase, resulting in a cheaper insurance premium.
Why do we need a copy of a customer’s no claims bonus?
A copy of a customer’s no claims bonus is required by the insurer as proof that the customer is entitled to their no claims discount and to ensure that claims have been disclosed.
What is acceptable as proof of no claims bonus?
Most insurers only recognise a no-claims bonus up to a certain number of years from the expiry date of the previous policy that it was used on. There may also be restrictions on the type of vehicle that a no claims bonus was earned on, and also the country that the no claims bonus was earned in.
They also cap the discount you can receive after a certain number of years.
What should we check?
On a no claims bonus, we must review:
- Name, address and registration of car match the risk details the customer has purchased with us (if something is different then it needs investigated further).
- Policy number and insurance company the bonus is coming from.
- The no claims bonus matches what we have incepted the policy on.
- Date of inception of the policy and the expiration (as the policy cannot be live in order to transfer the no claims bonus to the new insurer unless you are taking out a second car insurance policy).
- Any claims that are on the bonus match our risk details including date and fault/non fault status
What to do if the car on the no claims bonus does not match the car that is insured with Stroll?
If the car that is detailed on the proof of no claims bonus does not match the car that is insured with Stroll, we will need to verify that the car that is detailed on the no claims bonus is not actively using the no claims bonus. You should contact the customer and ask for more detail, including:
- Is the car that is detailed on the no claims bonus still insured?
- If so, if the policy that the car is insured on using the no claims bonus?
- If the car that is being insured was purchased prior to the date of expiry of the no claims bonus, ask the customer if the car was insured on a different policy than the no claims bonus that is being declared.
- If so, how many years were on that policy?
- If so, were there any claims that may not be declared?
- If so, why is that bonus not being used for this quote?
Chat responses - Why do you need my NCB
Why do you need a copy of my no claims bonus?
The insurer will request a copy of your no claims bonus to check that the details that were supplied by you when setting up your policy are correct. This will confirm that the cover and discount applied is correct.
Why have you contacted me about my no claims validation?
It looks like you have had an accident that we were not aware of, so we need to update your policy to make sure the cover is correct.
It looks like the number of years on your no claims bonus does not match the information on cover, so we need to update your policy for the cover to be valid.
Your no claims bonus is not within the last two years from the previous date of expiry of the last policy, which may impact your insurance cover.
The photo of your no claims bonus is not clear, please resend/upload again.
Further No Claims Bonus Required
Why would we require a further no claims bonus?
The customer may have sent through a no claims bonus that is over two years old. The insurance company requires the no claims bonus to be no older than two years in order for it to be valid. If the no claims bonus is over two years, unless referred to the insurance company, the no claims discount will need amended to 0 years for the cover to remain in place.
The customer’s policy details for the last time they held insurance /current cover ended may be different to what the no claims bonus shows and we need the up to date no claims discount to ensure all details are correct and valid.
Proof of NCB doesn’t match NCB Declared
The no claims bonus sent through may be different to what is on cover. It may be that the previous insurer capped their NCB at 5 years but we have the customer rated on 9 years with their new insurer and they allow discount up to 9 years. Customer may need to contact the previous insurer if we require the full 9 years ncb.
If the NCB does not match the NCB declared and the customer cannot provide us with the correct proof, we will need to adjust the insurance to match the proof.
Chat Responses - Further NCB info required
Why do you require a further no claims bonus?
The insurer will request a copy of your no claims bonus to check the details and the information you have sent through does not match the details you supplied when the policy was purchased.
Why would a no claims bonus be reduced?
If a no claims bonus has been sent in from the customer that is less than what the customer selected/advised and there is no other reason for it (e.g. missing some years from a prior insurer and need to get that), then we need to amend the no claims bonus on risk to match the proof.
- If the NCB is one to five years and differs from the proof, there will be an additional premium to pay (e.g. client selected/advised four years but their NCB proof states three years).
- Some insurers may not apply an additional premium for the NCB being different if it is over five years (e.g. client quoted on seven years NCB and they only have proof of six) so we can make this mid-term adjustment without an additional premium being applied if that insurer caps their discount at five years (some insurers cap at nine years so there may be an additional premium that needs applied).
- Some no claims bonus may be more than nine years but generally no insurers give any more discount after nine years.
- Always check claims history if the no claims bonus sent in is less than what the customer has selected/advised.
Chat responses - Reducing an NCB
Why are you reducing my no claims bonus?
The insurer has requested further evidence of your NCB as the number of years declared is greater the proof received and we have not received this. This is going to result in an additional premium of x
The insurer has requested further evidence of your NCB as the number of years declared is greater the proof received and we have not received this. This will not affect your premium but we will have to reduce your no claims bonus to match the proof.
The insurer needs to reduce your no claims bonus as it does not match the proof that was sent in. In order for you to stay on cover, this needs to be match for the insurance to be valid.
No claims bonus – Car Registration Number Discrepancy
Proof of no claims bonus received but car registration number does not match Stroll
The details of the car on risk should match the details of the car on the proof no claims bonus (unless the customer has just purchased the car and doesn’t insure any other car in their name / the policy is based on an intro bonus).
What should we check if the car registration number is different?
- Date that the car was purchased on the insurance risk. If the car was purchased before this policy was taken out, then the vehicle registration should be the same.
- This may be a change of registration so check the details of the car, if it is the same car then the no claims bonus is valid.
- This may be a second car if the vehicle details on the no claims bonus do not match, even if this is a new car the proof of no claims could still be currently in use with another insurer. If this is actually a second car policy and it has proceeded online as an earned bonus, the policy would require checks to see if it can stay on cover
- the discount allowed
- if the insurer allows intro bonus
- bonus protection
- the least experienced driver on this policy.
- This customer may not have held car insurance in their name for a period of time and they now have a new car and are using their previous no claims bonus on this policy. As long as they use their earned bonus within two years after the previous policy lapsed, this is acceptable.
Chat Responses - Car Registration Number Discrepancy on No Claims Bonus
Why are you querying the car registration number on my no claims bonus?
The insurer needs more information on the no claims bonus as the registration on your no claims bonus does not match the vehicle on cover which was purchased before the policy incepted.