Safe Speed Forums

Further to my last post about No Claims Discount, I asked my insurer (RIAS) to change my 25 year-old daughter from a named driver to the main driver as I was about to give her our Toyota Yaris. The policy had cost £300 because my daughter was 2 weeks under her 25th birthday at the time. They refused, probably because it is a policy for the over-50s, and said that I had to take out a new policy. When my daughter got a policy for herself (for £400 fully comp with Tesco without any NCD), including basing the car in Hertfordshire instead of County Durham, I asked whether I would get any rebate for cancelling the existing policy. The insurer said that I had to cancel the policy as "it is illegal to have 2 policies on one vehicle at the same time". That's a new one on me - but I can see that it would be fraudulent to make more than one claim for a vehicle at the same time.
I duly cancelled and received the princely rebate of £20.67 after a £10 admin charge had been made. So the annual rate is some £420 and unless they send confirmation that my NCD is valid at 30th March, I may be back on zero NCD for a second car come July 2006.

For the first time in my life, car insurance is now not really an issue. My insurance company are really good and helpfull too.

They is no milage to be made from being a named driver, it's much better to get your own policy ASAP, dad can still pay for it obviously.

It's worth investigating weather to put yourself on your daughters insurance policy as a named driver. That, for some reason briings the cost down.

I have a very slow (90cc) scooter for the sole purpose of cheaply gaining some no claims bonus for a bigger bike. They are quite happy to take no claims of you no matter what you drive or ride and don't stipulate my co claimes has to be for a particular size of bike.

Yep, that one has really got me beat too!

I insured both my own and my wife's car online, so was able to play around at my leisure to see what options gave the cheapest premium. I found that if I put my wife onto my policy it lowered the premium, which I thought was strange, as she is younger than me.

But then I tried the opposite, and found that naming myself on my wife's policy also lowered her premium. What on Earth is all that about? Surely we can't each be a lower risk than the other?

I'm also a bit incredulous about how it could possibly be illegal to hold two insurance policies on the same vehicle, although the Insurance Industry in general does seem to be able to make the law up to as it goes along - who else could get away with offering discounts to people solely on the basis of their sex?

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Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!

I once worked in the insurance industry (never did motor insurance though...) and I can't explain it!

Same thing happened to us. Mrs K's car is only worth about £1500 and I only drive it once in a blue moon so I used to drive it on my policy's "driving other cars" clause....

We asked for a quote 3 years ago to add me on to her policy as a named driver and it would cost £30 more a year. We asked again last year, after we got married, and adding me on as a named driver now saved £50.

Now I really can't work that one out, same drivers, same car, same insurer (the one who shares a name with a former Prime Minister), but because we eloped to Gretna Green, it makes £80 difference...

It may well seem perverse on a case-by-case basis, but the insurance companies must have data that vehicles with two named drivers have fewer accidents than those with one.

Also it might be the case that people in stable relationships are, on average, safer drivers.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

But that's the bit that's impossible to understand. Insurers give typically 10-15% discount for "insured only driver" cover, on the basis if there's only one driver, in theory the vehicle will be on the road less than if there are two.

I can understand initially why the premium was higher, as Mrs K would automatically loose her discount above, and I'm slightly younger...

But how do we now have a much lower premium? I could understand the premium not changing as some insurers allow "husband and wife" to be classed as Insd only driver, but a reduction?

Needless to say, we didnt ask for an explanation (if there is one, apart from "the computer says so...."), just said thanks very much...

I was sort of thinking that, but then I realised that they already knew I was married as a basis for the original quote, so any variation of risk according to the "life stability" angle should already have been allowed for.

The bottom line is that I am rated as a slightly higher risk than my wife (I've proved this by running a theoretical quote through for the same car in each of our names). So on that basis, I'm baffled as to how placing me as a named driver on her policy can reduce her overall risk!

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CSCP Latin for beginners...
Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!

No true IME. I've recently turned 25, but for the past four or five years, I've been driving either a group 18 or a group 16 car, which entails very expensive insurance quotes. Adding my mother on as second driver (despite her not living anywhere near me, or ever using the car other than to shift it off the drive if I'm staying over for the night), drops my premium by around 20% every single year.

I try taking her off, premium goes up, back on, down it goes. Doesn't make much sense, but there you go...

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Carl Prescott

Insured only driver discount isnt given by some insurers below a certain age eg 25, especially for higher grouped cars...

There's no logic to many quote scenarios as we've described.

The info on Insd only discount came from a major motor insurers' rating guide I had in my possession a couple of years ago. Every company is different though, freedom of choice...

At the end of the day - got a decent NBC, got years on your licence - they want you, so demand decent terms.
In this class, if they refuse you , go elsewhere - there's plenty of good companies that will insure you.

In this day and age - you've earned it - make them pay for it - i do.
If you've got the bonus and the record, demand a discount - or go elsewhere - a decent company will drop prices to get business - they know if they don't others will

I'm in the same boat - I however have 6 points for speeding.

When me and wifey weren't married - I would understandably bump her premium up by a couple of hundred (1.8 engine)

Now we are married the premium is down to £250?!! Protected with all the additionals they flog.

Funnily enough my premium on my own car (1.4) with the wife on as well is £250 as well, with the same company - Frizzell.

If you are a member of the CSMA - Frizzell is well worth checking out - For the wife they were £170 cheaper than anyone else including the £17 fee to join the CSMA. For me, they were £285 cheaper than my renewal, and £400+ cheaper than those quotemehappy muppets.

To join the CSMA is a bit of a chore however - you need to work for the civil service or a company that has links to it, or be a relative of an existing member.

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6 points for speeding - higher insurance costs. Its the £120 for the B&W photos of the car I object to!

Putting my (now ex) girlfriend on the policy reduced my premium noticeably. Presumably they figure that since you're with someone you're less likely to want to go out and kill yourself (obviously they haven't met some people's ex'es!)

We get on pretty well and she stayed on the policy until being replaced by my current GF, and hey, I might have let her drive my current car at some point so why not? They also did not ask for any details other than her surname and initial so lots of women could have driven my car and been insured.