UK car insurance & no claims

Information and questions about driving in Andalucia, buying or importing cars and motorbikes plus legal issues surrounding taxes and licenses.
littleeak
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 234
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:37 pm
Location: Costa Tropical

UK car insurance & no claims

Postby littleeak » Fri Jan 25, 2019 1:39 pm

We're returning to the UK in February and need to insure a UK registered car in the UK. The problem is that a lot of companies won't take the no claims from Spain. Has anyone had experience of this and be able to suggest a company that might?

User avatar
gerryh
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 8046
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:17 pm
Location: Cajiz, Malaga

Re: UK car insurance & no claims

Postby gerryh » Fri Jan 25, 2019 2:12 pm

Assuming you had a no claims bonus in the UK before you moved to Spain, then why not get a quote from the UK company who you where insured with?
Cheers
Gerry
Gerry Harris

littleeak
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 234
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:37 pm
Location: Costa Tropical

Re: UK car insurance & no claims

Postby littleeak » Fri Jan 25, 2019 2:24 pm

Tried that..... but they won't accept it as we've been out of the UK too long! Won't take account Spanish no claims either, even though we're talking about Direct Line & Linea Directa!

User avatar
gerryh
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 8046
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:17 pm
Location: Cajiz, Malaga

Re: UK car insurance & no claims

Postby gerryh » Fri Jan 25, 2019 2:33 pm

Direct Line & Linea Directa are two separate companies with a common name.
Cheers
Gerry
Gerry Harris

User avatar
costakid
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 5754
Joined: Sun Feb 13, 2005 11:55 am
Location: malaga este

Re: UK car insurance & no claims

Postby costakid » Fri Jan 25, 2019 5:12 pm

A friend had the same problem. He got a letter from a family member who had a company policy confirming that my friend had driven a company car for years. That was accepted as a reason for zero NCB.

elusive
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 3275
Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2012 11:49 am
Location: East of Malaga

Re: UK car insurance & no claims

Postby elusive » Fri Jan 25, 2019 7:43 pm

Miro who posts on here got no claims excepted with aviva i think. Morethan told me a few years ago they would except. And try the owners of abbeygate as they are uk owned wyndham ? If you do a search of the forum it will come up. Will you spanish company give you more than 5 years presuming you have it? As thats another problem. So much for been in europe

Miro
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 3584
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:20 pm
Location: Merseyside, formally Torremolinos

Re: UK car insurance & no claims

Postby Miro » Fri Jan 25, 2019 8:30 pm

Aviva were the only one I could find who would accept my Spanish NCB. I requested a letter (via e-mail) from Linea Directa when we left Spain stating my NCB. The first draft simply stated that I had 5 years NCB, and that the discount was 55%. Apparently this is the maximum available in Spain. After some cajoling, they reworded the letter to say that I had been insured with them for 14 years, but only "that from 2012 to 2017 no claims have been reported". So Aviva would only give me 5 years NCB.
I don't think you will be able to get any refund of un-used insurance in Spain. I knew well in advance that we were leaving, so paid quarterly for the last year, and was therefore able to cancel the policy with 9 months remaining and avoid paying any more than the first quarter (which cost a bit more than one quarter of the total!)
My last annual premium in Spain was just under €400 (fully comp). My first year's premium with Aviva was nearly £700 :shock: (similar type car/cover) Good news however was that it came down to a little over £500 with a bit of haggling for year 2 (including RAC cover) Although after the first year I was free to shop around with 6 years NCB, even using comparison sites, Aviva still offered the best price, so I've stuck with them. (Even Quote Me Happy, which is online only but owned by Aviva, was dearer :eh: )

Hope this helps. Any other "moving back" questions, happy to help :D
Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often

"Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human ever has to choose a relative," Mordecai Siegal 1935-2010.

elusive
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 3275
Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2012 11:49 am
Location: East of Malaga

Re: UK car insurance & no claims

Postby elusive » Fri Jan 25, 2019 8:48 pm

Thanks miro. I was gonna ask re the wording of your no claims discoint from linea. Would they not say that for example you had been with them from 2000 -2015 and no claims had been made during that time.logical and easy!! One thing thats a worry when returning especially considering how uk insurance has gone up and having built up many years of NCD.

Used quote me happy once for a year. Been online only was a nightmare. Impossible to contact them. Wouldnt use them again.hope you enjoying life back home

Miro
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 3584
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:20 pm
Location: Merseyside, formally Torremolinos

Re: UK car insurance & no claims

Postby Miro » Fri Jan 25, 2019 9:23 pm

I tried to get them to reword the letter to say I'd been insured with them for 14 years with no claims, but they refused to and were adamant that under Spanish law 5 years is the maximum.
Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often

"Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human ever has to choose a relative," Mordecai Siegal 1935-2010.

katy
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 13752
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2004 3:45 pm

Re: UK car insurance & no claims

Postby katy » Fri Jan 25, 2019 9:52 pm

We had no problems with no claims. Were insured through a Gibraltar company and Direct line accepted it. Not with Direct line now but find insurance cheaper here than Spain although could have changed now

Miro
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 3584
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:20 pm
Location: Merseyside, formally Torremolinos

Re: UK car insurance & no claims

Postby Miro » Sat Jan 26, 2019 12:41 am

Maybe your Gibraltar insurers were ripping you off!
Being a free agent now, I spent plenty of time shopping around - even enlisted the help of a friendly meerkat. (Direct Line couldn't come close to Aviva on my renewal quote this year. Their website currently states "We will only accept proof of NCD from the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland.")
I think it will take a few more years of (hopefully) accumulating additional NCB before I'm close to paying what I paid in Spain.
Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often

"Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human ever has to choose a relative," Mordecai Siegal 1935-2010.

masterob
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 2165
Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2005 5:08 pm
Location: Previously Álora but now in Milton Keynes UK

Re: UK car insurance & no claims

Postby masterob » Sat Jan 26, 2019 9:56 am

I had no problems in getting the maximum NCB from Liverpool Victoria (LV) when I returned to the U.K. four years ago. I was with them before moving to Spain ten years previously and had the maximum NCB at that time. I had the maximum NCB with Linea Directa during the time in Spain but was not asked to produce evidence by LV.

Perhaps a rare case on customer loyalty by LV!

elusive
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 3275
Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2012 11:49 am
Location: East of Malaga

Re: UK car insurance & no claims

Postby elusive » Sat Jan 26, 2019 10:19 am

Direct line in the uk are expensive compaired to others.

I guess L.V took you on because of your previous history with them. Sometimes when i used to renew in the uk the new company didnt ask for proof. The problem then came when the year after you wanted to move to another comapny and they did require proof.so i had to go back 2 years to the last company that i actually gave proof to.if and when you leave L.V and the new company requires proof then that will be a problem for you.

masterob
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 2165
Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2005 5:08 pm
Location: Previously Álora but now in Milton Keynes UK

Re: UK car insurance & no claims

Postby masterob » Sun Jan 27, 2019 12:04 pm

Since my first car in 1964 I have always insured with LV (or Frizzells who were taken over by LV) so they have a very lengthy record of my driving history and lack of claims. I daresay that influenced them when I took out a policy on return from Spain. I have no plans to leave them in the future so, as I wrote previously, it sometimes pays to reward customer loyalty. There may be cheaper offers elsewhere but insurance company reliability is important to me.

alisonb
Resident
Posts: 1128
Joined: Fri Jul 30, 2004 10:48 am
Location: Vinuela

Re: UK car insurance & no claims

Postby alisonb » Sun Jan 27, 2019 8:53 pm

Saga will accept a Spanish NCD but you need to be of a certain age. We were with Saga for a few years but last years renewal was ridiculous, and direct line was 70% less
AlisonB

Miro
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 3584
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:20 pm
Location: Merseyside, formally Torremolinos

Re: UK car insurance & no claims

Postby Miro » Sun Jan 27, 2019 9:47 pm

I know I tried Saga, but don't remember now if they were just very expensive, or didn't accept the Spanish NCB. Must have been the former. I remember some of the websites wouldn't accept it, and I couldn't be bothered to get on the phone to all of them to ask first and then get quotes as it takes so long just to get through usually these days.
A quick Google search https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=car+i ... oreign+ncb brings up a couple of alternatives. I don't remember trying Elephant, but there's a couple of others there that appear to specialise in this dilemna: I found them both very uncompetitive. (Like double Aviva's quote, which is why I said previously Aviva were the only one I found who accepted Spanish NCB - a bit of a porkie I confess, but in practice....you know what I meant!)
I guess the best thing is to just try a few that have been mentioned here. The other thing that shocked me was how much the postcode makes a difference. When I first got quotes, I thought I'd be living in PR8, but when I ammended my details to PR9, the premium increased by a couple of hundred quid :shock:
Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often

"Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human ever has to choose a relative," Mordecai Siegal 1935-2010.

littleeak
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 234
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:37 pm
Location: Costa Tropical

Re: UK car insurance & no claims

Postby littleeak » Mon Jan 28, 2019 9:22 am

After a lot of shopping around we've gone back to Direct Line. No ncb but they said if we stay with them they'll give 2 years next year instead of one!


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 25 guests