No Claims Bonus (also known as NCB or NCD) is a discount that is provided to you by van insurance companies.
It is provided to the policyholder should he drive for a full year without having to make any sort of claim on his van insurance policy. It is provided to the policyholder only and not to named drivers.
Once you have completed a years claim free driving, your van insurance company will provide you with written proof of the number of years No Claims Bonus you are entitled to. You must then tell any other van insurance company you obtain a quotation from the number of years you are entitled to. If you are unable to obtain proof of your No Claims Bonus then your new van insurance company will usually reduce your discount to zero and you will be required to pay an additional premium to them.
It is important to note that you must always state the number of years No Claims Bonus you are entitled to rather than the percentage discount offered by your previous insurer as every van insurance company will have their own discount scale that is based on number of years.
If you have more than one vehicle in your household, please remember that you can only use No Claims Bonus on one vehicle at any one time. You are able to build up separate sets of No Claims Bonus on different vehicles. Through Gladiator some specialist van insurance companies will provide introductory discounts if you can prove that you have No Claims Bonus on other vehicles. Please remember that you will probably be asked to provide proof of this second vehicle discount when you take a policy out with your new van insurance company.
Another important point to remember is that the No Claims Bonus you are claiming must be built up in your own name. If you have No Claims Bonus that is issued under the name of a limited company, then you would only be able to use it for a van insurance policy for that limited company in the future. If you are a director of that limited company you wouldn’t be able to use it on a policy under your own name.
The vast majority of van insurance companies in the UK will only accept No Claims Bonus that has been used within the previous two years. If your No Claims Bonus is over 24 months old then ensure that you speak to your potential new van insurance company to see if there is any discount they can apply before you take out a new policy.
A common problem amongst people looking to insure a van for the first time is them having driven for an employer for several years and therefore have not built up No Claims Bonus of their own. Through Gladiator, some van insurance companies are able to offer introductory discounts if you can provide proof of this driving experience, so it may be worth speaking to one of our advisors to see if you qualify.
A lot of people are unaware on the effect that claiming on your van insurance policy will have on your no claims bonus. In most cases, your No Claims Bonus will be reduced by two years. Should the claim be settled on a non fault basis, your No Claims Bonus will be re-instated by your van insurance company.
It is worth noting that if you make a fault claim or a claim is settled on a 50/50 basis it will result in your No Claims Bonus being reduced. A fault claim is any claim that results in your insurer paying for damage, repairs or injuries to any party.
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