Motor Insurance

This is possible, most insurers offer a facility to add a second vehicle on temporary basis from 1 – 28 days in any given policy year. If you need cover for more than this period then you will need to take out a separate annual motor policy.

This is possible, dependant on their personal details. Please complete the additional driver form which you can download here (Hyperlink). Most insurers’ offer a facility to add a driver on temporary basis from 1 – 28 days in any given policy year subject to personal details.

A No Claims Bonus (NCB), or No Claims Discount, is a total of the number of years in which you haven't made a claim on your car insurance policy. The amount that it is worth varies from insurer to insurer, but a NCB of five years or more, for example, is likely to give you a significant discount on your premium. No claims bonus expires after 2 years of non-use.

If you're not at fault and another party takes the blame, your discount should remain in place. A way to protect your No Claims Bonus is to pay an additional amount on top of your car insurance to protect it. This means that even if you were to make a claim, your No Claims Bonus would stay intact.

The British Insurance Brokers’ Association says that a driver who has gone a year without making a claim will get a discount of around 30% off their premium, while someone in their second year of driving will get around 40% off. After building up a No Claims Bonus for a number of years, drivers can receive a maximum discount of around 60 or 65%.

If you have an accident and take some or all of the responsibility, it’s likely that you’ll lose some or all of your No Claims Bonus. If you’re not at fault and another party takes the blame, your discount should remain in place.

A way to protect your No Claims Bonus is to pay an additional amount on top of your car insurance to protect it. This means that even if you were to make a claim, your No Claims Bonus would stay intact. Making two claims in a year with a protected No Claims Bonus won’t have an effect with some insurers, though others may significantly reduce it.

It’s worth remembering that a protected No Claims Bonus won’t entirely shield you from a higher premium when you come to renew your car insurance. When calculating premiums, insurers look at the number of years without claims as well as the number of claims made.

You will need to check your insurance documents as this is not given as standard. Just because you have a fully comprehensive policy doesn’t mean you’ll be automatically covered for driving any other vehicle.

A GAP policy is useful as it can pay the difference between the original purchase price of the vehicle and what your insurer will pay out in the event of a total loss or write off, as in such a case most insurers will only pay the market value of your car at the time of the loss.

For example, if you have an accident which results in the vehicle being a total loss and the market value of your vehicle at that time is £19,00, but you purchased the vehicle for £25,000, your GAP insurance can cover the difference between these two sums depending on the level of cover chosen.

GAP Insurance can be taken out for different lengths of time, and for vehicles bought outright, Hire Purchase or on Finance. Please contact us for more details.

It's standard for most insurance companies to ask about non-motoring convictions because it gives an indication of the moral risk of the insured. For example, if a driver had been found guilty of dishonesty, fraud or theft, then the insurance company is less likely to accept them as a policyholder because of this, or will charge more for a policy. We don't ask for the specific details of the non-motoring conviction as there are too many to choose from and they're constantly changing. We just ask if you have a non-motoring conviction.

If you cancel your policy within the cooling-off period, some insurance providers may charge a fee to cover their administration costs in addition to a charge for the cover provided. Where a fee is charged for the cover provided, this is typically worked out pro-rata, which means the charge is calculated based on the number of days your insurance has been in force. Cancellation fees after the cooling-off period are handled in a similar manner. Some insurers charge a cancellation fee, others don't, while any refund entitlement will be worked out pro-rata.

Most insurance providers offer an approved repairer service. Policyholders may choose their own repairer, but this could potentially compromise an entitlement to a courtesy car and/or any guaranteed repair period.

The Motor Insurers' Bureau protects anyone who is injured or who has their property damaged by an uninsured driver and will provide compensation should this happen. There is a link here to a website where you can download or complete a claim form. Download.