Any advice on my car insurance question would be very much appreciated. I have 10 years (65%) no claims at the point when I cancelled my last car insurance – I have the letter of cancellation as proof of no claims. I have since been living abroad and even though I have purchased a car locally and have insurance I don’t trust that it will be recognised by the UK insurance companies when I come back.

I am now reaching the 2 year expiry limit for my no claims from when I cancelled my last UK car insurance, but naturally I don’t want to lose my 65% discount. What would be the best way for me to protect my no claims discount???

One idea I had is that my Mom still lives in the UK and has a car (for which she is fully comp). I was wondering if I took out some type of 3rd party policy in my own name (even though I have no intention of driving it) – would this solve my problem.

Any thoughts or ideas would be great.

If you're not going back to the UK, why bother. If you take out a third party insurance policy just to keep your no claims then surely you're losing the money you would have saved anyway. I guess it depends when and if you may need to insure a car in the future. You may be better off not spending the money and letting it expire....

Some policies allow named drivers to build up no claims. Get your mum to check hers - that would be by far the cheapest option.....

Just let it expire.



But then you are tied to that insurance company until you have built up no claims bonus on a policy in your name. It is just a marketing gimmick.

I agree.

Thanks for the replies

Just to avoid any confusion, I am intending to return to the UK in the next year or so and therefore I would prefer to retain my discount.

Any further ideas, thoughts or opinions would be much appreciated.

Cheers

I would also inquire with a few insurers. They may not all stick to the 2 year rule for no claims expiration. They don't normally need an excuse to take your money.........

If you are returning within the year then I guess the 3rd party policy is the option if possible on a car you don't own, that is already insured, and you won't be the main driver if ever............. I'd hate to be paying an insurer money for nothing but I guess it'd be worth it in the long run.

Sorry - I meant to close this out some time ago.

In the end I with Demo's suggestion and took out a 3rd party fire and theft insurance on a car. Interestingly enough 3rd party F & T was cheaper than just 3rd party (I guess that there are more policies out there).

It only cost about £200, which I figured was worth it to maintain my 65% NCD as my last policy was about £400 after the discount. I'm sure that there may be some companies that would accept that I had that discount before and I've been driving abroad for a couple of years - I just didn't want the hassle of doing something a bit different.

Thanks for the inputs