In fact a very expensive lesson learned….
I am telling this story in the hope it will save someone out there from making the same mistake I did, and will ultimately save you money.
Back in 2009 for various reasons we downsized to one car. It just made sense, we were both at home, and with a bit of organisation we could operate with a single vehicle. I did at the time insist that I be a named driver on Alfie’s car.
This year we decided to change the car.
Like me, you’ve probably all heard and read about how car insurance has gone up in price. Insurance companies aren’t supposed to discriminate between male and female drivers, but we thought let’s check out if there is a difference between having me as the main driver or Alfie as the main driver.
There was a significant monetary difference. There was even a significant price difference between companies.
In the end the best quote came from Its4women.ie, so we opted for them. They are an online company so we completed all the details and sent off the money. (And no we hadn’t gone through the endless “t&c’s on their portal”.) Stupid of us in retrospect. There was some paperwork that had to be sent to them ‘hard copy’. It was sent off.
Now here’s the thing with dealing with an online company. I sent off documentation. I check the ‘portal’ the next few days and it still says we are awaiting documentation. Has it arrived and not been registered? Has it got lost in the post?
Trying to speak to someone is difficult. You can call them, but you must leave a message so they can ring you back.
Eventually I get to speak to someone who tells me that being a ‘named’ driver does not count… that only shows I have ‘driving experience’. It does not say that I have a ‘no claims bonus’. The price for my insurance policy has now gone from €500 to €1,900.
The fact that since 2009, on a one car policy, there has been no claim at all, that counts for nothing?
Photo courtesy of Confused.com
I subsequently learned from a much more ‘customer friendly’ insurance company that a being a named driver actually doesn’t count for anything… and that your ‘no claims bonus’ expires after 2 years.
All that was bad enough.
However, because we had to cancel the Its4Women policy…. they charge a whopping 25% cancellation fee for a policy that was in effect for just 3 weeks!!!
Rip off or what?
Please learn from our mistake.
A Year In Redwood 
After many years of only having a single car, we returned to having a second car a few years ago. We were aware of this issue with NCD so knew what we were in for. Even so, it was galling. I was the one with the NCD and Mr Snail had none, Fortunately our new car was tiny and had no road tax on it, so we weren’t stung too hard, but even so his years of safe driving counted for nothing.
As you say totally galling… and bordering on unethical… all they have to do is look at records and see that there are no claims!
holly shit, I’m also a named driver! I have never ever had a policy under my name! We might now have to do a year each! Sorry it costed you so much! 😦
Lily, it is crazy… you will be treated as if you were a 20 year old seeking a quotation for insurance for the first time… your years of driving seem to account for nothing!
Goodness, we have just one car and I’m not sure which of us in the main driver and which is the “named one”. I must check if it affects things as we might be getting a second car in a couple of years time when the kids start driving.
Thanks for sharing your experience and sorry to hear 😦
You may be okay Lorna, if you have tractor in one name, and car in other? It just seems like another ‘scam’ from insurance companies to take as much as possible from us.
Margaret