Aussielover

We're emigrating to Adelaide from Scotland at the end of January, and I'm just thinking about the cancellation of car & house insurances...

I have 9+years 'no claims bonus' on my car insurance, and I've never made a claim on my house insurance here in 25+years. We'll be looking to buy a car and house within a few months of arrival, so is there any point in asking my Insurance Companies for 'proof' of no-claims - or will all our careful living and driving not count for anything when we arrive in Australia?!

Any opinions gratefully received.

Beoz

Yes. Some companies won't care, others will. Phone around when you arrive and find out which ones will give you the best deal and which ones will honour your UK no claims.

Aussielover

Thanks for the info Beoz, it's quite reassuring that some company might consider our 'no-claims' history rather than having to start all over again.

mikelincs

Just ensure that you have a letter from your UK insurers stating what level of NCB you have, then you just have to try the companies.

evets

I had been in Australia around 6 years before getting a car, public transport very good in Melbourne. When I finally got a car, they accepted my NCB during the phone call and did not ask for any verification. I went with GIO, who I found offered the best deal.

Aussielover

I'll make sure that I get a print-out of my NCB's once I cancel and bring them with me then, just to be sure.

That seems pretty generous of them, evets, not to ask for proof of NCB - I'll look into GIO I think when the time comes, personal recommendations normally being a good place to start...

Tom Sawyer

QBE accepted my UK NCB history after my recent spell in the UK. And I think AAMI accepted my history when I originally moved here in 2004. Neither of them asked to sight the UK insurer document, but I keep a copy just in case.

moneypenny20

We brought proof of ncb with us but no one asked for it, just accepted it. However when I had a prang after about 2 years and had to claim, they asked to see the proof of the UK ncb. So they may not ask for it but keep it just in case.

Aussielover

That's good advice Tom Sawyer & Moneypenny - I'll see if I can get them to email me it and I'll try to save it in my inbox so I've always got a copy.

evets

Another thing to consider, if you have not already. All important documents, scan them and save them to dropbox or something similar.

Swerv-o

I just moved my car insurance from Real to Budget Direct, and they wanted to see a photo of the relevant part of my last renewal notice. I had 14 days to submit it before I attracted the higher fees.


S

Trevor2522

In Britain accrued NCBs/NCDs are terminally lost after 2 years of not insuring a vehicle. Seems that Australia is more relaxed about them.

Some online insurers in Aussieland offer good rates to new insurers without NCD.

Best to keep documentation up to date in case of a return to high British insurance rates, when your Aussie NCD will be appreciated.

SoCalDon

I just reinsured our cars with Allianz online and the first one automatically gave me 60% as I am ancient and declared that I hadn't had any claims. Which is actually true. On the second and third cars they asked who my existing NCB was with and I chose Allianz. Got all three cars insured at 60% which seemed like a decent deal to me. I've only been in Australia for four years and no insurance company has ever asked for proof.

pmpm

Sorry to hijack the thread. What happens if one has the 9 years no claim on their renewal notice but also has had accident in last 3 years (which did not affect the NCB because it was protected)? Can one still get the discount for car insurance in Oz?

moneypenny20

Yes because it's still considered by your insurer to be nine years NCB and your documentation will support that. However if you have an accident and are asked if you've had an accident in the past five years you'd have to say yes. You'd also need to show your documentation if asked for it. How much of a discount you'd get is unknown (dependent on company) of course. It might only be $5.