What is No Claims Discount?
No Claims Discount (NCD) is the UK system for rewarding safe drivers. It does this by giving you a discount for every year you drive without making a claim.
This builds up every year, and could end up giving you as much as 60% off your car insurance.
So the more claim-free years you have, the lower your price will be.
A lot of countries have a similar system, and they all kind of work the same. If you’re not from the UK, you might be more familiar with terms like No Claims Bonus or Bonus Malus.
And the good news is, we accept your claims-free driving history from any country - and give you the same discount as everyone else!
What happens if I make a claim?
That depends on how many years you have in total.
If you don’t have many, you may end up losing all your No Claims Discount and you could see a big increase in your price next year.
If you have more years under your belt, you will lose some - but not all - of your No Claims Discount. That can still lead to a significant increase, but you’ll still pay less than you would with none.
How do I get a No Claims Discount on my Marshmallow policy?
When you get a quote with us, we’ll ask you how many years of No Claims Discount you have.
If you have driving experience in the UK, you should have a certificate with your number of No Claims Discount on it. You’ll get this from your current insurer.
If you passed your test outside the UK, we’ll also ask if you have any claim-free years from anywhere else. Put that number in, and we’ll do the rest.
How do I prove my years of No Claims Discount?
We usually ask for proof of No Claims Discount years after you pay.
Any claim-free driving in the UK can be proven with a No Claims Discount certificate. If you don’t have this yet, ask your current insurer to send it to you.
If you have claim-free driving experience from another country, great! We can accept certificates from any insurer in any country - no translation needed.
And if you’re from a country that doesn't have this kind of system, don't worry. All we need is an email or letter from your last insurer that confirms your driving history. It should include:
- Your name
- Your claims-free driving bonus/score/ratio (this works differently in every country)
- Policy expiry date
- Claim details (if you have any)
- Contact details of your previous insurer
What if I didn’t have car insurance before?
We know that insurance isn’t a legal requirement in every country.
Unfortunately, your driving history has to be confirmed by another insurer in some form. If you can’t provide this information, we’ll need to adjust your price and you may see a jump in the cost of your insurance.
Anything else I should know about my No Claims Discount?
- It goes up every year. Your discount will grow every year you drive without making a claim.
- Only the policyholder can build their No Claims Discount. If you have an additional driver on your policy, they won’t be earning any No Claims Discount years. It’s just for you.
- You can take any No Claims Discount earned in the UK with you when you switch insurers. But, you will not be able to transfer any discount based on your years of claims-free driving abroad. That’s because most insurers only accept claim-free driving history from the UK.
- You can protect your discount, even if you make a claim. We offer No Claims Discount Protection as an optional extra. This lets you make up to 2 claims a year without affecting your discount.
- It expires after 3 years. If you stop paying for car insurance (for example, if you sell your car), you stop building your No Claims Discount. You have around 3 years until your record resets to 0. Different insurers have different rules, so it’s always worth checking before you commit.
