Yes! do exactly that! keep an eye on your no claims bonus, this may be a long read 
as its me! but it may save you money and not getting ripped off as I nearly did this morning. PLUS! keep at least the past 5 years of bills and paperwork as you never know when you may need them (I have 12 years worth and YES! it came in very handy and was my weapon to get justice and stop the insurance companies ripping me off again and again.
I maybe just unlucky but I doubt it, as this is such a common error that car insurance companies are making (I dont think the average customers really realize until you look into the silly process of the NCB format).
For many years car insurance providers have basically only allowed a maximum of 5 years NCB that can be used, some providers have allowed more than 5 but that's if you can provide evidence from a previous provider of your NCB (this can be done with a simply and quick call to your previous provider for them to issue you with a Proof of NCB Document) so you can issue the document to your new insurance provider.
But! its not that simple! as most insurance providers will only and always issue you with just the 5 years maximum NCB even though you may have built up 8,10,15 years over time, the insurance provider will still only indicate the standard maximum of 5 years. This is more so if you are one of those 'chase the cheaper quote' customers like me that change their car insurance provider from year to year just so you can take advantage of a cheaper premium each time.
What is happening as I have just found out this morning!
insurance companies are now excepting 5+ years NCB, 9 years and higher, this is something that will make quite a difference in your insurance premium total as you can imagine. But! if some insurance companies are still only providing customers with the normal standard 5 years proof of NCB on leaving or canceling a policy after 1 year with them, then you will only be able to show proof of 5 years to your new provider whether or not you think you have 6,7,8,9,10 or more (anything over is almost irrelevant).
I have just spent 5 hours this morning on the phone and sorting out old paperwork talking with several of my past car insurance providers trying to get my NCB sorted correctly so to show my true entitlement, as I have only made one fault claim in my 21 years of driving from age 17. Only claim made was back in 1994 so I should have at least 15 claim free years by now. BUT! my previous insurer only shows 5 years NCB and my new provider can accept 9+ years NCB which is a difference of £150 discount.
If I was to go to a insurance provider with a NCB maximum allowance of the standard 5 years then this would not be a problem, but as said some insurers are now accepting 9+ years which this does make a real difference to your total insurance premium for the year.
Basically I had to hunt through my old paperwork to see which insurance provider showed more than 5 years NCB as I knew one provider did show 11 years NCB at one point. I contacted that provider to confirm the details and then had to contact the other provider's in turn so to get my NCB records correctly upto date. This has taken 5 hours to do with each provider talking with me and each other so to forward the correct NCB entitlement as to the correct year.
What a lot of hassle it was to do, I was doing most of the leg work myself with informing which provider needs to talk with who and making the calls to relay the correct details of old policies so to get the correct provider in turn to make the correct adjustment. Thankfully with all 5 insurers being helpful we managed to sort it, but you would think that the insurance companies would do all this for you without to much inconvenience to the customer......well sadly not!
What made me laugh was when I first contacted my current provider and ask why do I only have 5 years NCB, their answer was 'because you came to us with 5 years from your previous provider' my answer was 'that's because they only offer the maximum of 5 years just as you do'.
I phoned the previous previous provider to ask the same thing and guest what? they answered with the same thing 'because you came to us with 5 years from your previous provider' ..... so I contacted the previous previous provider and so on until I found where the change had occurred, finally we got to the bottom of things and now hopefully I can receive my 9+ years of NCB discount with my new insurer who is outstandingly cheap with zero excess and protected NCB, unless I don't find anything cheaper that is........
So has anything like this ever happened to you and are you ontop of your insurance NCB discounts and benefits, just make sure you have not fell into the same trap that I did.......
Whats the point of earning all those years of NCB with claim free years just to find that most insurers will only give you a maximum of 5 years even when some insurers can accept 9+ years........ Customer looses out big time if you don't keep on top of it all.
as its me! but it may save you money and not getting ripped off as I nearly did this morning. PLUS! keep at least the past 5 years of bills and paperwork as you never know when you may need them (I have 12 years worth and YES! it came in very handy and was my weapon to get justice and stop the insurance companies ripping me off again and again.I maybe just unlucky but I doubt it, as this is such a common error that car insurance companies are making (I dont think the average customers really realize until you look into the silly process of the NCB format).
For many years car insurance providers have basically only allowed a maximum of 5 years NCB that can be used, some providers have allowed more than 5 but that's if you can provide evidence from a previous provider of your NCB (this can be done with a simply and quick call to your previous provider for them to issue you with a Proof of NCB Document) so you can issue the document to your new insurance provider.
But! its not that simple! as most insurance providers will only and always issue you with just the 5 years maximum NCB even though you may have built up 8,10,15 years over time, the insurance provider will still only indicate the standard maximum of 5 years. This is more so if you are one of those 'chase the cheaper quote' customers like me that change their car insurance provider from year to year just so you can take advantage of a cheaper premium each time.
What is happening as I have just found out this morning!
insurance companies are now excepting 5+ years NCB, 9 years and higher, this is something that will make quite a difference in your insurance premium total as you can imagine. But! if some insurance companies are still only providing customers with the normal standard 5 years proof of NCB on leaving or canceling a policy after 1 year with them, then you will only be able to show proof of 5 years to your new provider whether or not you think you have 6,7,8,9,10 or more (anything over is almost irrelevant). I have just spent 5 hours this morning on the phone and sorting out old paperwork talking with several of my past car insurance providers trying to get my NCB sorted correctly so to show my true entitlement, as I have only made one fault claim in my 21 years of driving from age 17. Only claim made was back in 1994 so I should have at least 15 claim free years by now. BUT! my previous insurer only shows 5 years NCB and my new provider can accept 9+ years NCB which is a difference of £150 discount.
If I was to go to a insurance provider with a NCB maximum allowance of the standard 5 years then this would not be a problem, but as said some insurers are now accepting 9+ years which this does make a real difference to your total insurance premium for the year.
Basically I had to hunt through my old paperwork to see which insurance provider showed more than 5 years NCB as I knew one provider did show 11 years NCB at one point. I contacted that provider to confirm the details and then had to contact the other provider's in turn so to get my NCB records correctly upto date. This has taken 5 hours to do with each provider talking with me and each other so to forward the correct NCB entitlement as to the correct year.
What a lot of hassle it was to do, I was doing most of the leg work myself with informing which provider needs to talk with who and making the calls to relay the correct details of old policies so to get the correct provider in turn to make the correct adjustment. Thankfully with all 5 insurers being helpful we managed to sort it, but you would think that the insurance companies would do all this for you without to much inconvenience to the customer......well sadly not!
What made me laugh was when I first contacted my current provider and ask why do I only have 5 years NCB, their answer was 'because you came to us with 5 years from your previous provider' my answer was 'that's because they only offer the maximum of 5 years just as you do'.
I phoned the previous previous provider to ask the same thing and guest what? they answered with the same thing 'because you came to us with 5 years from your previous provider' ..... so I contacted the previous previous provider and so on until I found where the change had occurred, finally we got to the bottom of things and now hopefully I can receive my 9+ years of NCB discount with my new insurer who is outstandingly cheap with zero excess and protected NCB, unless I don't find anything cheaper that is........
So has anything like this ever happened to you and are you ontop of your insurance NCB discounts and benefits, just make sure you have not fell into the same trap that I did.......
Whats the point of earning all those years of NCB with claim free years just to find that most insurers will only give you a maximum of 5 years even when some insurers can accept 9+ years........ Customer looses out big time if you don't keep on top of it all.
not at all correct practice these insurance companies......