Direct Line launches no claims discount for additional drivers

Direct Line has launched what is said to be the first no claims discount (NCD) for additional drivers. Anyone named on a Direct Line car insurance policy can now build up his or her own no claims discount, regardless of whether the principal policyholder has a claim. This means that when they take out their own insurance they are able to transfer their no claims entitlement to their own policy, potentially saving them up to 70% off their insurance.

Until now named drivers have been unable to build up their own no claims, meaning that even if they had no accidents they would have to start from zero years no claims when they take out a policy of their own.

The new policy is now open to all customers and for existing customers can be backdated to a maximum of five years. Named drivers of any age can benefit from the policy and it is expected to be of particular interest to young drivers who often struggle to take out their first insurance and consequently drive their parent's car for the first two or three years of driving.

With Direct Line they would benefit from a 40% discount had they been driving for two years under their parents policy. For example, a male aged 21 with three years driving experience would, on his dad's policy, get a 50% discount. On the other hand a female of 38, who has been driving on her husband's policy for seven years, would get a 65% discount.

Policyholders can top up their earned NCD with NDNCD (Named Driver No Claims Discount) when it exceeds earnt NCD. For example, if a policyholder has one year earned NCD and two years' NDNCD they can claim a total of two years.

The discounts will be backdated to the date that the driver was added to the primary policy. This does not apply to temporary drivers. The scale of discounts is as follows: 1 year - 30%; 2 years - 40%; 3 years - 50%; 4 years - 60% and 5 years - 65%

Click here to see details of the direct line insurance policy!