What is the maximum number of claim-free years?
Claim-free years are years that you do not claim a claim with the insurer. For every year that you do not claim, you get 1 claim-free year. By driving damage-free, you receive a discount on the insurance premium. The more claim-free years you have, the more no-claim discount you receive. So your claim-free years help determine how much premium you pay for your car insurance. How much discount you get varies per insurer. However, there is a maximum number of claim-free years. In this article we explain more about the maximum number of claim-free years you can build up.
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Maximum claim-free years
You can accumulate a maximum of 99 claim-free years. For every claim you make, you lose 5 claim-free years. If you have more than 15 claim-free years, you always fall back to 10 claim-free years after a claim. It does not matter whether you have 15 or 30 claim-free years. Before Jan. 1, 2016, this was different. Back then, each insurer was allowed to decide how many claim-free years you lost after a claim. Because of this, it could happen that you lost 3 claim-free years with one insurer, and 5 with another, while it was about the same damage. This was considered unfair and therefore a new regulation was created. With this regulation, everyone who claims a damage falls back 5 claim-free years.
Discount
The maximum no-claims discount depends on the bonus malus ladder used by the insurer. As a result, the maximum discount can differ from one insurer to another. Each insurer may use its own bonus malus ladder. The maximum no-claim discount can amount to as much as 80% on the basic premium of your car insurance. However, this does not mean that a car insurance with a maximum discount of 80% is also immediately the cheapest car insurance. In fact, a car insurance policy with a maximum discount of 80% can still be more expensive than one with a maximum discount of 70%. It is therefore important to calculate how much premium you will eventually pay per month. You can do this easily by comparing car insurance policies.
Steps
Thus, as mentioned, each insurer may use its own bonus malus ladder. As a result, the number of rungs on the ladder may differ from one insurer to another. Also, the step on the bonus malus ladder at which you start may differ per insurer. Have you accumulated 5 claim-free years? With one insurer you start on step 10 and with the other on step 11. Like any ladder, a bonus malus ladder also has an upper step. If you are on this step, you have reached the top (the maximum discount). You still accrue claim-free years, but they no longer count toward the no-claims discount. So people on the top step can have 15 claim-free years, but also 30.
Claim-free years transferable since 1-1-2022
Since Jan. 1, 2022, claim-free years are transferable in some situations. Upon death, for example, they can be transferred to the surviving partner. Also for lease drivers and drivers who have lived abroad for years, it is now possible to transfer claim-free years. This way they do not lose their accumulated claim-free years. You can read more about this new regulation in our blog post.
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