No-claims years · second-car arrangement · regular driver
Insuring a second car
A second car in the same household turns on one question: whose no-claims years are they, and what does the insurer offer for the vehicle that does not have them.
The calculator and the quote form below are in Dutch. Prefer to do this in English? Email info@finassverzekert. nl or call 072 - 509 24 56 and we will take it from there.
Work out for yourself what it would cost.
Enter your details; you will receive a proposal within one working day.
We compare the offerings of several insurers
An adviser checks whether the cover suits your situation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
No-claims years are held in a person's name, not against a registration number, and they can only be attached to one vehicle at a time. For the second car you therefore start without a discount in principle, even if you have been driving claim-free for twenty years. That is not a mistake by the insurer but how the system works.
Many companies deal with this through a second-car arrangement: on the second car you receive a fixed discount percentage derived from the first policy. The conditions vary. Sometimes both cars must be at the same address, sometimes with the same company, sometimes even on the same policy. It is an offer from the insurer, not a right you can enforce.
For each car, declare who the regular driver is. If your partner or child mainly drives the second car, put that person on it. Not covered is use that differs from the declaration: hire to third parties, taking part in a car-sharing platform, courier or delivery work, and business use of a car declared as private.
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Compulsory by law
Third-party liability
Damage you cause to others with the vehicle.
Compulsory from registration onwards
Damage to other vehicles
Injury to third parties
Most chosen
Third-party liability + fire and theft
Also, external damage to your own vehicle.
Theft and burglary
Fire, storm and hail
Windscreen damage
Collision with animals
For a new vehicle
Comprehensive
Including damage to your own vehicle through your own fault.
Own fault
Vandalism
Unknown party at fault
Total loss
What is covered
Situation
Third-party liability
Third-party liability + fire and theft
Comprehensive
Damage to another vehicle
Yes
Yes
Yes
Theft
No
Yes
Yes
Windscreen damage or stone chips
No
Yes
Yes
Storm, hail and fire damage
No
Yes
Yes
Driving into a bollard yourself
No
No
Yes
Wear and deferred maintenance
No
No
No
This overview is general in nature and is not personal advice. What is actually covered, including exclusions, limits and the excess, is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) of the insurer; you receive both before you take out cover. Taking out cover without advice? Then read what execution only means for you.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
Your no-claims years cannot be split
You cannot divide the years you have built up between two cars or take half of them with you. They belong to you and to one policy at a time. If a second person with their own no-claims years lives in the house, the logical route is to put the second car in their name and on their policy, provided that person really does drive it. Before you take out the policy, map out who has which years; that determines which car best suits which driver.
The derived discount falls away if the first car goes
Under a second-car arrangement the discount on car two is derived from the first policy. If you sell the first car, the second policy loses its basis and the discount can lapse. With some insurers the second car may then take over the years released, with others it may not. Ask about this expressly and have the answer recorded. It is the scenario in which people are unexpectedly faced with a much higher premium after several years.
Does the second car build up years of its own?
This is the most important point of comparison and it differs widely from company to company. With one insurer the second policy builds up no-claims years of its own, so that in time you have two full policies that can be moved separately. With another, the second car simply runs alongside the first and nothing is left when the arrangement ends. For a family whose child will soon want a car of their own, that difference is worth a lot of money after a few years.
A second car that mostly stands still
If the second car goes unused for most of the week, look at the annual mileage and at the market value. A low mileage class keeps the premium down, and with an older car full own-damage cover usually does not measure up to the payment in a total loss. If you only use the car for a few months a year, suspending the registration with the RDW (the Dutch vehicle authority) is an option, provided the vehicle is not on the public road during that period.
Declare the regular driver honestly
Putting the car in your name while your child drives it most saves premium but creates two problems: no no-claims years are built up for the younger driver, and when you claim the insurer can reduce or refuse payment because of an incorrect declaration.
You build up no-claims years for each year without an at-fault claim, and you usually lose five at once when a claim is paid. They are registered in Roy-data, the central system of Dutch insurers, and therefore transfer automatically to a new insurer. With most insurers, glass damage does not count.
With an at-fault claim you usually lose five no-claims years and your premium rises for years, because you then climb back up step by step. For a small claim, paying yourself can be cheaper. Always ask for a damage assessment before you finalise a claim.
What does your premium depend on?
Whose name the no-claims years are in. Determines which car gets the discount built up and which falls back on the derived arrangement.
Whether there is a second-car arrangement. Not every company offers one. The conditions about address and policy differ.
Regular driver of the second car. Partner, child or yourself. That person's age and experience count towards the rate.
How the mileage is divided. Two cars in one household rarely cover more between them than one does; declare both realistically.
Market value and form of cover of the second car. With a lower market value, comprehensive cover stops making sense sooner than with the first car.
Placing both with one company. Both cars on one policy or at one address is often the condition for the arrangement and sometimes for a package discount.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
You request a quoteWe take stock of your situation, your risk and your wishes.
We compareseveral insurers, on premium as well as conditions.
You receive a proposalWith an explanation of the differences and the exclusions.
We arrange the switchIncluding cancellation, so there is no gap in cover.
Customers rate our service on four aspects: personal service, service delivery, availability and the outcome. The reviews are collected and published by NH1816 and come from customers who have actually taken out a policy with Finass Advies B.V. or reported a claim.
Do I automatically get the same discount on the second car?
No. The years you have built up stay attached to the first car. What you get on the second is an offer from the insurer in the form of a second-car arrangement, with a fixed discount percentage. Not every company offers one and the conditions differ. So compare not only the premium but also the arrangement itself.
Can my partner put the second car in their name?
Yes, and that is often the most favourable route if your partner has no-claims years of their own and really is the regular driver. You then have two independent policies each building up its own years. The condition is that the declaration matches reality; anyone who arranges it only on paper faces a reduction when they claim.
What happens to the discount if I sell the first car?
That depends on the conditions. With some insurers the second-car arrangement lapses as soon as the source policy ends and you fall back on the number of years the second car has built up itself. With others you may transfer the years released. Ask about this before you take out the policy, because afterwards nothing can be changed.
Can I suspend the second car temporarily?
Yes, through the RDW, as long as the car stands on private land or in a locked space during that period. The insurance requirement and the road tax then fall away. Fire and theft in storage remain a risk. There is storage cover for that. Always notify your insurer of a suspension and of its lifting, otherwise the cover does not match the situation.
Finass Verzekert is a trading name of Finass Advies B.V. We advise on and arrange non-life insurance on the basis of an objective analysis of several insurers, and receive commission for this from the insurer, which is included in the premium. You pay no separate advice fee. Before you take out cover, we establish your wishes and needs.
You will find our licence, KvK and Kifid details and our complaints procedure at the foot of every page.
