How does the transfer of claim-free years in motorbike insurance work?
Insurers reward damage-free riding with a discount on the insurance premium. This works as follows: as soon as you take out motorcycle insurance in your name, you start building up claim-free years. For every year that you do not claim any damage with the insurer, you get 1 claim-free year. The more claim-free years you build up, the more no-claim discount you will receive. This discount can amount to as much as 80% on the basic premium of a motorcycle insurance policy. Claim-free years are personal, but you build them up per policy. Claim-free years that you use for your car insurance cannot be used for motorcycle insurance. In a number of special situations, however, it is possible to transfer claim-free years. In this article on Alpina.nl we explain how the transfer of claim-free years for motorcycle insurance works.
Carry over claim-free years?
If you and your partner own a motorbike which you both ride, only the person in whose name the motorbike insurance is taken out builds up claim-free years. When you and your partner split up or when your partner dies, you would in theory be left without claim-free years. To prevent this, it has been possible since 1 January 2022, in a number of situations, to take over claim-free years.
What to do in the event of death?
Before the new legislation, many insurers were already lenient when it came to claim-free years and death. If the surviving partner was registered at the same address, he or she could usually take over the claim-free years of the deceased. Insurers were free to decide whether or not to do this. From now on there is a clear policy on this.
What should I do in case of divorce?
If you get divorced, there are probably a lot of assets to be divided. In such a situation, claim-free years can also be divided. The partner who has the pure claim-free years in his or her name determines the distribution key. Then he or she declares by means of a waiver that these claim-free years are waived. Claim-free years that are surrendered to an ex-partner cannot be used anymore. In fact it works the same way as with money: if your partner has 20 euros and gives you 10 of that, he will also have 10 euros left. If he gives you the full amount, he has nothing left.
What happens after a lease term?
Have you leased a motorbike? Then the motorbike insurance is in the name of the leasing company during the lease period and you yourself have not built up any claim-free years in your name. If you want to take out motorbike insurance yourself after the lease period, it is a lot more expensive without claim-free years. That is why it is now possible, by means of a lease statement, to register pure claim-free years in Roy-data and take them over on your own motorbike insurance. Previously, insurers handled lease declarations in different ways. With some insurers you did not receive any claim-free years but only a premium discount, which left you empty-handed when you switched.
Period of time spent abroad?
In the Netherlands, all insurers have access to Roy-data, the central database of Stichting EPS. When you cancel your motorbike insurance, the insurer registers your accumulated claim-free years. When you subsequently take out a new motorbike insurance, your new insurer will consult the Roy-data database to see how many claim-free years you have. Foreign insurers, however, do not work with Roy-data. Claim-free years that you have accrued abroad, for example because you have lived there for a while, are therefore not registered. You must therefore prove these claim-free years with a written statement from the insurer. Since January 1st 2022 your Dutch insurer is obliged to grant these claim-free years.
Can you transfer claim-free years from car insurance to motorcycle insurance (or vice versa)?
As we said earlier, claims-free years are personal, but they are accumulated per policy. You cannot copy claims-free years. Claim-free years built up on a car insurance cannot be used for a motorbike insurance if the car insurance is still running. However, with most insurers it is possible to transfer the claim-free years from your car insurance to your motorbike insurance. This means that you have to cancel your car insurance, because the claim-free years are stuck in this policy if it is still running. As soon as you terminate your car insurance, they are registered in Roy-data. Your motor insurer can then convert the claim-free years and use them for a motorbike insurance.
Conversely, you can also transfer claim-free years from a motorbike insurance to a car insurance, but only if you stop the motorbike insurance. If you buy a car in addition to your motorbike, you have to start all over again from the accumulation of claim-free years for your car.
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