No-claims discount on home insurance, explained

A no-claims discount (NCD) rewards you for not claiming: for each claim-free year, your insurer knocks a percentage off your renewal premium. Most people first meet the idea through car insurance, where it's a big, well-known lever. On home insurance it works differently, and the differences are where people trip up.

How a no-claims discount works on home insurance

Every claim-free year, your discount steps up — often starting around 5% and building to a cap, commonly 30% but sometimes higher. So a household that hasn't claimed in five or six years can pay a meaningfully lower premium than an identical one that claimed last year.

The discount is applied at renewal, not paid out — it's a reduction on what you'd otherwise be charged. And the scale is set by the insurer, so the same clean record can be worth a different amount at two different companies.

Home insurance NCD vs car insurance NCD

This is the part that catches people out. Car no-claims discount is fairly standardised and portable: you build "years" that most insurers recognise, and when you switch you get proof of them to carry across.

Home insurance NCD is not standardised. There's no industry-wide "years" system, no proof-of-NCD document, and crucially it usually does not transfer when you move to a new insurer. Many home insurers instead just ask at quote time — "have you claimed in the last five years?" — and price from that, rather than reading across a formal discount from your old provider.

The upshot: switching home insurers can quietly reset the benefit of your clean record, so ask a new insurer how they treat claims history before assuming your discount follows you.

What resets your no-claims discount

Making a claim is the obvious reset. On many home policies a single claim drops your discount by a set number of "steps", or removes it entirely, and it then rebuilds from scratch. A few things worth knowing:

Small claims can cost you twice. A £400 claim that wipes a 30% discount off a £350 premium for several years can end up more expensive than paying the £400 yourself.
No-fault claims can still count. With some insurers, even claims that weren't your fault affect your discount — check the policy wording.
You must declare claims accurately. Non-disclosure can invalidate cover, so understating your history to protect a discount isn't worth it.

Protecting your no-claims discount

Many insurers offer no-claims discount protection as a paid add-on. It lets you make a set number of claims within a period — often one or two — without losing your discount.

One common misunderstanding: protecting your discount is not the same as freezing your premium. Your insurer can still raise the base price at renewal after a claim; protection only stops that claim from eroding the discount itself. Whether it's worth it depends on how large your discount is against what the add-on costs — for a big, hard-won discount, it often is.

How the Aviva ChatGPT app helps

Once you know how your record affects the price, the next step is a quote. The Aviva ChatGPT app gives you a home insurance quote without leaving ChatGPT. When you're ready to buy, you complete your purchase on aviva.com.

To try it, install it from the ChatGPT App tab (or go to chatgpt.com/apps), search "Aviva", and ask in your own words — for example, "What would home insurance cost for a 3-bed semi with no claims in the last five years?"

FAQ

Does a no-claims discount transfer between home insurers? Usually not. Unlike car insurance, home NCD isn't standardised or portable, so a new insurer typically asks about your recent claims history rather than carrying over a formal discount.

Should I claim on my home insurance for a small amount? Not always. If the claim is close to your excess, it can be cheaper to cover the repair yourself than to lose several years of discount.