Protected or Guaranteed No Claims?
- Thread starter eidolon
- Start date
Guaranteed is a term used by a few insurers saying you will always keep your max ncb come what may. So, claim 10 times and it's still maximum.
Prot ncb generally gives you a set limit on how many claims you can make in a set (say 2 or 3 year) period - if you dont go over that limit - you keep your max ncb.
Guaranteed is pure BS. Prot ncb is less of a con, but still a waste of money in most situations.
The problem really is that whilst you get to keep your ncb - there's nothing stopping the insurer applying a "claims loading" to bump your premium up after you have claimed.
Personally I wouldnt even think about having it untill the premium is in excess of £1000, and even then it's touch n go as to whether or not to bother.
Prot ncb generally gives you a set limit on how many claims you can make in a set (say 2 or 3 year) period - if you dont go over that limit - you keep your max ncb.
Guaranteed is pure BS. Prot ncb is less of a con, but still a waste of money in most situations.
The problem really is that whilst you get to keep your ncb - there's nothing stopping the insurer applying a "claims loading" to bump your premium up after you have claimed.
Personally I wouldnt even think about having it untill the premium is in excess of £1000, and even then it's touch n go as to whether or not to bother.
Cheers Merlin 
So if I've got full NCB with no protection and I make a claim, I'll lose 2yrs bonus yeah? But if I have protected I'll keep my full NCB but in either case the insurer can apply a claims loading which will increase my premium?
So if I've got full NCB with no protection and I make a claim, I'll lose 2yrs bonus yeah? But if I have protected I'll keep my full NCB but in either case the insurer can apply a claims loading which will increase my premium?
eidolon said:Cheers Merlin
So if I've got full NCB with no protection and I make a claim, I'll lose 2yrs bonus yeah? But if I have protected I'll keep my full NCB but in either case the insurer can apply a claims loading which will increase my premium?
Correct, of course they also pocket the protected NCB fee.
It's quite logical that they only offer protected NCB because they believe on balance the whole concept will make them money. I'd only opt for it if loss of NCB meant the car was prohibitively expensive to insure.
In general if you protected your NCB for a few years you will have already paid out the sum equivalent to the loss of your NCB in a claim anyway. I'd rather that money in my account earning me interest
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Mackass said:
You lose a proportion of it, even if you are not at fault, if the cost of the accident cannot be recovered from the third party.
There are a few exceptions to this, for example Direct Line say they won't remove your NCB if you are hit by an uninsured driver and thus claim on your own policy.
Generally the NCB scale goes like this :-
1 year 30%
2 years 40%
3 years 50%
4 years 60%
5 years 65%
Each claim will result in a 2 year stepback. So, for example if you have a claim on 3 years, you lose 20% going back to 1 year. If you have 5 years though, you only lose 15%.
Now, add in the extra premium (sometimes in the region of 7.5%/10% extra) and the fact you'll only lose 15% if you claim, and take into account they can still load your premium - it starts to become a pointless pound swapping exercise with the insurer. As Muncher says - better to keep the extra in your pocket.
Also complications result when trying to transfer ncb to another insurer that's been the subject of ncb protection - you could have 5 years ncb after a claim under protection, but another insurer will only allow 3 years of that - not 5.
As I say, you've got to be paying at least £1000 a year to even consider it.
1 year 30%
2 years 40%
3 years 50%
4 years 60%
5 years 65%
Each claim will result in a 2 year stepback. So, for example if you have a claim on 3 years, you lose 20% going back to 1 year. If you have 5 years though, you only lose 15%.
Now, add in the extra premium (sometimes in the region of 7.5%/10% extra) and the fact you'll only lose 15% if you claim, and take into account they can still load your premium - it starts to become a pointless pound swapping exercise with the insurer. As Muncher says - better to keep the extra in your pocket.
Also complications result when trying to transfer ncb to another insurer that's been the subject of ncb protection - you could have 5 years ncb after a claim under protection, but another insurer will only allow 3 years of that - not 5.
As I say, you've got to be paying at least £1000 a year to even consider it.
I asked about Protected no claims when I was sorting out my policy this year.
This year I am paying £980 with 5 years protected no claims. If I had 5 years protected no claims but a fault accident last year I would have been paying £1350. If I had 3 years no claims with a fault accident in the last year then I would have been paying ~£2000. Given those numbers I am happy enough to cough up an extra £70/year to protect my no claims.
This year I am paying £980 with 5 years protected no claims. If I had 5 years protected no claims but a fault accident last year I would have been paying £1350. If I had 3 years no claims with a fault accident in the last year then I would have been paying ~£2000. Given those numbers I am happy enough to cough up an extra £70/year to protect my no claims.