How Does No Claims Work?

kiwichick

Hi All,

Firstly, sorry for yet another question about car insurance!

I am a newly qualified driver and have just had an offer accepted on a 2nd hand car.

The insurance is atronomical! The very cheapest quote, after a long time screenscraping then phone calling, was £788.55!!!! The dearest, out of interest, was £1397!!

Obviously I have 0 yrs no claims, can someone tell me how the no claims works?

If I dont have any accidents this year will my premium next year be cheaper?? If so, can anyone tell me what sort of discount you get per year??

Mnay Thanks,
Al,

15lsp

have you tried confused.com?

After every full year of not claiming you will get a 1 year no claims bonus. The more years of no claims the cheaper the quote will be. I think the max is 9 years for ncb but i could be wrong...correct if im wrong :-)

I have 7 years protected no claims which means i could make 2 claims a year and not lose my ncb.

scousemanblue

It is expensive to begin with when you dont have any bonus.

After one year, you will at least have 30% discount subject to no claims.

Try an Insurance Broker as well as moneysupermarket.

Astaroth

NCD varies between insurers in terms of what discount you get and what you "max out at". Traditionally you got 30% for 1 year, 40% 2yrs, 50% 3yrs, 60% 4yrs and 65% or 70% 5 yrs depending on your age.

many insurers have now moved away from this model and give a variable discount depending on your age across all the years rather than just year 5, some insurers now count up to 9 years ncd (though none I know of give more than 70% so it really only takes you longer to get the same discount)

Once you hit 4 years NCD you can protect it (ie insure it) which for most insurers will mean that you can have up to 2 claims in 3 policy years but no more than 1 claim in 1 policy year (again this varies between insurers)

kiwichick

Thanks Guys,

I had my quote through from Diamond and as well as a normal 12 month policy they do an accelerator 10 month policy which has all the benefits of a 12 month just over a shorter term and you earn 1 years NCD at the end of it so I've gone with that one.

Bossyboots

kiwichick wrote:

Thanks Guys,

I had my quote through from Diamond and as well as a normal 12 month policy they do an accelerator 10 month policy which has all the benefits of a 12 month just over a shorter term and you earn 1 years NCD at the end of it so I've gone with that one.

I am sure someone posted on here a while ago that the first year only counts if you stay with Diamond. Therefore, if you want to change at the end of the first year other companies will not recognise the 10 months for a full 1 year NCB.

15lsp wrote:

I have 7 years protected no claims which means i could make 2 claims a year and not lose my ncb.

Are you sure that is correct? If so, which company are you with? In my experience you are only allowed two claims in three years with protected NCB.

highguyuk

To reduce your insurance it would be beneficial to go on the pass plus scheme.

Contact your local council about it, many of them are offering discounts if you were to take up the course.

I personally didn't like the idea of a 10 month policy, and I was unsure how your NCD would transfer to another company ...

kiwichick

Of all the insurers I spoke to the only one who could offer a discount for pass plus was fortis who incidently quoted me over £1300. Deffo not worth it just for the discount. I am doing it to build my own confidence driving though.

Charlton_Taz

Hi kiwichick

I used to do the 10 month Diamond policy as is it helped me build up some no claims bonus. I transferred this with no problems when I got an Egg car insurance policy instead. So some other companies definately accept it.