Motor NCB Protection Really worth it ?

alanobrien

As the title says is No Claims Bonus protection really worth buying given its only applicable to the insurer you are with and if you move insurers all claims within a certain time frame have to be declared anyway.

I guess if you are staying with a particular insurer then it may be worth it but who does that these days given loyalty doesn't pay.

Thoughts ?

brazilianwax

Errrrrr, it depends. It doesn't cost much for us to protect ours, so we do.

You have to declare claims, but if your NCB was protected at the time the new insurer doesn't reduce your NCB, so in that respect it is worth it.

They may, however, charge more for the 'protection' because you have a claims history.

alanobrien

brazilianwax wrote:

but if your NCB was protected at the time the new insurer doesn't reduce your NCB, so in that respect it is worth it.

Sure about this ? That isn't what i have been told by a local broker. More importantly there doesn't seem to be a question asking if your no claims was protected on at least some of the major "quote engines" which would make quotes meaningless if your point is correct.

brazilianwax

I'm sure.

Put it this way, I have max NCB on my car. It was protected on last year's policy. I'm making a claim off that old policy (fault) which is currently going through. In the meantime my policy expired and the proof of NCB states 8 years protected.

I've taken insurance with a different company based on max NCB, and once again, protected.

The initial premium was higher because of the claim, and the additional premium for protected NCB was higher (as I have proven that I will claim in certain circumstances), but there was no argument that my NCB should be reduced.

That's the point of protected NCB, and as an industry standard I would guess this applies to most insurers (and certainly the bigger ones).

Hope this helps.

alanobrien

brazilianwax wrote:

I'm sure.
Hope this helps.

Yes it does, i am off to question the local broker a bit more closely, thanks.

alanobrien

Also found this older thread on the subject, intresting read.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=80209&page=1

shelly

I agree with brazilianwax about new ins co's not reducing your NCB after a claim if its protected. Hubby has always paid to protect his NCB, last year I had a claim on the policy and then we changed co's at renewal, declared the claim and NCB stayed at max. Also the ins at renewal was cheaper than the previous year.
Protected NCB only reduces if you have X claims in X years.

shelly

alanobrien wrote:

Also found this older thread on the subject, intresting read.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=80209&page=1

I wanted to reply to that thread but its too old now. Derrick is another typical example of someone posting about something they obviously know nothing about.
He said that protected NCB isn't transferable. (How would he know, he doesn't protect his NCB) I know for a fact that it is as we change co's every year and take our full NCB with us and protect it every year. Never been questioned or declined.

roswell

You could ask that question backwards really.

Can I afford to not protect my NCD ?

alanobrien

OK, having now spoken to several brokers, some say it is transferable and some say it isnt and from my investigations it *appears* that some insurance companies will allow transfer and some will not. Sounds a bit of a mess. Anyway from my perspective it doesnt cost much so we will keep the protected NCB at our new insurer.

Thanks to all that contributed to this thread.

melbury

I pretty much change my insurance company each year and always transfer my NCB and protect it each time. Thought this was normal practice.