Car insurance renewal

[GoldWithFalmer]

A price comparison website (all be it) not protecting NCD for a year,is offering £125 less from the same company,should i buy it from my insurers link via the comparison website.............(yes i could phone my insurer and ask)..................if i do will i be charged the difference at renewal? / charged twice?
Anybody ever done it?

 

[Notters]

Just ring them and ask if it's showing cheaper. I go through this palaver every year with Hastings Direct.

On another note, can anyone tell me if protecting your no claims is worthwhile, given that they check if you've made any claims anyway? I've got about 9 years NCD at the moment. I know there are some people who work in the industry on.

 

[GoldWithFalmer]

Just ring them and ask if it's showing cheaper. I go through this palaver every year with Hastings Direct.

On another note, can anyone tell me if protecting your no claims is worthwhile, given that they check if you've made any claims anyway? I've got about 9 years NCD at the moment. I know there are some people who work in the industry on.

Probably will end up calling as don't want to chance paying twice,regards NCD,mine would be £14 cheaper if i did not protect,but would only do it for a year because i will lose if not protected after 2 years.....

i have no loyalty to car insurers...

 

[studio150]

On another note, can anyone tell me if protecting your no claims is worthwhile, given that they check if you've made any claims anyway? I've got about 9 years NCD at the moment. I know there are some people who work in the industry on.

Protection of NCD is a piece of mind purchase particularly where you have no claims, or only claims where you are able to claim fully from the at fault motorist or their insurer, as you would not lose your NCD is such circumstances. if you had a fault claim without NCD protection, the level of discount provided by your Insurer would reduce. The actual increase in premium will vary from Insurer to Insurer given that there is not a consistent NCD scale.
If you have protected your NCD then the discount is not reduced but you are obviously paying more premium to have this protection.

So it really comes down to can you afford the increased premium should you have a fault claim.

There will be examples where drivers have gone many years without a claim, and if they had not protected their NCD they would still have the same level and will have saved the additional premium from not protecting their NCD over these years.

People who have protected their NCD and suffered fault claims, would obviously say it is worthwhile as they have benefited from it.

Really comes down to how risk adverse you are, and it is really down to personal circumstances and whether you believe you are a safe driver or not.

 

[MF'84]

Protecting your no claims discount is a no brainer really; for the sake of a few extra quid a year you're avoiding a significant hike in your insurance if you are unfortunate enough to need to make a claim.

You can be the most careful driver on the planet but that still won't stop some other fool driving into you!

 

[Stat Brother]

If NSC were to ever decide to lose it's USP and divide into sub-sections, one would need to be 'fatherly advise'

 

[studio150]

If NSC were to ever decide to lose it's USP and divide into sub-sections, one would need to be 'fatherly advise'

And another one fatherly advice

 

[Notters]

Protecting your no claims discount is a no brainer really; for the sake of a few extra quid a year you're avoiding a significant hike in your insurance if you are unfortunate enough to need to make a claim.

You can be the most careful driver on the planet but that still won't stop some other fool driving into you!

But as I understand it, there will still be a significant hike in your insurance either way?

 

[kingcole]

You can be the most careful driver on the planet but that still won't stop some other fool driving into you!

This scenario should not mean a loss of your NCD even if unprotected

 

[father_and_son]

But as I understand it, there will still be a significant hike in your insurance either way?

There is a premium load (with most insurers) based on your claims history - so if you have had a fault claim in the past 3 years you could expect to pay as much as 5% more than if you hadn't.

This is separate to no claims protection, which - if paid for - means that your NCD is not "stepped back". The amount of discount you get from your no claims bonus varies a lot between insurers (mainly because it is THE factor which actually has the least predictive powers of future claims and is an anachronism that customers 'expect' despite it's lack of value to the insurer .... Most just load the "No NCD" price by a huge amount - because they don't want to insure those people anyway - and then offer a large discount to remove this fake load!)

Typically stepping back from "maximum" to 2/3 years bonus (typical for a first claim) would result in the discount dropping from 60% to 40% (plus the 5% load for having a load - and don't forget the claim was your fault so you had to pay out your excess as well!)... so not having NCD Protection could result in an increase in premium of around 30% after one claim, instead of around 5% if you don't purchase it.


If your premium is, say, £250, then this is a fairly small benefit, but if you are paying £1000+ then it definitely hurts to lose your NCD.


These are just averages from my knowledge of the industry (I am Chief Underwriting Officer for a motor insurer) and will vary a lot based on your specific circumstances and the company you are insured with.

As said by others, this is purely a "peace of mind" issue and a way to pay a little extra now to avoid the chance of paying a lot later on.

 

[Gazwag]

This scenario should not mean a loss of your NCD even if unprotected

What if they were uninsured or happened when parked in a car park with no witnesses

 

[Moshe Gariani]

And another one fatherly advice

Yes, the "Spelling & Grammar" pedantry subsection (there is no need for a hyphen) would be popular.

 

[Chinman3000]

There is a premium load (with most insurers) based on your claims history - so if you have had a fault claim in the past 3 years you could expect to pay as much as 5% more than if you hadn't.

This is separate to no claims protection, which - if paid for - means that your NCD is not "stepped back". The amount of discount you get from your no claims bonus varies a lot between insurers (mainly because it is THE factor which actually has the least predictive powers of future claims and is an anachronism that customers 'expect' despite it's lack of value to the insurer .... Most just load the "No NCD" price by a huge amount - because they don't want to insure those people anyway - and then offer a large discount to remove this fake load!)

Typically stepping back from "maximum" to 2/3 years bonus (typical for a first claim) would result in the discount dropping from 60% to 40% (plus the 5% load for having a load - and don't forget the claim was your fault so you had to pay out your excess as well!)... so not having NCD Protection could result in an increase in premium of around 30% after one claim, instead of around 5% if you don't purchase it.


If your premium is, say, £250, then this is a fairly small benefit, but if you are paying £1000+ then it definitely hurts to lose your NCD.


These are just averages from my knowledge of the industry (I am Chief Underwriting Officer for a motor insurer) and will vary a lot based on your specific circumstances and the company you are insured with.

As said by others, this is purely a "peace of mind" issue and a way to pay a little extra now to avoid the chance of paying a lot later on.

Can you clarify this sentence as you seem to be saying the same thing twice with different outcomes

 

[BensGrandad]

In general does it pay to shop around as my wifes is due for renewal in November and she will just pay the premium her renewal says. I keep telling her she is wrong but she says that the amount she may save it is not worth the hassle is she correct? She has been with the same company for about 10 years and like everybody else keeps getting mail shot letters which just go in the shredder and binned..

 

[Stat Brother]

I guess the 'fatherly adviCe' section would only work with restricted access.

 

[hastings]

In general does it pay to shop around as my wifes is due for renewal in November and she will just pay the premium her renewal says. I keep telling her she is wrong but she says that the amount she may save it is not worth the hassle is she correct? She has been with the same company for about 10 years and like everybody else keeps getting mail shot letters which just go in the shredder and binned..

Interestingly I got with my new gf last year and her insurance became due. For me, as sad as it is, I love the challenge of getting my insurance down and this does possibly mean changing year on year.
Anyway, similar to your wife my partner had been with same insurer for 10 years, hadn't ever amended details, wasn't showing as having had SP30 and still listed as a student. I looked at it for her this year and took her annual premium from 500 to 260. Morale of the story, don't just pay the premium and always shop around

 

[BensGrandad]

Interestingly I got with my new gf last year and her insurance became due. For me, as sad as it is, I love the challenge of getting my insurance down and this does possibly mean changing year on year.
Anyway, similar to your wife my partner had been with same insurer for 10 years, hadn't ever amended details, wasn't showing as having had SP30 and still listed as a student. I looked at it for her this year and took her annual premium from 500 to 260. Morale of the story, don't just pay the premium and always shop around

I assume that was on line, so why do companies send the numerous mail shots out surely that is now old hat.

 

[father_and_son]

Can you clarify this sentence as you seem to be saying the same thing twice with different outcomes

Oops.... Should have said so not having NCD Protection could result in an increase in premium of around 30% after one claim, instead of around 5% if you did purchase it.

 

[Balders]

Ex Motor Insurance Person here, got disillusioned with the whole industry after 25 years.

Renewal Pricing - in general terms, these days the longer you stay with the same company, the more expensive your renewal will become! When I was last in the industry (broking side) renewal pricing was based on your propensity to renew. Very likely - load it up, unlikely, don't load it up. All based on demographic data and your policy history ;-)

Protected No Claims Bonus - depends on the Insurer and their attitude to Claims. Like Father and Son said typically you'd lose 20% of your NCD, but if the Insurer loads your policy for the claim by 10%-20% then it really ain't worth the money to protect, but you'd only find this out once you had a claim. I dealt with an Insurer who gave Protected NCD and allowed 2 claims in 3 years. Their Underwriting rules said that it you had 2 claims, they'd refuse to insure you. So if you had Protected NCD with them and had 2 claims, they wouldn't insure you anyway!!

It's all a bit of a con - I could be an insurer and offer maximum NCD of 95% and load the base rates up to be the equivalent of an Insurer offering 70% and I could load claims by 50% so I'd avoid anyone with claims. I could charge 12.5% for Protected NCD but if any of my policyholders had a claim, I'd be uncompeitive at renewal, so essentially my Protected NCD would be worth nothing!

 

[Notters]

What if they were uninsured or happened when parked in a car park with no witnesses

Precisely what happened to me. Fortunately it only cost £100 to get it fixed. Though I'm sure I could've thought of better ways to spend £100.

There is a premium load (with most insurers) based on your claims history - so if you have had a fault claim in the past 3 years you could expect to pay as much as 5% more than if you hadn't.

This is separate to no claims protection, which - if paid for - means that your NCD is not "stepped back". The amount of discount you get from your no claims bonus varies a lot between insurers (mainly because it is THE factor which actually has the least predictive powers of future claims and is an anachronism that customers 'expect' despite it's lack of value to the insurer .... Most just load the "No NCD" price by a huge amount - because they don't want to insure those people anyway - and then offer a large discount to remove this fake load!)

Typically stepping back from "maximum" to 2/3 years bonus (typical for a first claim) would result in the discount dropping from 60% to 40% (plus the 5% load for having a load - and don't forget the claim was your fault so you had to pay out your excess as well!)... so not having NCD Protection could result in an increase in premium of around 30% after one claim, instead of around 5% if you don't purchase it.


If your premium is, say, £250, then this is a fairly small benefit, but if you are paying £1000+ then it definitely hurts to lose your NCD.


These are just averages from my knowledge of the industry (I am Chief Underwriting Officer for a motor insurer) and will vary a lot based on your specific circumstances and the company you are insured with.

As said by others, this is purely a "peace of mind" issue and a way to pay a little extra now to avoid the chance of paying a lot later on.

Thanks for posting this. As I suspected, it's far from clear whether it's worth having (unlike some have suggested above). My premium is about £350 btw.