Protected no Claims rip off ?

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Protected no Claims rip off ?

AndyRKett

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So car insurance is due for renewal and I decided to give things a go through the usual price comparison websites

2004 Fiat Punto 1.3 multijet JTD 5 door me alone 9 years ncd came out at a smidge under £200 a year with a £100 excess added my other half to the policy

made no real difference at about £220 a year.

Clicked the button for protected no claims which came up at the top of the listings after a quick re-calculate suddenly companies that previously charged £200 wanted £500 :eek:

thats £300 to protect a no claims discount :eek:

now this most likely all stems from my partners fault accident in feb this year, as when I took her off the policy and protected the NCD it was still about £220, however it seems more sensible to me to just up her share of the premium why is her accident being added on to the ncd protection instead.

this wasn't just one company most of the companies on the sites seem to do the same the best deal being about £300 with protected ncd but that wasn't with an exactly reputable company.

so whats the deal with the No Claims protection scam !
 
So car insurance is due for renewal and I decided to give things a go through the usual price comparison websites

2004 Fiat Punto 1.3 multijet JTD 5 door me alone 9 years ncd came out at a smidge under £200 a year with a £100 excess added my other half to the policy

made no real difference at about £220 a year.

Clicked the button for protected no claims which came up at the top of the listings after a quick re-calculate suddenly companies that previously charged £200 wanted £500 :eek:

thats £300 to protect a no claims discount :eek:

now this most likely all stems from my partners fault accident in feb this year, as when I took her off the policy and protected the NCD it was still about £220, however it seems more sensible to me to just up her share of the premium why is her accident being added on to the ncd protection instead.

this wasn't just one company most of the companies on the sites seem to do the same the best deal being about £300 with protected ncd but that wasn't with an exactly reputable company.

so whats the deal with the No Claims protection scam !
Hi,
The majority of our schemes normally load anywhere between 7.5% to about 15% for Protected NCD.
If you need any help with your insurance please feel to drop me a line.
Regards,
Dan,
 
This may sound like a stupid question, but when you protect your no claim bonus, is it only protected with your current insurer if you renew with them at the end of the term?

The reason I ask is because whether you protect or not you are always asked on a new quote if you've had an accident in so many years and if so was it your fault etc? So by my logic would this not put insurance companies in a position where they increase your premiums regardless of your protected no claims with your previous company?

Sorry if this is a daft question.
 
Ok so the cheapest deal we've tracked down is £300 for the year NCD protected works out to about £75-80 extra, and other half is going to pay it given as its her fault its so high and she's just got a nice big pay rise.

Eitherway without her having had the accident at the beginning of the year the cost of protecting the 9 years NCD would only have been £20.
 
This may sound like a stupid question, but when you protect your no claim bonus, is it only protected with your current insurer if you renew with them at the end of the term?

The reason I ask is because whether you protect or not you are always asked on a new quote if you've had an accident in so many years and if so was it your fault etc? So by my logic would this not put insurance companies in a position where they increase your premiums regardless of your protected no claims with your previous company?

Sorry if this is a daft question.

With motor insurance it tends to be industry recognised. PNCD is never guaranteed to stop a premium increase though, just keeps your discount accrued on the base premium. This base premium will normally increase after a claim though (y)
 
I have found if you look about insurance quotes, throw the NCD 'being cheaper' concept away. It still can be cheap(er?) to find a policy without the NCD being relevant. £130 with zero NCD) fully comp I am paying on an Uno, zero xs. I could have got a cheaper quote, but did not like that 1st company. I suppose it could have been cheaper if I had an NCD. but as long as it is less than 40-50p a day, I will consider buying that insurance


Despite a lifetime of having no fault crashes, I have zero no claims.
This is because I ride motorbikes, & the motorbike NCD is non transferrable to cars. (most bike riders are car drivers too, though so I feel it should count. Road experience is road experience after all, whatever you are driving)

I often have been overseas lots, and often have had foreign plated cars and foreign insurance, on cars both in and out of the UK. I also am a named driver on another UK registered car. The result is I have constantly driven cars in the UK, but have not had a UK car insurance policy, for some years until now. So I have zero no claims on my new UK policy that I have recently taken out.

As all of my UK registered cars, and UK car insurance was over 2 years old...it means I have zero NCD.

When I looked about I found cheaper car insurance on policies with NO no claims discount.

I* used to* worry about letting my lifetime of NCD slip when I lived overseas, and sometimes even insured a car in the UK I was not driving, in ordr to keep it going. I will never fall for that again

NCD is used as a way of tyring to lock you into their system, and another way to 'surcharge' you.

That in itself is an irony, as a drivers risk for accurate insurance assement should be based on actual fact. 'Protecting' your NCD hides this fact (if you have had an accident), so really is a form of corruption!

I dont bother now, and I have found cheaper policies with no NCD. So i will never choose to protect any NCD that I get

I wish the UK would do what South Africa does. Insurance (basic) is included in the price you pay for fuel at the pumps. So it is proportional to the mileage you do, and also is therefore an environmental tax, as the thirstier your engine, the more fuel you use. So all cars are covered and insured. You do have the option to purchase extra private insurance for greater coverage should you wish.

The great thing about South Africa is that you can just jump in the car and legally go. Same in New Zealand and other countries.
 
NCD is used as a way of tyring to lock you into their system, and another way to 'surcharge' you.

Not really, its a discount for being claim free, that is all.

That in itself is an irony, as a drivers risk for accurate insurance assement should be based on actual fact. 'Protecting' your NCD hides this fact (if you have had an accident), so really is a form of corruption!

It is, and in protecting it, you're buying the safe keeping of said discount. You'll still be rated for any claims, as they still need to be declared.
 
Good day,
The point I am making is that I have got cheaper claims having a no-no claims discount. So the assumed "discount" mentioned for having had no "claims" does not really apply (if one looks/shops around for all cases). I used to think it totally worked the way that you said, but now I have seen otherwise.

I think this is partly the internet age, that has brought this on.

So it does make a bit of a mockery, for some people, of protecting a NCD.

Of course the other problem is having multiple cars, because the NCD can only be applied to one vehicle. The other ones have to start from afresh.

Personally I would like to see a changed insurance culture (in the UK) with less tie ins. Just because I have ridden motorbikes for the past few years (with no claims), I lose all of my car NCD because they are not transferrable. And yet I have been on British roads all of the time with no claims. The industry needs to be fairer, be more transparent, and have more common sense.

As a motorbike rider, a multiple car owner (At one time I owned cars and was using them in three continents simultaneously), I always seem to miss out on the No Claims thing. At one point I found the best way to insure one of my British registered cars, was through a Russian insurance company with offices in Helsinki. That was the 90's.

At one point I did have a very good car insurance policy through Virgin, where I insured one main car, and any other could be tagged onto the policy for up to three months in one year, from as little as one day at a time. So I had any specified 90 days in a year, either individually or all as one lump. So I could insure all of my cars on one policy, and keep the NCD on that policy.

But now I am afraid I do consider the NCD as partially a rip-off scam (to use bold language). A bit like the hidden "charges" on low cost airlines. I consider it a way of them keeping the headline rate low, but making people pay more, for no real need.

Now I realise that you can "get out of the NCD loop" and not have a NCD and yet get cheaper quotes.

Paying a higher premium in the first place, in order so they can discount it a bit to offer a NCD, is a bit of a contradiction. It doesn't always serve the consumer the best.

For some I am sure it may work, but not for all. Please be aware people.

The NCD thing is good marketing though for the insurance companies and their executive pay awards.

I would like to see more of a South African/New Zealand model of insurance applied here in the UK. I have lived and owned cars in all of those countries as well as the UK.
 
Typo in last message.

Top part in the first two lines of my post above is meant to say I have had cheaper "quotes" (*not claims)! Sorry
 
Re: Protect ed no Claims rip off ?

I contacted Aviva by telephone when my renewal came up in the summer because of the high quoted renewal price. They ran through my details again over the phone and quoted a price £30 lower for the same cover but with added protected NCB.
More cover for less money!
I declined asking why they didn't offer this without me threatening to leave.
Bigger company - bigger con?
 
Re: Protect ed no Claims rip off ?

I declined asking why they didn't offer this without me threatening to leave.
Bigger company - bigger con?

They can't just change your cover without speaking to them, so they offered you a price on the same details as last year. They've now amended the risk details and as such the premium has changed, gone lower in your case.

Who you gone with now out of interest then?
 
The details I gave over the phone were exactly the same as previously so the risk hadn't altered. It was just a way of reducing the price to keep my business.
Unrelated but one disadvantage with Aviva is they one work to a maximum of 5 years NCB which is quoted on renewal notices so you can loose out if you change.
I'm now with esure but will try Chris Knott next time for a quote.
 
I have found if you look about insurance quotes, throw the NCD 'being cheaper' concept away. It still can be cheap(er?) to find a policy without the NCD being relevant. £130 with zero NCD) fully comp I am paying on an Uno, zero xs.


I would love to know what you are actually insuring, from my own research using a panda and a fictional 55 year old man driving 10k a year living in a very low crime area and the car with full no claims I'm able to get an insurance quote of around £95 a year! But take away the no claims and the price for most companies triples. The best without no claims was still way more than double at £240 but you claim you can get a better deal without NCD!?? :rolleyes:
Decro virtually all insurance companies operate like this and when you get your renewal it is electronically generated, but when you phone up the operator always has optional discounts they can add on to seal the deal.

What you did was the equivalent of curries sending you a brochure for a TV that cost £500 then throwing your toys out of the pram with the sales man for offering you £50 off when you go to the store to buy one

Over the last few years I've been with many of the main uk insurers, Aviva, direct line, Churchill, the AA CO-OP, tesco the list is endless, and every single one of them has offered a discount when you phone up to check the renewal price. Also your renewal would be the same policy so they wouldn't add the protected NCD without having spoken to you anyway.
 
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