NCD protection query

[m4tthew]

Hi everyone, hoping someone might be able to help here. I had a minor collision in 2009, I was at fault and everything was sorted out via the insurance. Now I had taken out NCD protection at the time so does this mean I can still use my previous NCD figure when shopping around?

[Ed.]

no, accident must be declared

[Tom H]

In a word... Yes

just check your renewal notice it will say there, don't forget this will need to be forwarded to the next insurer

[m444ttb]

Ed. said:

no, accident must be declared

Isn't the answer 'yes, but the accident must be declared'?

[m4tthew]

Thanks for replies, renewal in March so will check then.

[Dracoro]

You should still have your NCD, however your initial premium will rise due the accident so you will be paying somewhat more anyway.

[Ed.]

This is the case when staying with insurer but for shopping around isn't it up to the new insurer whether they will honour protected no claims?

[Dracoro]

NCD isn't a legal thing, it's a "thing" that pretty much all insurers agree to use (mainly for attracting customers and also for charging them to "protect/guarantee" it), they don't have to honour it at all but that's rare.

As I say, protection is just something that insurers use to make more money out of customers, when renewing/moving elsewhere, all they want to know is how much NCD there is, not whether it was "protected" or not.

Anyway, as I previously said, they just up the initial premium (before they apply any discounts) if you've claimed etc. If you have NCD, they may well have a higher *initial* premium than if you had none where they may have a lower *initial* premium. What they really want to know about you (other than profile, car, address, usage etc.) is your claim/accident history then ascertain how much money they want from you. If you have no evidence of NCD (and have not had any claims/accidents but have had insurance etc.) then you may have to haggle/jump through hoops somewhat, which is what I did when getting a discount on my 2nd car - see below.

I have 2 cars, the first with all my ncd on it. My 2nd car they gave me an introductory "3" years NCD and after that they matched my other NCD (10 years - they don't go higher than that anyway) so I have 2 lots of 10 years NCD. So, protected or not, what they really care about is my risk to them hence the accident/claim history being what's really important.