Insurance no claims discount - Maximum entitlement

[sandman77]

My insurance renewal is due in a week so I have been on the compare sites getting quotes from other companies. I entered into the online form that I have 12 years no claims discount (which I do). Anyway my renewal from my existing company arrived though the door with confirmation of my no claims discount (which I requested) and it stated I was entitled to only 9 years no claims.
I phoned my existing insurer to query this and was told that their system only goes to a maximum of 9 years and other insurers are the same. Is this true? Am I missing out on 3 years no claims because bonus because of this one companies crap computer system?
Something just doesn't seem right to me.

[Durzel]

Greenlight told me the same. In the end I had to ask them to manually provide me with a renewal notice with 10 years on so I didn't lose a year when I moved elsewhere.

[trickywoo]

A lot of companies don't take a lot of notice / provide additional discounts for anything over 5 years.

[Toltec]

The naval officer shows at least 15.

[Stoofa]

Had the same issue myself.
Due to protected no claims on the two occasions I've needed to make a claim, I have, in theory, 20yrs NCD.
However some companies could all years, some count 10, some only count 5.
So I take my 20 to a company that only counts 5, then when I change again my renewal only says 5yrs.

I'm not totally convinced there is a major (if any) difference to you clicking the 5yrs option or any other higher number - although feel free to test and let us know

[Durzel]

Don't you lose some amount of NCD when you make a claim with unprotected NCD? In that instance having less written down would be a disadvantage (e.g. if you had 12 years NCD legitimately, but company only recorded up to 9, you make a claim and it goes down by 3 or something - you end up on 6 instead of 9).

Quite why you'd have unprotected NCD though is anyone's guess.

[Who me ?]

Stoofa said:

Had the same issue myself.
Due to protected no claims on the two occasions I've needed to make a claim, I have, in theory, 20yrs NCD.
However some companies could all years, some count 10, some only count 5.
So I take my 20 to a company that only counts 5, then when I change again my renewal only says 5yrs.

I'm not totally convinced there is a major (if any) difference to you clicking the 5yrs option or any other higher number - although feel free to test and let us know

Big beef on my part too .IMHO-a big con by the insurance industry. I've tried the comparison sites with 20 yrs ( I'm possibly closer to 30 or more), but all that comes back is 9+. Possibly one of our insurance bods can tell me why. Say I'm on 25 yrs NCB, and have a my fault shunt and a 50/50 or a vandalism case , just what would my NCB drop to .I'd suggest still way over 9 yrs. At moment in same situation I'd get penalised .

[xRIEx]

Durzel said:

Don't you lose some amount of NCD when you make a claim with unprotected NCD? In that instance having less written down would be a disadvantage (e.g. if you had 12 years NCD legitimately, but company only recorded up to 9, you make a claim and it goes down by 3 or something - you end up on 6 instead of 9).

Quite why you'd have unprotected NCD though is anyone's guess.

It doesn't work like that.

Some companies may record your actual claim-free years (e.g. 12 years) but will only ever apply up to their maximum (usually 4 or 5, most I've heard of is 7).

When you make a fault claim, you lose 2 years from their maximum, not yours (e.g. your 12 goes down to 3, because it's 2 less than the insurer's rating maximum of 5).

[Durzel]

Fair enough, thanks for the clarification.

[stemll]

Durzel said:

Quite why you'd have unprotected NCD though is anyone's guess.

Because it's a complete waste of money. If you claim, your insurance next year will go up whether you have protected NCD or not. Just because you get the same,nominal percentage discount will not stop your premium being higher.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

stemll said:

Durzel said:

Quite why you'd have unprotected NCD though is anyone's guess.

Because it's a complete waste of money. If you claim, your insurance next year will go up whether you have protected NCD or not. Just because you get the same,nominal percentage discount will not stop your premium being higher.

If your insurance is £350 and you have 65% max ncb, then the actual premium is £1000. You get 65% off that. Prot ncb costs about 10%, so £35. So you pay £385 instead of £350.

Assume they charge 20% for a fault claim. And for easy maths, lets say that their base premiums don't rise that year.

If you have a fault claim with prot ncb, your premium will be £465. £1000 + 20% - 65% + 10% prot ncb charge.
If you have a fault claim, without prot ncb, your premium will be £600. £1000 +20% -50% (reduced from 65% due to claim).

How is that a waste of money?

[noell35]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

If your insurance is £350 and you have 65% max ncb, then the actual premium is £1000. You get 65% off that. Prot ncb costs about 10%, so £35. So you pay £385 instead of £350.

Assume they charge 20% for a fault claim. And for easy maths, lets say that their base premiums don't rise that year.

If you have a fault claim with prot ncb, your premium will be £465. £1000 + 20% - 65% + 10% prot ncb charge.
If you have a fault claim, without prot ncb, your premium will be £600. £1000 +20% -50% (reduced from 65% due to claim).

How is that a waste of money?

Do you work for an insurance company? I gave up protecting my no claims because when I had it years ago and someone drove in to my car overnight while I was sound asleep my insurance renewal premium went up anyway. I managed to reduce this by shopping around at renewal time.

[CYMR0]

noell35 could have said:

Do you work for an insurance company? I gave up protecting my no claims because years ago I had a policy and nothing happened and my insurance renewal premium went up anyway. I managed to reduce this by shopping around at renewal time.

Insurance pricing models also include pricing for churn, i.e., they will generally increase prices for people who don't shop around, no matter what. In any event, the additional premium for protecting NCD is based on reducing the increase, rather than protecting the premium as has already been explained. IMO it tends to be expensive relative to the risk insured, but could be worth it for peace of mind.

[stemll]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

stemll said:

Durzel said:

Quite why you'd have unprotected NCD though is anyone's guess.

Because it's a complete waste of money. If you claim, your insurance next year will go up whether you have protected NCD or not. Just because you get the same,nominal percentage discount will not stop your premium being higher.

If your insurance is £350 and you have 65% max ncb, then the actual premium is £1000. You get 65% off that. Prot ncb costs about 10%, so £35. So you pay £385 instead of £350.

Assume they charge 20% for a fault claim. And for easy maths, lets say that their base premiums don't rise that year.

If you have a fault claim with prot ncb, your premium will be £465. £1000 + 20% - 65% + 10% prot ncb charge.
If you have a fault claim, without prot ncb, your premium will be £600. £1000 +20% -50% (reduced from 65% due to claim).

How is that a waste of money?

Even if your assertion that it actually saves you anything is correct (and our opinions on that clearly differ so not going to argue the point) you're happy to pay £35 a year (assuming it never increases) to save £135 (that is lousy value). Go four years claim free and you're down £5.

In 30 years of driving I have claimed twice on insurance so using your figures (again with no increases for easy maths) I'd have paid £1050 to save £270. Does that look like good value to you? Even if I believed it would make a difference at renewal, that is not a risk worth insuring. Sure the potential saving would have risen by the time I got it but so would the extra premium every year.

Final point, do you tend to change insurer each year to get the best premium? Even with a recent claim, I doubt you'd struggle to beat your renewal even with protected NCD and protected NCD will be tied to the insurer you paid the premium to. Any other insurer quoting will base it on your history which will include a claim as it still has to be declared.

[Nedzilla]

I actually have 19 yrs ncd now but due to switching insurance companies almost every year to get a better deal and with the issues the OP describes of certain systems only recognising so many i can only prove 12 yrs.

I do feel a bit conned by the system as there is a difference when getting quotes on comparrison sites between 12 yrs and 19 yrs though it it only usually about £30 on a £650 premium.

[xRIEx]

Nedzilla said:

I do feel a bit conned by the system as there is a difference when getting quotes on comparrison sites between 12 yrs and 19 yrs though it it only usually about £30 on a £650 premium.

Interesting, as the highest NCB allowance I've heard of is 7 years (AXA - don't know if they still rate it like that, this was years ago).

That sort of price difference is usually down to doing multiple quotes - the comparison sites store cookies on your computer. Clear the cookies in between doing the quotes.