Protected NCB is it worth paying extra for?

Neilw

Hi all,

My insurance is up for renewal, I have 5 years NCB at the moment.

Hibernian are offering full NCB protection for around 100euro extra, I would be allowed to have 2 unlimited claims within a 3 year period.

Does this mean if I had an accident in the first year I would have to stay with hibernian at renewal time...therefor they could, in theory charge me more for insurance at renewal time?

Thanks,
Neil.

mmenarry

The NCB "protection" is a bit of a con job in the majority of cases.

Although your end of line discount stays the same, they actually can (and do) push up the initial price. Can be worth it in a few cases though.

It's calculated by:

Risk for the vehicle, risk for the driver, less NCB

Risk for vehicle and NCB stay the same, but they put up the cost due to the increase in the driver risk (having made a claim)

Might be worth it to protect a 5 year NCB, but not necessarily a 2 or 3 year one.

M.

Neilw

Thanks M, thats what I was thinking, typical of insurance co's here:mad:

Neil.

Our man in Havana

mmenarry wrote:

The NCB "protection" is a bit of a con job in the majority of cases.

Although your end of line discount stays the same, they actually can (and do) push up the initial price. Can be worth it in a few cases though.

It's calculated by:

Risk for the vehicle, risk for the driver, less NCB

Risk for vehicle and NCB stay the same, but they put up the cost due to the increase in the driver risk (having made a claim)

Might be worth it to protect a 5 year NCB, but not necessarily a 2 or 3 year one.

M.

Also if your NCB is protected and you are unlucky enough to have a claim, you are then locked to that company for 5 years. You won't be able to move as the NCB is only protected by the company you are currently with.

As far as other companies are concerned you have no NCB and a claim and you will find it very difficult to get cover elsewhere. Hence the handcuffs from the original company, you can't move and they can squeeze you for €'000s in increased premiums.

samo

If the claim is settled you can move, I had 5 years NCB with Eagle star which was protected and then the named driver on my policy was involced in a minor accident, policy paid out approx 3k for 3rd party and damage to my car.

When it came to renewal time the policy was the same the previous year and as the claim was settled was able to move to the AA where I actually got a lower quote despite the claim and they kept it at 5 years NCB (protected) and they will allow a further claim (god forbid :eek: ) in the next 3 years - so in that instance was well worth 100 quid.

I know of someone else recently that had a large 3rd party claim made against them and they didnt have protected NCB (again was 5 years) and there insurance doubled so from my own experience it can be worth it.

Our man in Havana

When it came to renewal time the policy was the same the previous year and as the claim was settled was able to move to the AA where I actually got a lower quote despite the claim and they kept it at 5 years NCB (protected) and they will allow a further claim (god forbid ) in the next 3 years - so in that instance was well worth 100 quid.

What company did the AA get you covered with as this seems an exception to the rule. Normally protected NCBs are not transferable to other companies intact.

unkel

I've been driving for 20 years and have never caused an accident. Never even been involved in an accident. Touches wood!

I have been paying 15% on top of my insurance premium to have full NCB protection. Belt & braces perhaps, but the one thing I wouldn't want to happen is that should I fook up and claim, no one will insure me any longer on a high-end car

Whether or not I'd be tied to the same insurer in case of a claim doesn't bother me. NCB protection means they cannot load me dramatically should I claim and they sure cannot refuse to insure me on my high-end car

Eurorunner

When it came to renewal time the policy was the same the previous year and as the claim was settled was able to move to the AA where I actually got a lower quote despite the claim and they kept it at 5 years NCB (protected) and they will allow a further claim (god forbid ) in the next 3 years - so in that instance was well worth 100 quid.

This is interesting. I had my no claims insured,had an accident last year and claimed on it. I just renewed my insurance with my current insurer as I assumed - as Bond-007 pointed out - that I would be locked in with them. If I go with another insurer, I would imagine they will ask that standard question of theirs - 'have you had any accidents or convictions in the past five years?'. In which case, I assumed they would give an outrageous premium quotation.
In any event, my insurer doesnt seem to be screwing me over ie. i'm still getting a competitive quote on renewal. That said, I would be very interested if others have had the same experience as Samo?

samo

Bond-007 wrote:

What company did the AA get you covered with as this seems an exception to the rule. Normally protected NCBs are not transferable to other companies intact.

AIG Europe

I had my doubts about it as well but sure enough quotation came out in the post and it was noted on the policy that there was a settled claim and the amount it was for etc but because my policy was stepped back to 3 years with Eagle star after the claim and the claim was settled the underwriters approved it - They also allowed me the full 5 years NCB with them (which was more surprised about as the claim was under a certain threshhold)

Also got a quote from someone else (forget who but think it might have been Allianz) and they were accepting the stepped back NCB.

The protected NCB was well worth it to me!