Why you should have no claims bonus protection on your motor insurance.

gebbel

My motor insurance last year was €504 for fully comprehensive on an Audi A4. 35 year old male with 5 years no claims bonus. I had an accident which was my fault and cost the insurers €9000. Just got my renewal quote today and it is more than double.....€1,164. I can get 5% off if I renew online but that is their rock bottom price.

Didn't have proctection on the ncb. Actually did a few years ago but got rid of it to get the cost of cover down. Possibly the most ludicrous decision I have ever made.

Just thought I post my experience for those who may think of not taking out this cover. No matter how good of a driver you think you are.....it could come back to haunt you.

Alkers

Have you tried shopping around?

fasttalkerchat

I don't protect mine because they ask if you had an accident in the past 5 years anyway. I assumed that protected NCB didn't make much difference after a big claim.

bazz26

You can opt for step back NCB protection which means you may not loose all your NCB in the event of a claim. You just loose a percentage of it.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

gebbel wrote: »

My motor insurance last year was €504 for fully comprehensive on an Audi A4. 35 year old male with 5 years no claims bonus. I had an accident which was my fault and cost the insurers €9000. Just got my renewal quote today and it is more than double.....€1,164. I can get 5% off if I renew online but that is their rock bottom price.

Didn't have proctection on the ncb. Actually did a few years ago but got rid of it to get the cost of cover down. Possibly the most ludicrous decision I have ever made.

Just thought I post my experience for those who may think of not taking out this cover. No matter how good of a driver you think you are.....it could come back to haunt you.

Im open to correction on this but i remember reading through my policy terms before and protected no claims discount only applied to claims of €4000 and under. So you would still have lost your ncd anyway.

robbie_998

I have Protection on my policy cos it was actually €1 extra

but im still afraid to claim anything incase my insurance goes up or stays the same next year.

I mean i want to claim to get scratches repaired on my car and front crash damage ( i know still not done )

just say it all happened in a car park when i wasnt there or something and have them sort.

easily done for less than 900 euro all damage and i have a spare car at the ready.

but has anyone any experiance of this ? im still in my first year with them about to finish in july but afraid to claim.

fasttalkerchat

robbie_998 wrote: »

I have Protection on my policy cos it was actually €1 extra

but im still afraid to claim anything incase my insurance goes up or stays the same next year.

I mean i want to claim to get scratches repaired on my car and front crash damage ( i know still not done )

just say it all happened in a car park when i wasnt there or something and have them sort.

easily done for less than 900 euro all damage and i have a spare car at the ready.

but has anyone any experiance of this ? im still in my first year with them about to finish in july but afraid to claim.

err that would be fraud...
Also they ask you "Have you had any accidents regardless of blame in the last 5 years?" Once you say yes they add to your premium.

robbie_998

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

err that would be fraud...
Also they ask you "Have you had any accidents regardless of blame in the last 5 years?" Once you say yes they add to your premium.

well to be fair the scratches appeared on the car when i wasnt around... or kids etc, so that part is grand.


the front crash damage.. right i can see how you mean there but the car i hit was gentle and no damage to them what so ever and they were happy to just drive away no bother. so even if i did say i hit someone they would ask who etc and i dont even remember when or any reg plates etc. didnt even get your mans name.

It was just my car that has a small bit of damage. just a case of fixing a few clips... if i said i came out of the shop and it was just there who would be the wiser ? (but i dont mean to be bad either, sorry)

fasttalkerchat

robbie_998 wrote: »

well to be fair the scratches appeared on the car when i wasnt around... or kids etc, so that part is grand.


the front crash damage.. right i can see how you mean there but the car i hit was gentle and no damage to them what so ever and they were happy to just drive away no bother. so even if i did say i hit someone they would ask who etc and i dont even remember when or any reg plates etc. didnt even get your mans name.

It was just my car that has a small bit of damage. just a case of fixing a few clips... if i said i came out of the shop and it was just there who would be the wiser ? (but i dont mean to be bad either, sorry)

It's up to you. We pay insurance a fortune and get very little in return so if you want to take that chance that's your call.
Insurance companies will have had people doing the same thing many times before so (if you were to do this and I do not recommend it in any way yada yada yada) make sure you cover your arse.

*I am not condoning fradulent insurance claims*

irelandspurs

Think you can only fully protect your ncb once you have 5 years ncb or more,stap back is the other.

AMCCORK

I have ncb protection and I hit the back of a car about four yrs ago. I think it was about 3 to 4 k in total for the two cars and I am delighted I had it. My ins has remained the same since no increase and I was still able to haggle at renewal. I did get quotes from other companies for comparison and my own insurer were still best value. I think it does only relate to small claim amounts but it is only about 30 to 40 on to the policy.

lomb

I dont really agree with NCB protection -its insurance against insurance. Look at it from your insurers point of view it will be 15 years of extra to get their money back on the claim and I doubt they woul be getting much extra by year 2 or 3.

djimi

robbie_998 wrote: »

I have Protection on my policy cos it was actually €1 extra

but im still afraid to claim anything incase my insurance goes up or stays the same next year.

I mean i want to claim to get scratches repaired on my car and front crash damage ( i know still not done )

just say it all happened in a car park when i wasnt there or something and have them sort.

easily done for less than 900 euro all damage and i have a spare car at the ready.

but has anyone any experiance of this ? im still in my first year with them about to finish in july but afraid to claim.

Get out a credit union loan or something to repair the damage;chances are itll end up costing you less in the long run and you wont have a claim restricting your movement at renewal time.

Zascar

I'm always staggered by the amount of people who are under insured. Good insurance is a fantastic thing in the event of an accident. I've never really had to use it but it gives me huge peace of mind knowing if something bad did happen I would not have to worry too much. The amount of people I know who only have 3rd party fire and theft is amazing, then they do something stupid, cause an accident and have to fork out thousands on repairs to their car. These type of things always come at the worst possible time as well. For me anyway its just not worth saving a measly few euro - spend the money and get properly protected.

Merch

lomb wrote: »

I dont really agree with NCB protection -its insurance against insurance. Look at it from your insurers point of view it will be 15 years of extra to get their money back on the claim and I doubt they woul be getting much extra by year 2 or 3.

NCB, what does it cover?
I made a claim nearly 5 years ago against my own policy as someone hit my car in a carpark and promptly fcuked off before i returned.
I felt the company was suggesting I was witholding some information as they insisted on getting the information of the other driver despite me telling them I didnt know as the person that did it left before i returned.
Looking at the MIBI website it looks as if i should have claimed there but the insurance company never told me this. ie the MIBI says compensating innocent victims of uninsured or unidentified vehicles.

I got the car repaired at the time through the insurers recommended repairer but paid the excess, I did this as I planned on keeping/didnt feel there was much else wrong with the car and felt it would cost me through no fault of my own to replace the car (maybe i should have). I got the repair The damage while not structural, I considered it would deteriorate with rust over time, I still have the car and the I think the repair was a good job (slight edit in a manner worthwhile as it has lasted without deteriorating).

My question is, what does NCB cover? should I have been able to claim off the MIBI?
As I had full NCB with protection on my policy then, The insurance company i was with said it wouldnt affect my renewal, but when I went to renew with them they upped my premium, they said my NCB wasn't affected but that I was loaded on my policy as a result, they denied they said I wouldn't be affected (I may not have proceeded with the repair had I known that).

This is something I am thinking of now as my insurance is due for renewal soon and its nearly 5 years and until now it has affected my renewals and now I hope I am free of it (even though I have never in all my driving been involved in an accident).

generally Im unhappy with my insurance costs (although still quite low) I hear of similar if not lower for much larger engined cars.

Tragedy

Zascar wrote: »

I'm always staggered by the amount of people who are under insured. Good insurance is a fantastic thing in the event of an accident. I've never really had to use it but it gives me huge peace of mind knowing if something bad did happen I would not have to worry too much. The amount of people I know who only have 3rd party fire and theft is amazing, then they do something stupid, cause an accident and have to fork out thousands on repairs to their car. These type of things always come at the worst possible time as well. For me anyway its just not worth saving a measly few euro - spend the money and get properly protected.

Fantastic advice there champ. Dad has been driving(and presumably insured) for 40 years and has had zero at fault claims. How much wasted money has comprehensive been? How much would NCB protection have been?

Brother has been driving 7 years comp, zero accidents. Again, how much wasted money?


The only reason NCB protection is offered is because it makes insurance companies profit. Same with windscreen, breakdown assist and all the other 'extras' and 'bonuses'. Insurance isn't a zero-sum game, insurance companes make a profit.

Anan1

Tragedy wrote: »

Insurance isn't a zero-sum game, insurance companes make a profit.

A business can make a profit and still provide benefit to the customer.

coylemj

Tragedy wrote: »

Fantastic advice there champ. Dad has been driving(and presumably insured) for 40 years and has had zero at fault claims. How much wasted money has comprehensive been? How much would NCB protection have been?

It's easy to be wise after the event. If we all knew we'd be lucky enough to drive for 40 years, never skid on black ice into a ditch, never get whacked by some idiot with no insurance or run into by some tosser with a car full of lying witnesses, we could all get by with third party.

A lot of people for whom a car is absolutely essential for everyday life and who could not afford to replace their car if they accidently wrote it off have no choice but to fork out for fully comp.

Tragedy wrote: »

Brother has been driving 7 years comp, zero accidents. Again, how much wasted money?

Just because you haven't had to rely on it doesn't make insurance 'wasted money'.

Tragedy wrote: »

The only reason NCB protection is offered is because it makes insurance companies profit. Same with windscreen, breakdown assist and all the other 'extras' and 'bonuses'. Insurance isn't a zero-sum game, insurance companes make a profit.

Yes, they exist to make money but the service they provide involves risk spreading across the whole population (well at least across those of us who have insurance) which for private motorists is not available from any other source other than motor insurance.

leeroybrown

I pay for full NCB protection on the basis that I'm pretty much always driving something reasonably quick with well above average insurance costs. If I have a claim without full NCB protection I pretty much risk not being able to afford to insure my own car. I might look at it differently if I was driving something with low insurance costs where the full NCB protection was a bigger percentage of the premium cost.

MugMugs

Just to clear this up. If you protect your NCB and are unfortunate enough to have a claim, come renewal you'll still have to declare your claim to your next insurer. The insurer you were with will offer renewal generally but with a loaded premium due to the claim. You will then receive the discount applied from the NCB. some insurers invoke limits on the max amount the claim can be for protection however generally this isn't the done thing.


Mugs

fasttalkerchat

IMO if you're driving anything valued under 2k its not worth having insurance other than to tick the legal compliance box. If you damage your own car you're not going to claim because you will pay back twice as much over the next few years. If you damage someone else's car it would need to be an expensive crash to make it worthwhile losing NCB and declaring an accident over.

Bohrio

Tragedy wrote: »

Fantastic advice there champ. Dad has been driving(and presumably insured) for 40 years and has had zero at fault claims. How much wasted money has comprehensive been? How much would NCB protection have been?

Brother has been driving 7 years comp, zero accidents. Again, how much wasted money?


The only reason NCB protection is offered is because it makes insurance companies profit. Same with windscreen, breakdown assist and all the other 'extras' and 'bonuses'. Insurance isn't a zero-sum game, insurance companes make a profit.

Thats what insurance is all about... what if...

Iff you have the money to repair your car or get a replacement then 3rd party is the way to go...

I rather stick to comprehensive... and mine is not cheap.

For example, i paid 50 k for a car a few yars back (got a loan). Almost two years later i bumped into a rock, broke my steering and fell down 100 m cliff, car was a write off

It took a couple of weeks to get it sorted but got all my money back, the full amount, i also got the car out of the riverbank, that wasnt cheap either, all paid though. If i would have 3rd party id still be paying that loan... no thanks! i am sure im not the only one, im sure many here have had similar issues

Merch

hmm, I looked at the MIBI website and it doesn't look like you can claim for damages to property (vehicle) against unidentified vehicles, not that I'm bothering retrospectively, its out of curiosity.
I'm thinking of going for the lowest priced option this time around with no frills and see how low i can get a quote, not that impressed with my ACTUAL quote
my insurance is usually in and around 440 ish but the actual quote is 1050 minus my NCB of 500 leaves me at around 550, which i think is pretty crap given that I've never caused an accident (not even been in one, fingers crossed)and am driving 16 years full licence, currently (and hopefully for a while) in a 1.25 litre fiesta.
Crap given that my girlfriend gets quotes of 550 without NCB and admits not to being able to parallel park, drives down the middle of the motorway, barely able to reverse and gouged the side of her car off a pillar in a car park! I assume with more discounts to come when she builds up NCB???
Anyway the 1000 less 500NCB is a renewal, I got a quote for 350 off 123 thats basic comprehensive.
3rd party in all cases is mostly either only 20/40 euro less or strangely dearer?

I've seen people with quotes for similar prices for Avensis (1.6/1.8 litre ish?)and A4's (1.6-1.9litres)
maybe i should get a posers car, I drive for budget but am i being loaded because they think fiesta drivers may not pay for repairs?? car always gets whats needed done.
Recommend me a nice/posers car that has a 1.6 engine at least and still manages to get low insurance
as driving without fault for 16+yrs isn't doing it for me.

coylemj

Don't take the renewal quote at face value. Tell them you have multiple quotes that are lower and they'll reduce it.

Their call agents have a script which involves telling you all the reasons why you should stay with them and they can reduce the premium, They will not let a customer with 16 claim-free years go easily, believe me. Ring them.

Merch

coylemj wrote: »

Don't take the renewal quote at face value. Tell them you have multiple quotes that are lower and they'll reduce it.

Their call agents have a script which involves telling you all the reasons why you should stay with them and they can reduce the premium, They will not let a customer with 16 claim-free years go easily, believe me. Ring them.

I should clear this up a little, in case it looks like Im being misleading

I did have one claim almost 5 yrs ago, (its in post 15 this thread), but it was due to someone driving into my car when it was parked and they decided to do a runner, no witnesses(that I was aware of) or security camera to see it.
I have had my licence 16yrs, 3 of which was still name driver experience then 13 on my own, no accidents.
So its really no accidents in 16yrs, and one claim not of my doing and no vehicle accidents.

I always shop around and I have always found the best way to get a better price is to move provider, although sometimes I have stayed with some insurers for a few years. Generally I have found that insurers wont reduce their quotation significantly (but that could just be my experience)

In this case I did ring the insurer and squeezed something off their quote, they knocked off a few quid but nothing significant.
Oh and I believe they have a spiel they kind of ran down the potential of other companies reputations.
All the same they really only knocked off a small amount
and the main thing is
I'm quite unhappy about the starting point, my NCB is 5yrs (edit it was protected so never went away)(or the max which I keep getting back as 5yrs/50%) and has always been around 500, and my quotes are generally around 440 ish.
But that means my actual quote is at the 1000 euro mark!:mad:

also that claim didnt in the end cause my premium to rise much, I explained the circumstance to new potential insurers, one accepted it and I got insurance not much increased from what i had previously paid, I was limited in my ability to move from them but their price wasn't too bad.

The thing is my insurance seems to me to high enough, but its hard to judge as I dont know exactly what others are paying, bar the odd few glimpses I mentioned previously that someone with an avensis and some mentions I have heard of a person with an audi A4, seems mine is similar, now Im being asked for 550, looks like I can get it for 350, i barely do any mileage these days, not much more than 5k miles a year.

Tragedy

Anan1 wrote: »

A business can make a profit and still provide benefit to the customer.

And? That has absolutely nothing to do with what I posted. Congratulations!

Insurance is about the fear of "what if?". It isn't about providing economic benefit to insured people, which is what Zascar argued.

Overall, the average person will pay more in Insurance premiums than he will receive in insurance payouts. A lot more. A huge amount more. Otherwise there wouldn't be private companies providing private insurance.

Arguing that comprehensive insurance is worth it if you have a valuable car and can't afford to fix it is one thing(and a tiny tiny amount of the market), arguing that everyone should have comprehensive "because it only costs a little bit more" is completely different (and completely wrong).

coylemj

On your claim almost 5 years ago, I believe that would only affect the NCB applying to the comprehensive part of your policy so after almost 5 years it really should have very little effect on the premium, if any.

Given you have 16 years with no third party claims, you really should be doing better than >400 on a Fiesta. I have a niece with a learner permit and a Fiat Punto and she's paying less than you. I know you begrudge the lower rates your GF and the other ladies get but that's down to the stats.

I'm not asking you to reveal what it is but assuming you have no history of driving convictions, I suspect your occupation is working against you.

Merch

Tragedy wrote: »

And? That has absolutely nothing to do with what I posted. Congratulations!

Insurance is about the fear of "what if?". It isn't about providing economic benefit to insured people, which is what Zascar argued.

Overall, the average person will pay more in Insurance premiums than he will receive in insurance payouts. A lot more. A huge amount more. Otherwise there wouldn't be private companies providing private insurance.

Arguing that comprehensive insurance is worth it if you have a valuable car and can't afford to fix it is one thing(and a tiny tiny amount of the market), arguing that everyone should have comprehensive "because it only costs a little bit more" is completely different (and completely wrong).

Comprehensive for an extra 40 euro kind of makes it hard to pass up, in some cases comp has been cheaper for me, and when i added my girlfriend who only had a learner permit it went down even more (thats just crazy)

What I'd like to know is, the criteria that allow me to reduce my insurance.
How can adding a female driver on a learner permit make my policy cheaper??
I guess, they have stats that say a woman makes the guy drive safer, but it could also mean my otherhalf is driving my car when she has (edit little or )no experience/is an inexperienced driver.

Merch

coylemj wrote: »

On your claim almost 5 years ago, I believe that would only affect the NCB applying to the comprehensive part of your policy so after almost 5 years it really should have very little effect on the premium, if any.

Given you have 16 years with no third party claims, you really should be doing better than >400 on a Fiesta. I have a niece with a learner permit and a Fiat Punto and she's paying less than you. I know you begrudge the lower rates your GF and the other ladies get but that's down to the stats.

I'm not asking you to reveal what it is but assuming you have no history of driving convictions, I suspect your occupation is working against you.

I dont really begrudge as such,it just makes it hard to take when I suggest (the odd time) for her to do things that make sense and make her a safer driver, ie not hogging lanes (motorway) or driving with extreme caution in estates (kids).edit At least i have managed to encourage her to indicate on roundabouts correctly.I mean this in the sense that I think blokes get penalised in advance because some drive like maniacs,whereas women get an allowance in advance when some are good and some are likely driving like maniacs. I have read on boards and elsewhere that the accidents women cause are less catostrophic, like the woman that nearly crashed into me recently, it was at low speed, she was in an offside lane of two lanes turning right, she cut the corner and nearly crashed into me, all the while, not looking where she was going and waving at me like a lunatic with her hand in a very italian manner shall we say when I bipped her to let her know she was approaching me, she didnt even realise what she had done,my mother was in the car and she started freaking out, saying "she's going to hit you, she's going to hit you", I eased off and bipped her, hence the waving.

I dont mind revealing info if it helps, at them moment Im unemployed, I have no points (my other half already has some and licence a few yrs and still gets cheaper insurance, think it was driving without due care:()
I have no points, no convictions of any kind, never been fined, no tax or insurance issues, no parking or speeding tickets, no medical issue.???
I did my trade as an aircraft mech but havent worked at that for a while, maybe they think we are a reckless machoistic bunch that drive like maniacs?
I should add in the last few yrs I have hardly done 15k miles, about 5k miles per annum.

_Kaiser_

coylemj wrote: »

I know you begrudge the lower rates your GF and the other ladies get but that's down to the stats.

Was that not done away with lately I thought??

If not it certainly should be as it seems anytime I see someone sitting in the outside lane doing 150+ these days, it's a 20-40 year old woman in a hatchback.

Merch

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

Was that not done away with lately I thought??

If not it certainly should be as it seems anytime I see someone sitting in the outside lane doing 150+ these days, it's a 20-40 year old woman in a hatchback.

Not if the 123.ie add is anything to go by, they specifically mention a 38 yr old female 1.2 car, (she's allowed 2 points) and the location too, insurance for 229, I match those criteria, except I dont have any points, and of course I'm a bloke.
I cant get the 229 deal, they just dont say its cos im a bloke.

MugMugs

Merch wrote: »

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

Was that not done away with lately I thought??

If not it certainly should be as it seems anytime I see someone sitting in the outside lane doing 150+ these days, it's a 20-40 year old woman in a hatchback.

Not if the 123.ie add is anything to go by, they specifically mention a 38 yr old female 1.2 car, (she's allowed 2 points) and the location too, insurance for 229, I match those criteria, except I dont have any points, and of course I'm a bloke.
I cant get the 229 deal, they just dont say its cos im a bloke.

They can discriminated against your sex until December.

Mugs

Merch

MugMugs wrote: »

They can discriminated against your sex until December.

Mugs

then what?
No adds specifically like the 123 one, targeted at a specific gender, how do we know they will not still apply the criteria?
I think it should be based on the individuals driving/insurance record.

MugMugs

Merch wrote: »

MugMugs wrote: »

They can discriminated against your sex until December.

Mugs

then what?
No adds specifically like the 123 one, targeted at a specific gender, how do we know they will not still apply the criteria?
I think it should be based on the individuals driving/insurance record.

Then the EU will prevent insurers from calculating risk based on gender meaning females premiums will fall in line with Males...... How do we know they won't do it? Insurers are heavily regulated entities.... That's a funny statement but to be fair, The Central Bank are all over Insurers nowadays on compliance
Mugs

fasttalkerchat

Merch wrote: »

Not if the 123.ie add is anything to go by, they specifically mention a 38 yr old female 1.2 car, (she's allowed 2 points) and the location too, insurance for 229, I match those criteria, except I dont have any points, and of course I'm a bloke.
I cant get the 229 deal, they just dont say its cos im a bloke.

Did you get your quote online or over the phone? If you call up and cite the advert it would be interesting to know their response.

MugMugs

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Merch wrote: »

Not if the 123.ie add is anything to go by, they specifically mention a 38 yr old female 1.2 car, (she's allowed 2 points) and the location too, insurance for 229, I match those criteria, except I dont have any points, and of course I'm a bloke.
I cant get the 229 deal, they just dont say its cos im a bloke.

Did you get your quote online or over the phone? If you call up and cite the advert it would be interesting to know their response.

The fact that he is a dude and the ad says female may negate his argument?

Mugs

Merch

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Did you get your quote online or over the phone? If you call up and cite the advert it would be interesting to know their response.

In fairness, 123 did give me the cheapest quote, but not what they are offering in the ad (ie for a woman that has points on her licence maybe I should race down a bus lane the next time I see a garda lol ) I asked about the ad and they worked around it by saying it depends on the specific person and location, but nothing was mentioned of gender :rolleyes:, although the ad I saw had the same location as me (county dublin) I must not be in the right part of the county

edit, I had guessed that the no discrimination thing would mean that women would be given better quotes but companies simply wouldnt advertise the discrimination, but it seems (it has been mentioned here) that the insurance industry is heavily regulated, i thought that might mean regards to solvency? not that level of thing, hopefully

Merch

I should say, I didnt mean this to be a guys V gals thing

I think other guys are getting similar quotes on bigger engined cars, I'd love to know who they are with,

I usually ring the companies and never go the online route
I am thinking i will start to go to brokers

any good brokers for prices??

Merch

A slight update from my end of things, Tesco have given me a few good quotes, one slightly under 300 another just over, I'm reasonably happy with that, hey I'd love way less (who wouldn't) but you cant get a years cover for nothing.