Car Insurance Question

Pelling1993 · February 4

I've not been falsely of smoking in my car don't worry!

I am renewing my car insurance currently. The cheapest offer for my car is coming in at £1350.00 but £211.70 of that for protecting my no claims bonus (7 years). That seems like an absolutely shed load just to protect the no claims bonus which from what i've read doesn't seem to actually provide that much of a saving.

Does anyone have any knowledge in how to work out the cost benefit of no claims?

Thanks in advance!

eaststandmike · February 4

Have you tried Post Office Insurance, I got two excellent deals for our vehicles and the web site is excellent

Fumbluff · February 4

If you’re looking at it on a comparison website could you put all the same info in but with zero-no-claims and see what it puts the cost up by?

That’s around-and-about what they’d be trying to sting you for next year if you had a smash this year….never really know how much the protection really protects you….

MrLargo · February 4

I don't trust insurance companies at all, and I don't understand their algorithms for calculating premiums. Does no-claims protection literally mean that, if you write off your car (or someone else's during the course of the year, when it comes to renewing your policy it's as if the accident never happened.

My insurance policy went down when I got rid of my old car worth £3k and replaced it with a newer model worth £15k. Has subsequently increased every year, (although I always get a reduction on the initial extortionate renewal quote that they try to lay on me and end up paying an extra £30 or £40 instead of £200) despite never making a claim and my car being worth less now than when I bought it, apparently due to a general rise in cost of insurance. Makes no sense.

Fumbluff · February 4

MrLargo said:

I don't trust insurance companies at all, and I don't understand their algorithms for calculating premiums. Does no-claims protection literally mean that, if you write off your car (or someone else's during the course of the year, when it comes to renewing your policy it's as if the accident never happened.

My insurance policy went down when I got rid of my old car worth £3k and replaced it with a newer model worth £15k. Has subsequently increased every year, (although I always get a reduction on the initial extortionate renewal quote that they try to lay on me and end up paying an extra £30 or £40 instead of £200) despite never making a claim and my car being worth less now than when I bought it, apparently due to a general rise in cost of insurance. Makes no sense.

Yeah yeah, enough about car insurance, how’s that Brazilian bird getting along?

golfaddick · February 4

MrLargo said:

I don't trust insurance companies at all, and I don't understand their algorithms for calculating premiums. Does no-claims protection literally mean that, if you write off your car (or someone else's during the course of the year, when it comes to renewing your policy it's as if the accident never happened.

My insurance policy went down when I got rid of my old car worth £3k and replaced it with a newer model worth £15k. Has subsequently increased every year, (although I always get a reduction on the initial extortionate renewal quote that they try to lay on me and end up paying an extra £30 or £40 instead of £200) despite never making a claim and my car being worth less now than when I bought it, apparently due to a general rise in cost of insurance. Makes no sense.

Protecting your "no claims bonus" has a different value for different insurance companies. It also depends on the number of no claim years you have. Eg, if you have 5 years worth of no claims then protecting it might mean you protect all 5, or only protect 3 years, and so you are back down to 2 at renewal. I've got 10+ years of not claiming & I think I can have 2 claims in a year before I start losing years.

IdleHans · February 4

Lets say you have NCD of 50% and choose to protect it. If you have a prang, you will retain the discount of 30% the following year, but because you've had a claim then your premium before the discount will likely rise substantially anyway. Depends on your confidence levels in hot making a claim. It's a gamble either way. I have never protected my no claims, and the one minor ding that was my fault, putting a little dent in the back bumper of a VW camper's back bumper, I just paid for out of my own pocket which was a lot cheaper than a few years of protecting my NCD.

I think once youve protected your NCD youre almost obliged to do it in perpetuity because you know what will happen the moment you decide to stop the cover...

cafcfan · February 4

The thing is the "no claims bonus" is a percentage deducted from the base premium. Having your NCB protected means you get to keep that percentage deduction. But anticipate that they are quite likely to ramp up the base premium to claw back some of their losses from the claim.

Rizzo · February 4

The NCB scale varies wildly between insurers. Aviva offer 35% for 5 years, whereas Admiral only offer 18%.

According to MoneySuperMarket data from the first half of 2023, the average premium for drivers with a 5-year NCB is around 41% lower than the premium for drivers with 0 years*

Pelling1993 · February 4

Thanks all. I've taken the punt on not bothering as it only raised the quotes £250 by not having any years of no claims.

MrLargo · February 4

Fumbluff said:

MrLargo said:

I don't trust insurance companies at all, and I don't understand their algorithms for calculating premiums. Does no-claims protection literally mean that, if you write off your car (or someone else's during the course of the year, when it comes to renewing your policy it's as if the accident never happened.

My insurance policy went down when I got rid of my old car worth £3k and replaced it with a newer model worth £15k. Has subsequently increased every year, (although I always get a reduction on the initial extortionate renewal quote that they try to lay on me and end up paying an extra £30 or £40 instead of £200) despite never making a claim and my car being worth less now than when I bought it, apparently due to a general rise in cost of insurance. Makes no sense.

Yeah yeah, enough about car insurance, how’s that Brazilian bird getting along?

@Fumbluff Married her. As a single man, all of my days were somewhere between 6/10 and 8/10. Now I get 9 and 10/10 days.......and 1 and 2/10s as well. Saturday and Sunday were the former. Yesterday evening onwards has been the latter.

Fumbluff · February 4

MrLargo said:

Fumbluff said:

MrLargo said:

I don't trust insurance companies at all, and I don't understand their algorithms for calculating premiums. Does no-claims protection literally mean that, if you write off your car (or someone else's during the course of the year, when it comes to renewing your policy it's as if the accident never happened.

My insurance policy went down when I got rid of my old car worth £3k and replaced it with a newer model worth £15k. Has subsequently increased every year, (although I always get a reduction on the initial extortionate renewal quote that they try to lay on me and end up paying an extra £30 or £40 instead of £200) despite never making a claim and my car being worth less now than when I bought it, apparently due to a general rise in cost of insurance. Makes no sense.

Yeah yeah, enough about car insurance, how’s that Brazilian bird getting along?

@Fumbluff Married her. As a single man, all of my days were somewhere between 6/10 and 8/10. Now I get 9 and 10/10 days.......and 1 and 2/10s as well. Saturday and Sunday were the former. Yesterday evening onwards has been the latter.

That was both a like and a lol really.

Congratulations, I must’ve missed that bit of the story, hope you’re enjoying the extra shopping

MrLargo · February 4

Fumbluff said:

MrLargo said:

Fumbluff said:

MrLargo said:

I don't trust insurance companies at all, and I don't understand their algorithms for calculating premiums. Does no-claims protection literally mean that, if you write off your car (or someone else's during the course of the year, when it comes to renewing your policy it's as if the accident never happened.

My insurance policy went down when I got rid of my old car worth £3k and replaced it with a newer model worth £15k. Has subsequently increased every year, (although I always get a reduction on the initial extortionate renewal quote that they try to lay on me and end up paying an extra £30 or £40 instead of £200) despite never making a claim and my car being worth less now than when I bought it, apparently due to a general rise in cost of insurance. Makes no sense.

Yeah yeah, enough about car insurance, how’s that Brazilian bird getting along?

@Fumbluff Married her. As a single man, all of my days were somewhere between 6/10 and 8/10. Now I get 9 and 10/10 days.......and 1 and 2/10s as well. Saturday and Sunday were the former. Yesterday evening onwards has been the latter.

That was both a like and a lol really.
Congratulations, I must’ve missed that bit of the story, hope you’re enjoying the extra shopping

Thanks mate. Yep, just had our first anniversary. Shopping habits not too problematic. Her temperament fluctuates between Ghandi, and Begbie from Trainspotting, which keeps life interesting.

Todds_right_hook · February 4

One of my friends maxed out the excess to the highest level then paid £50 on a separate policy for excess insurance

Covered End · February 5

Martin Lewis advises that car insurance premiums are down 16% this year.
Use comparison sites and the cheapest prices available are 26 days before your renewal date.

Rob7Lee · February 5

Covered End said:

Martin Lewis advises that car insurance premiums are down 16% this year.
Use comparison sites and the cheapest prices available are 26 days before your renewal date.

Thats about right as an average on price.

valleynick66 · February 6

Anyone get any experience of 'One Protect' for car insurance?

Seem to be very competitive and 5* rated but not a name I know.

cafcnick1992 · February 6

valleynick66 said:

Anyone get any experience of 'One Protect' for car insurance?

Seem to be very competitive and 5* rated but not a name I know.

Never heard of them, but if its a cheap runabout you're insuring its probably worth going for if you're just looking to tick the legal requirement for car insurance

Rob7Lee · February 6

One protect are part of One Call, they aren’t an insurer but more a broker. So check who the insurer is.

Pelling1993 · February 6

Completely insane that my car in to insure at my house in London is £1100, but the exact same car at my parents in East Grinstead is £550...

charltonkeston · February 6

I bought a 6 month old Hybrid last November, my insurance doubled to £1100. I was shocked.

valleynick66 · February 6

Rob7Lee said:

One protect are part of One Call, they aren’t an insurer but more a broker. So check who the insurer is.

Underwriter is 'Covea' - I'm still none the wiser !

swords_alive · February 6

One Call seem to have decent reviews. If it is genuinely one call in the event of a claim that would be very appealing. My experience with Bymiles/UK insurance is a call from me to literally get literally anything done every step of the way. It is DIY, and ongoing 2 months after the original collision which was not my fault. I am now committed to avoiding UKI forever more.

According to reviews ive seen One Call are "underwritten by a number of insurers like Aviva, Ageas, Covea, Highway, Allianz, Sabre, Coplus, Equity Red Star, Midas, AXA, Zenith, Bell, LV etc, all authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority".

Rob7Lee · February 6

Pvalleynick66 said:

Rob7Lee said:

One protect are part of One Call, they aren’t an insurer but more a broker. So check who the insurer is.

Underwriter is 'Covea' - I'm still none the wiser !

French company, I used to work for their predecessor until 2013 and in a bizarre twist now buy their reinsurance!

cafcfan · February 6

charltonkeston said:

I bought a 6 month old Hybrid last November, my insurance doubled to £1100. I was shocked.

Chatting to my neighbours yesterday. Their daughter turns 17 this summer and she'll be driving. They have an oldish BMW i3 on the drive (it currently doesn't work and is covered in moss and other debris but is seemingly repairable). Got a quote for their daughter to drive it - £18K pa.

fenlandaddick · February 6

cafcfan said:

charltonkeston said:

I bought a 6 month old Hybrid last November, my insurance doubled to £1100. I was shocked.

Chatting to my neighbours yesterday. Their daughter turns 17 this summer and she'll be driving. They have an oldish BMW i3 on the drive (it currently doesn't work and is covered in moss and other debris but is seemingly repairable). Got a quote for their daughter to drive it - £18K pa.

That is truly shocking. Hence the lol

red10 · February 6

18k what the actual fcuk. That is stupid ridiculous. Must have got something wrong in the application surely .....

cafcfan · February 7

red10 said:

18k what the actual fcuk. That is stupid ridiculous. Must have got something wrong in the application surely .....

It seems insurance companies are very worried about the insane acceleration that electric cars are capable of, even the small ones like an i3 and what carnage might be caused in the hands of a youngster. But what happens when electric is all there is? Will young drivers be completely priced off the roads?

cafcnick1992 · February 7

Driving around in a 25 year old ford fiesta when you're 17 is a right of passage in my view.

In all seriousness, it's no wonder so many people front their kids on their car insurance.

Dansk_Red · February 17

Just had my renewal quote it is about 11% less than last year, when it went up by 30%.

Rob7Lee · February 17

Dansk_Red said:

Just had my renewal quote it is about 11% less than last year, when it went up by 30%.

Rates are coming off this year, many variables of course but somewhere in the 10-20% range (everything being equal to the prior year).

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