Speeding

[MOCAŠ]

..because it's a no claims bonus, not a no fault bonus. Some people are unlucky...insurance companies don't like that.

The NCD is just that - a discount for not having submitted a claim, ostensibly designed to reflect the fact that you've paid premiums without having received anything back over x number of years.

It's not directly related to risk, which is why you can opt to protect it.

However, if you make a claim, your premium can (and usually does) increase regardless of what happens to your NCB. So if your full premium before the claim was £800, and you had a protected 60% NCD, you'd have paid £480. If your insurer decides to increase your premium to £1000 following your claim (because they believe you now represent a higher risk), you would pay £600 - so your 60% NCD is intact but your premium has increased.

A while ago, someone explained on a similar thread that the discount is actually applied at a specific point in the premium calculation (not necessarily to the whole premium), but the above paragraph explains the principle involved.

 

[Sprinter16]

If you have an accident which is definitely not your fault, DO NOT go to your insurance company. Go to an accident claims company who will do all the work for you & claim the cost off the at fault driver, they will also contact your insurers (to keep within their rules) but insist that you not be making a claim.

I have had two accidents in my van this year! Both times I have been rear ended (oh er missus) & both have been handled by a claims company, result, no increase in premiums, no excess to pay (claims company pay it & reclaim it for you), rental van supplied & paid for both times (2nd time came to £4,500, 13 weeks off road, due to unavailability of parts from Mercedes!). I changed the wifes C class insurance recently & explained the situation of the two accidents, answer? "we don't care about them as no claim was made by you, so premium is as if you had not had an accident".

OK, yes, they put the cost of insurance up for everyone else, but that's going to happen anyway with the vast numbers of "whiplash" claims going about.