No Claims Discount
If you are unfortunate enough to have an accident and go on to make a claim, you may lose your no claims discount (NCD). Losing your no claims discount is dependent on who is deemed to be at fault.
If you were at fault, you will almost certainly lose part or all of your NCD, as your insurer will have to pay for any damages to third parties. If the third party was at fault and you are able to claim damages from their insurer, your NCD should remain unaffected.
Remembering to declare all accidents you have been involved in is vital when purchasing any car insurance policy as insurers require full disclosure, even if the accident was not your fault. You may not know that you are also required to state any accidents where you did not make a claim on your policy.
Most insurance companies and brokers will ask whether or not your NCD was affected by your accident and this will have an effect on your quote.
Once you have earned 4 years NCD, you have the option to protect your bonus. This is a chargeable amount on top of your insurance premium. You can carry on using this option each year, until you have reached the maximum of 9 years NCD. Drivers with maximum no claims can get substantial discount on their car insurance policy. This is why no claims discount is often referred to as no claims bonus as you get a bonus discount for being a careful driver.
Whilst most insurers and brokers have the same limits for NCD and protected policies, some insurers have a higher limit on the maximum NCD years. A few companies extend the no claims discount scheme to 15 years.
The same is true of the protected no claims discount package. Some providers will only offer protection after the policy holder completes 5 or 6 full years NCD.
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