car insurance question

all insurers are & should be on the national insurer's data base which will include your insurance history details.

At one time the companies used to ask for "proof" in the form of a renewal notice but, these days, they seem to have access to a central record. Some people would, for example, falsely claim a "no claims discount" and hope to get away with it. The central system stops that.

Shop around, when I got on the ladder (a long time back) some companies offered you an initial 30% discount head start. That was fine if you stayed with them to get to the max. discount but, if you moved, you'd have to "step back" with the new insurer (ie you only had 30% at after 12 mths that you could "transfer", but 40% if you stayed with your original company).

How the protection works seems to vary- generally it is only limited protection (eg up to 2 claims in a year) and doesn't stop them increasing your premium. I had a claim a few years back, not my fault and the other party's insured "coughed up" but the process was slow and all the paperwork hadn't all gone through. My insurer increased my premium, even though the claim was agreed and I had protected NCD. It was all sorted with a 'phone call but it did expose the nonsense of the protection.

All in all, I've found insurance companies OK if you play by the rules.

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It's no different to what would happen if you made a claim now...

They need proof, which may be a letter from your current insurance company, your renewal (this will show how many years of no claims you have) or from a central source.

You need to check the paperwork. There's no substitution for reading the policy details. Sometimes the no claims insurance (because that's what it is) allows you to make two claims a year and it doesn't change your no claims.

It doesn't stop the claims from appearing on your record though.

Probably. You'll have three years of no claims but a claim in the last year.

The impact on your premium from the no claims can vary, but if I go through some numbers...

If the insurance premium is £1,000 and I have five years no claims, Robublind Insurance Company say that for fives years no claims I qualify for a 50% discount.

So my cost becomes 50% of £1,000 or £500.

If I take out no claims protection, that insurance may cost me say £50. The total I pay is then £550.

If I have an own fault claim in that year, they'll honour my no claims but load the premium.

Next year the premium is £1,000 with a 25% loading because I'm a hooligan, so, £1,250. But I now have six years no claims, which entitles me to a discount of 60%. So I pay 40% of £1,250, which is *drum roll* £500. :)

Then I add the no claims protection... total cost to me of £550.

Okay so the numbers will change but the theory is the same for all insurance companies I'm aware of.

More like up to two claims in five years!

You're lucky. Many insurers won't protect a NCB of less than five years.

BTW try some of the motor insurance comparison websites: confused.com, gocompare.com and moneysupermarket.com - of these I have found gocompare.com to be consistently cheapest.