The latest revelation spewed out by the ever-churning motor insurance fact engine over at moneysupermerkin.com is that making a claim after five claim-free years will increase your motor insurance premium by 73%. Whereas… if you’ve got a protected no claims bonus it will rise a mere 18%.
The average cost of protecting a no claims bonus, the monkeysoapermarket people reckon, is £62. So the longer you go without making a claim, the more it can seem like a waste of money.
Supermarket honcho Sweeney Steve warns motorists will suffer if they don’t get round to making a claim: “If you protect your policy but don’t make a claim for a number of years,” he admonishes, “you could find that you are eroding any potential savings.”
According to the figures quoted by moneysupermeerkat, claiming after five years will increase the average motor insurance premium from £528 to £911 (i.e. by £383). With a protected no claim bonus, your premium would rise just £104, from £590 (including cost of protecting NCB) to £694.
So it has cost you £310 (£62 x 5) to save yourself £279. Not great business in year one, but then you are saving another £217 in each subsequent claim-free year, which is kind of the point of the whole exercise, isn’t it?
But just when you think these inconclusive statistical factoids can’t get any more soporific, Supermarket Steve hits us with a killer twist. The average cost of protecting a no claims bonus may be £62, but – would you believe it – “this figure varies considerably from one car insurance provider to another” from as much as £90 to as little as £8. The solution? Why, comparing car insurance deals online, of course. Genius!
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