No Claims Protection

[muchlovex]

Why is it that I pay extra for NCP, yet when I've made a claim they always increase the premium the following year anyway?

[hc4361]

Let's assume your NCP is 7 years and you get a discount to reflect that.

You claim so it pushes your premium up. The amount you pay now still has a 7 years discount on the premium.

[Buenchico]

Your premium would have probably still gone up without the claim anyway.

Basic insurance premiums (before NCDs are knocked off them) have been rising at a rate of around 30% per annum for the past few years. So, even if you're getting, say, 60% off the basic premium, you're actual payment will still rise as that basic premium does.

[factor-fiction]

You are protecting your NCD % not your premium. Without Protected Discount you would lose some of your NCD so your claim would be higher.
But I do think there is something in what you say- I'm no longer convinced I should have Protected Discount

[R1Geezer]

OK leaving aside natural price rises etc, here's how it works. I'm going to use simple low figures to illustrate what happens. Lets say without any NCB your insurance is £100, with NCB you get 60%(say) off so it's £40. Now to protect that discount you pay NCBP, what is known as re-insurance, ie your company effectively laying it off(they may not actually be using another company but the principle is the same). So if you claim you lose some of your NCB so lets say you lose half your NCB, your insurer is now charging you £70, £30 of which is paid by the re-insurer because of your NCBP. However now you have claimed you are a larger risk so your insurance will rise so now it's say £110 so that means your premium is now 70% of 110, £77 less the £30 from the NCBP policy making the new premium £47 to you, hence you perceive your insurance has risen. Add to that an annual increase and it can seem steep. The bottom line is that they will always recover a claim, never claim unless you absolutely have to.

[SpikeyBush]

Is it any wonder then that when people do claim, they go to town? "That camera that I left on the bus, that was stolen when the car was broken into" etc......

Slight knock in the car park = agony in neck

Vicious circle but thee & me are the ones ultimately paying for it all.