Car Insurance

[yummyfruity]

I am due to renew my car insurance and am thinking of going with a different insurer. I asked for a quote and they sent me one. On it they say I am not entitled to protected no claims discount as I do not have 4 years no claims discount (have only been driving for 3 years) Is this standard practise or are there any insurers who will protect my no claims discount?

Many Thanks

[sue11]

I found when I was looking that 4 years seems to be a standard for everyone. I got my protected claims insurance and then immediately started using it (as luck would have it). However I think they simply claw back some of the money they spend by increasing the amount of excess you pay on each claim. I paid �350 on my second protected claim instead of my usual �100 that I would have paid for an unprotected claim. This means that I paid �250 over what I would have paid, I wonder if I would have paid an extra �250 for the increased insurance premium if I had lost my no claims for the year? Just a thought!

[muppeteer]

hi yummy- i am an insurance broker & all of the companies i use wont protect on less than 4 years (some even 5). its not to say its impossible though, as some of the direct insurers make up their own rules. unlikely though.
sue- you should not have had to pay an increaced excess just because its another claim against you protection. there must be another reason. was it perhaps a different type of claim. some companies have highter fire & theft excesses in the small print or vice versa.