Insurance variables

[Guest twodogron]

My Camper Van is currently Insured thru Saga who still use the protected NCB system to calculate the annual premiums, i.e. reward is given for making NO claims.

I was recently quoted by a couple of alternative Insurance Agents/Brokers concerning my annual renewal. (Advertising in MMM)

My suspicions were raised by the abnormally (in my experience) low Premium quoted, when I questioned and asked for clarification I was told that they start off with a low premium on the evidence of my current NCB but if I had an accident the Premium would rise, a second misfortune would encourage still further and much greater price increases.

The puzzling thing is, they were very vague (non existent) when asked by exactly how much (percentage wise) would the cost increase.

The point is, with the NCB system I know exactly what my cost liabilities are, or will be should I have the misfortune to have an accident, whereas the other way, although initially cheap, seems very open ended cost wise.

Has anyone experience of using the Non NCB Insurance Companies, or am I being a little too suspicious ??? :-(

[colin]

There has been some posts on similair lines in the 'Bumped van' thread, have a look there whilst awaiting an answer from 'our more knowledgable' members.

[Brian Kirby]

twodogron - 2006-12-23 6:47 PM My Camper Van is currently Insured thru Saga who still use the protected NCB system to calculate the annual premiums, i.e. reward is given for making NO claims. I was recently quoted by a couple of alternative Insurance Agents/Brokers concerning my annual renewal. (Advertising in MMM) My suspicions were raised by the abnormally (in my experience) low Premium quoted, when I questioned and asked for clarification I was told that they start off with a low premium on the evidence of my current NCB but if I had an accident the Premium would rise, a second misfortune would encourage still further and much greater price increases. The puzzling thing is, they were very vague (non existent) when asked by exactly how much (percentage wise) would the cost increase. The point is, with the NCB system I know exactly what my cost liabilities are, or will be should I have the misfortune to have an accident, whereas the other way, although initially cheap, seems very open ended cost wise. Has anyone experience of using the Non NCB Insurance Companies, or am I being a little too suspicious ??? :-(

Can you clarify if your two quotes were for protected NCD policies?  If not you are, to some extent, comparing apples with pears.  Without protected NCD, if you have an accident, you loose some of the NCD, so what you pay increases, even if the base premium remains constant.

If you have protected NCD, it then seems some (but possibly not all) companies "load" your base premium, so as effectively to negate the effect of the NCD protection.

I'd suggest you ask Saga the same question, but don't just accept what the first advisior tells you - make sure you get to one of the senior managers. 

In my experience the Saga advisors can be rather long on "I think so" and a bit short on facts!  Commissions do somehow seem to cloud their judgements at times, but maybe I'm just a Cynic!

[Keith T]

Every year when the Motorhome and also the car Insurance renewals arrive, the first thing I do is to ring around alternative providers.

Firstly, it is essential that you look for an IDENTICAL cover in ALL repects, as policies do vary.

Secondly, there is always a difference of, I would think, between 5-10% added for protected NCB.

My understanding of the protected NCB is that you normally have 2 'lives' over 5 years, and in theory as long as no claim is made in excess of this, then your base premium will n ot be 'penalised', although of course it may well rise as the general premium costs increase.

It's always worth checking around, but whatever the policy/cost, it is most important to ensure you are covered for what you need, but do not pay extra for something you don't want .......

for example, I only want UK breakdown for the car (unlike the MH), but quite a lot of quotes included full UK/Euro, and they will not change to exclude the Euro cover.......

Insurance can be quite a minefield, but it's always worth looking around - provided you do so with great care.