What Does A No Claims Bonus Mean?

A No Claims Bonus is a reward given to drivers who have not made a claim on their car insurance during their policy period, which is usually for one year. This no claims bonus is then translated into a saving on the following years premium as a reward for not making a claim. Each year that the driver does not make a claim they are rewarded with another years no claims bonus which when added up can relate to substantial savings when taking out yearly motor insurance premiums. Most companies recognise a maximum of five years no claims bonus, which as stated can relate to a substantial saving. Due to the fact that it has taken the insured five years to accumulate the maximum NCB how can today's driver help to protect that no claims bonus?

How to increase your chance of a no claims bonus:

Drive Carefully and follow the highway code - A good way to help protect your no claims bonus is to drive carefully and observe the rules of the road. The simplest rule to be followed that can greatly reduce risk of accident and therefore protect your no claims is adhere to speed limits. It is a fact that drivers who exceed the speed limits put themselves at a much higher risk of being involved in an accident and therefore loosing their no claims bonus.

Stay concentrated while you are driving - It might sound stupid when someone tells you that one way to keep your no claims bonus is to concentrate when driving but it's true. Too many road users in today's society are being distracted whilst behind the wheel of their motor vehicle. With technological advances becoming readily available to the average road user such as satellite navigation, mp3 technology, DVD and mobile phones eyes can be drawn away from the road. As long as these machines are used with in safe practice guidelines such as hands free and no DVD screens in the drivers field of vision then concentration stays firmly on the road ahead.

Keep up car maintenance - Another way in which drivers can keep their no claims bonus protected is to regularly check that their cars are in good working order. This is as simple as making sure that the MOT is kept up to date and regular services are carried out on the car. The tyres can be checked and never drive with tyres that don't meet regulated tread depths or are damaged. Other very simple checks are to make sure that windows are clear of dirt, snow or ice before moving off and check that the windscreen washers are always full to aid in your visual awareness on the roads.

Other ways to protect your bonus

It is now also possible to protect your no claims bonus within the cost of the policy. This is done when purchasing your policy from your insurers, for a small extra cost to the premium you can pay to help protect your no claims bonus. This is generally done in one of two ways:

Complete protected No Claims Bonus - for an extra fee, the customers no claims bonus is protected and any claims made that year will have no effect on the drivers no claims bonus.

Partly Protected No Claims Bonus - This is where the motor insurance company, for an extra fee, will protect your amount of no claims bonus against up to two accidents for the length of that policy.