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No claims bonus: is it worth protecting? 

Should I protect my no claims bonus?

Benjamin Taylor
Benjamin Taylor | Edited by Hannah McEwen
Updated 25 April 2024

If you don't claim on your car insurance, your insurer will give you a no-claims bonus each year – which is a future discount on your next policy. But if you need to claim, you could lose any discount you've built up, unless you pay to protect it. This short guide looks at how it works, how claims affect it, and whether it's worth paying to protect it. 

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In this guide

Who's this guide for? Anyone who wants to know what a no-claims bonus is, how it works, and whether it's worth protecting.

Other related guides... How to get cheap car insurance | Making a claim on your car insurance | Types of car insurance | Find all our car insurance guides in one place.

What is a no-claims bonus (NCB)?

A no-claims bonus (also sometimes referred to as a no-claims discount or abbreviated as an NCB or NCD) is an optional feature of most car insurance policies, whereby if you don't make any claims in a year, you get a discount on the next year's policy as a 'reward'.

How does the no-claims bonus work to give me a discount?

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Each full year you don't make a claim, you'll earn an extra year's no-claims bonus, which can result in some serious discounts. For example, a provider might give you a 30% to 40% discount if you don't claim in your first year, and then offer an additional 10% if you repeat the feat in your second year and beyond.

Insurers are essentially rewarding you for not making them pay out – the less you claim, the more profitable a customer you are for them. After a while this can make your insurance a lot cheaper.

If you want to understand more about no-claims discounts, read on. Or if you're now ready to buy car insurance, see cheap car insurance or head to our Compare+ Car Insurance tool to get quotes, plus our often one-click tricks to see if you can save.

Keep on top of your car insurance

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Want to know when YOUR cheapest time to get car insurance is? The MSE App has a new tool called Bill Buster – give us a few details about your car insurance policy and we'll track it, then alert you when it's ending so you know when to start getting quotes to save.

Try it in the MSE App – available in Apple's App Store or Google's Play Store. 

What is no-claims bonus protection?

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No-claims protection is an optional add-on to insurance premiums offered by some providers. It allows you to claim one or more times per year without impacting your no-claims bonus. You have to pay for it, and the cost and number of times you can claim varies significantly across providers.

Important. Having no-claims bonus protection will not stop your car insurance premium from increasing.

This might sound odd, but having the protection in place won't stop your insurance costs going up as a result of a claim.

Insurers will still take into account any claims you've made, and if they think you're more likely to claim in future, they'll increase your premium. After this, they'll apply any no-claims bonus you have.

Let's say your insurer has worked out that your premium should be £800, yet you've built up a discount of 50%, so you're actually paying £400. You have to make a claim, but because you've protected your bonus you keep the discount.

When you come to renew, because of the claim, your insurer decides that your premium should now be £1,000. With the 50% discount, you're now paying £500. So your premium has gone up – but the increase has been lessened by the discount.

Is it worth paying to protect my no-claims bonus?

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There’s no easy answer to whether paying for the extra protection will be worth it. No-claims bonus protection is essentially getting insurance on top of your insurance, and you can't predict whether something might happen to make you need to claim on or not.

If you've built up a high no-claims bonus over the years, and losing part or all of it would make your insurance much more expensive, no-claims protection might be worth getting (depending on the price). 

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Will making a claim on my car insurance affect my no-claims bonus?

If you're involved in an accident and you make a claim that your insurance provider ends up paying out on, it'll typically reduce your no-claims bonus by a number of years or, depending on your provider, you could lose it completely. 

There are some circumstances where you can claim on your car insurance without it affecting your no-claims bonus, though again this usually depends on your provider.

  • Some small repairs are also sometimes exempt from impacting your no-claims bonus, such as fixing cracks in windows – though this varies by provider.  

What if the accident wasn't my fault?

If you’re in an accident that you can prove is not your fault, you usually won’t lose your discount, as the other driver’s insurance company will be the one to pay out. However, you may lose some or all of your discount in cases where your insurer does have to pay out. This may be because...

  • You're proved to be partially at fault for the accident
  • The other driver is uninsured 
  • The no-fault incident didn't involve other drivers (for example, if an animal jumps into the road)

For more information on how to claim, see our making a car insurance claim guide.

How long does a no-claims bonus last?

Your no-claims bonus lasts for as long as you drive without making a claim. There's a maximum number of years you can increase your discount, though, which varies across providers.

You may lose your no-claims bonus if you make a claim, or if you have a significant gap between policies – for example, if you take an extended break from driving. The threshold varies across providers, but your no-claims bonus will typically expire after around two years of being uninsured.

You can also usually transfer your discount to a new provider, without impacting its length. You'll usually need to provide proof of your no-claims bonus to the new provider, which you must request from your previous provider. 

How can I get proof of my no-claims bonus?

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Proof of your no-claims bonus will often appear on the renewal or cancellation document from your old insurance provider. Insurers will often be able to access this information via online databases, however they may still ask for proof of your no-claims bonus.

You can ask you current or former insurance provider to confirm your bonus in a written statement, however it may already appear on documentation they have provided, such as:

  • A renewal notice from your current or a former insurer
  • A cancellation letter from a former insurer

For more information on how to make a claim on your car insurance, see how to make a claim.

Can I keep my no-claims bonus if I switch insurance providers?

Yes, it's common practice that when you move to a different insurance provider, your no-claims bonus moves with you. You just need proof of your bonus to give to your new provider, which you'll typically find on your renewal letter from your old insurer. If it's not there, call your old provider to ask it to provide proof. 

Note that if you switch midway through your existing policy, you may not get your no-claims bonus for that year. 

Can I keep my no-claims bonus if there's a gap between policies?

This depends on the length of that gap. If you take a break from driving and no longer need insurance for a period, your no-claims bonus will typically be valid up to two years after your policy ends and should be carried over to your next policy (though you may need to provide evidence).

Any longer than that and you will have to start building up your no-claims bonus from scratch again.

No-claims bonus FAQs

  • How do I keep a no-claims bonus without a car?

    The exact number of years you can keep your no-claims bonus for while being uninsured varies across providers, but if you stop driving or give up your car, you'll typically have around two years before any no-claims bonus you've built up expires.

    You should check with prospective insurers whether their thresholds are higher or lower, but a no-claims bonus won't last longer than this. It's a discount based on recent claims history, meaning the longer you go off-grid, the less certain insurers are that you won't make a claim in future.

  • How do I prove that I haven't made any claims?

    You can prove this through specific no-claims bonus documentation, which you can request from your current or former insurer. This may also be automatically provided to you in a renewal notice or cancellation document.

  • Can I split my no-claims bonus across two cars?

    No, you can't share a single no-claims bonus across multiple cars. However, if you are the main driver on multiple vehicles, you can typically get separate no-claims bonuses for each car.

    If you get a new car, you can also transfer your no-claims bonus from your old car to your new one – just speak to your insurance company to do this.

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More cheap car insurance tips

We've a whole host of car insurance top tips and tricks to get cheap cover. Below is a quick round-up of where we'd suggest you head to next. 

Suggestions for you

  • Benchmark your cheapest policy using our Car Insurance Compare+ tool, with personalised MoneySaving tips.

  • Read our full Cheap car insurance guide, including nine ways to cut the cost of cover.

  • See our full Car insurance section with all our key tools and guides.
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