Show More

Ask an Expert

Should I protect my no claims bonus?

A no claims bonus built up over years can mean deep savings on your car insurance premiums, potentially worth hundreds of pounds per year. However, just one little bump and its resulting insurance claim can wreck that discount, or at least significantly reduce it.

Insurers know how valuable no claims discounts are to drivers. Therefore, many allow you to protect your bonus for an extra charge. For around £50-£75 per year, you can make a limited number of at-fault claims with no impact on your no claims record.

Usually, you can shield your no claims bonus from up to one at-fault claim per year. However, every insurer has a different number they’ll excuse. So, is it worth protecting your no claims bonus?

Whether the added expense of no claims discount protection makes sense for you depends on your driving history, the size of your discount, and your insurer’s policies.

Typically, the added expense of no claims discount protection doesn’t make sense for drivers who only have a year or two of no-claims discount. In many cases, insurers won’t even allow you to purchase the protection unless you have three or more years built up.

But if you have a hefty no claims bonus - the 60%+ discount on your premium that five or more years of clean driving can buy you - the protection can be a sensible precaution.

But you should also consider your insurer’s policies. Do they completely wipe a no claims bonus for an at-fault claim or do they just reduce it by a year or two? Do collisions with an uninsured driver or in a hit and run - often technically classed as at-fault claims because the insurer can’t recover the costs of the repair - reduce your no claims discount? How many claims are permitted under the protection?

The more likely your car insurance provider is to completely reset your no-claims bonus, including for collisions that aren’t actually your fault, the more sense the protection insurance means.

*51% of consumers could save £518.14 on their Car Insurance. The saving was calculated by comparing the cheapest price found with the average of the next five cheapest prices quoted by insurance providers on Seopa Ltd’s insurance comparison website. This is based on representative cost savings from June 2025 data. The savings you could achieve are dependent on your individual circumstances and how you selected your current insurance supplier.

Related guides

Top Tips for Saving Money

Insuring your car is an absolute necessity, and unfortunately for many, it can seem a rather expensive necessity.So if you want to get out on the road, but don’t want to pay through the nose to do so, read this helpful guide.

Car Insurance and Auto-Renewal

Auto-renewal means your car insurance company automatically renews your car insurance policy when it comes to the end of your fixed-term contract, usually for the same length of time as your current contract.While there can be some benefits to automatic renewal, the best prices are almost invariably reserved for new customers. Therefore, it's always a good idea to shop around for a new policy when yours comes to an end. The best time to renew your policy is typically a few weeks before the expiration date. Read on to find out more about what you should do when your insurance renewal date approaches.

Car maintenance

Like all machines, vehicles require maintenance to make sure they are running effectively. Luckily, some car maintenance can be done by yourself and can help prevent breakdowns and significant repairs being needed.