NCD and legal protection. Are they worth it?

[Just_back_from_the_pub]

I have to renew my car insurance within the next 3 weeks or so. What's the consensus on NCD protection and legal cover? Do these items warrant paying the additional premium or are they simply fripperies for the insurance companies to boost their revenues? Thanks for any advice.

 

[JohnD]

I found protected NCD worth having.

 

[Stivino]

Definately worth it. I had an incident in June last year. My car was written off. I was totally blameless. It was a small country back road, no witnesses or anything. I got a letter from his insurer last month ( seven months on) saying they hold me responsible and if I don't cough up it's court. My insurer (Norwich union) have offered to settle 50/50 but he says I drove into him and they want the lot from me. so I'm glad I've got legal and no claims protection because I got a new car at no loss to me. I was settled up with Norwich within three days, they were brilliant.

 

[JohnD]

It probably also depends on your costs. If you have a powerful car with a basic insurance price of, say £3,000, and you have a 60% NCD, then protecting it is well worthwhile (it's worth £1800 off the premium).

If you had a small economical car and the numbers were a lot smaller, maybe not such a big deal.

I've been driving a long time and only had one bad accident, Privilege paid up without quibble and behaved handsomely. I suspect they have a look at your record and form an opinion about the customer when a claim comes in.

 

[Just_back_from_the_pub]

Good advice, chaps. Thanks very much. Reckon I will go for it.

 

[SeanT]

Protected NCD is a no brainer, get a quote from Norwich Union for guaranteed bonus for more peace of mind (it's better than protected by far).
Legal protection is well worth having, but an absolute must have on TPFT policies (otherwise you'll have to instruct someone to recover the money for you if someone hits you, leaving you with the risk of a big bill if you use a traditional solicitor and it turns out to be partly your fault, or the option of using a "no win, no fee, but practically no compensation if you do win as we'll take it all")

 

[Bendo]

Surely protected no claims isn't worth the paper it's written on, come renewal, your insurance co will just bump up the premium then take off the no claims, and any other insurance company you get a quote from specifically ask have you had an accident and made a claim, they couldn't care less if it was protected or not.

 

[2scoops0406]

In my experience, NCD definitely worth it, Legal protection less so.

 

[chembunny]

hiya, i used to work for the AA before i got a proper job.

NCD can save you up to 70% on your policy, bearing in mind if you're hit by an uninsured driver (1 in 12 in the UK) you'll lose your NCB hence the discount, it can really push up your policy, i've seen it tack on 600 quid to a fiesta before!

Legal protection is also pretty necessary (i have both on my policy even though its not with the AA) if you hit someone we're pretty litigious nowadays and a whiplash claim can cost you 5 grand! obviously the more people in the car, multiply accordingly.....

personally for the 40 quid it might cost you for both i would pay it just in case, its like breakdown cover, you probably won't need it but you'll know about it if you don't have it!

hope this helps!