Insurer offers early protected no-claims to young drivers

A telematics-based car insurance provider is offering young drivers accelerated no-claims discounts to help them save money.

No-claims discounts (NCD) are applied based on how many years a motorist has driven without making an insurance claim and can offer reductions of up to 80 per cent. Many insurers now offer to protect or maintain these discounts, even if a driver does have to make a claim.

Most insurers will only offer the protection after three or four years of driving but insurethebox has said it will introduce protected NCD for young drivers after just one year.

The black box insurance firm has said that it is extending the protection to newer drivers to help them combat the pressures of high insurance costs. Drivers aged 17-24 pay more for their insurance than any other group, with average premiums ranging from £1,300 to more than £2,000 for the under-25s.

More likely to claim

Younger drivers are more likely than average to have to make a claim in their first few years of driving, hence their higher premiums. But insurethebox says it aims to help keep costs under control by offering the protected NCD from their second year of cover. The protection applies as long as a driver doesn’t make more than two claims within four years.

In 2019, insurethebox customers saved an average 28 per cent on their policy after their first year of no claims driving. The second year of NCD increased the savings to 36 per cent on average.

Gary Stewart, service manager at insurethebox, said: “The high costs associated with driving can act as barriers to motorists of all experience levels, which is why we want to give our policyholders an opportunity to protect their no claim discount as early as possible in their motoring life. Usually insurers will only offer PNCD once they have seen several years’ evidence of good driving, but we want to provide that benefit to newer motorists.

“Whilst protecting your NCD means that the number of years accumulated are protected in the event of an accident [maximum two claims within four years], it is not the same thing as protecting your premium – your overall price may still rise. Factors such as changing car or moving to a more crime-ridden area may still affect the overall pricing of your policy.”

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