Motorists snub additional car cover

According to esure's in-house figures, there has been over a seven per cent fall in take up (7.2 per cent) of no claim discount protection since the start of the recession in autumn 2008. There has also been an 8.6 percent fall in the take-up of motor legal protection over the same period as motorists look for ways to save money and reduce their overall annual insurance premium. esure car insurance urges motorists not to scrimp on cover as it can be a false economy if the unexpected does happen.

Why it pays to protect your no claim discount:

Building up a no claim discount is the best way to reduce a car insurance premium and it makes good sense to protect it. Insurers' scales are all different but many insurers offer up to a 70 per cent no claim discount for drivers who haven't claimed for over five years.

In the event of a fault claim, an esure policyholder with a five years' no claim discount of 70 per cent discount and no protection would see their discount slide down to 55 per cent, then to 35 per cent if they had two claims within the year, and a zero per cent discount at renewal with three claims within the same year. This could potentially hike a premium up by hundreds pounds.

Scenario: teacher, male, age 35, EH14 postcode, Ford Focus, 57 plate

70 per cent discount (no claims made) £230.33
55 per cent discount (one fault claim in the last year) £385.73
35 per cent discount (two fault claims in the last year) £729.68
0 per cent discount (three fault claims in the last year) £1540.78

No claim discount protection varies between insurers:

The small print for no claim discount protection varies between insurers so motorists should do their homework. Some insurers offer standard protection which will have caveats or restrictions as to the number and type of claims allowed in a set period of time but this is not generally understood. In fact, according to esure's research 37 per cent of drivers are not aware that there is usually a set limit to the number of claims they can make on their policy before their discount protection is over-ridden, reducing their no claim discount dramatically.

esure offers ‘protection for life' which gives drivers a guaranteed discount level regardless of any claims made throughout the life of their policy with the company. It gives safe drivers peace of mind that an unfortunate incident on the road or theft will not cause them to ‘step down' the no claim discount scale.

Mike Pickard, Head of Risk and Underwriting at esure car insurance, said: "Protecting such a valuable way to bring down your insurance premium makes sense. By adding a small premium - in the tens of pounds - makes sense if it could stop your no claim discount being reduced in the event of having to make a single claim, or more than one claim.

"Although car insurance is mandatory, ditching additional cover such as no claim discount protection, motor legal protection and breakdown cover to save a few pounds can be a false economy if the unexpected does happen such as hitting a deer, a sudden mechanical failure or an accident where you're not the one to blame."

Why it's worth opting for Motor Legal Protection:

Motor legal protection provides motorists with the ability to recover uninsured losses if they are involved in an accident that is not their fault. esure's cover costs £21.99. It provides up to £50,000 of cover for legal costs whereby an appointed lawyer will pursue the recovery of uninsured losses arising from a road traffic accident involving a third party, such as lost earnings arising from an injury, voluntary accidental damage excess, and so on.