I have just received my insurance renewal from Elephant which has come in at just under

You can make two claims in three years (or something like that) and not lose your NCB , but you will still need to declare the accident.

This will put the base premium up before they apply the NCB so you will still pay more at renewal time

1 or 2 claims over a certain period should not affect your no claims or your priemium the following year, excluding the annaul increase with the same company on renewing.

Most companies say X ammount of claims in X amount of years and your no claims will be uneffected.

With Protected No-Claims, you can make up to 2 claims in 3 years, and maintain your level of NCB (this may vary from insurer to insurer). I don't know if making a claim will 'freeze' your level of NCB, however (i.e. you don't lose what you've already got, but you don't get another year's either). What I do know is that a single claim shouldn't put you back to zero in terms of the NCB you've already earned!

HTH

protected no claims is different with different insurers, I can make 2 claims per year without it affecting the NCD.... and you MUST disclose the accident when getting quotes, or they could refuse to pay out in future... (if they find out..)

your insurance may still have gone up, because of the accident , regardless of the NCD.......

note: insurance companies are now (generally) ignoring up to 6 points for speeding! due to our goverments obsession with cameras, and increasing premiums due to all the uninsured drivers (due to lack of police..) gggrrr "FAILED speed camera policy"

Think of NCD and your premium as separate. NCD you earn over time, by not claiming, obviously! If you protect, as mentioned above, you won't loose it, unless you get too crash happy. The NCD is a discount on you calculated premium, which is of course based on your circumctances, history, vehicle etc. If you claim, you are more of a risk, so your base premium will increase, but as your NCD is protected, you premium will be reduced by the same percentage. Following? I think I lost myself...........

Example......

Before crash premium, say

Think of NCD and your premium as separate. NCD you earn over time, by not claiming, obviously! If you protect, as mentioned above, you won't loose it, unless you get too crash happy. The NCD is a discount on you calculated premium, which is of course based on your circumctances, history, vehicle etc. If you claim, you are more of a risk, so your base premium will increase, but as your NCD is protected, you premium will be reduced by the same percentage. Following? I think I lost myself...........

Example......

Before crash premium, say

Thanks everyone (especially Phil's very well thought out example). I now have a much better handle on whats happened. Cheers