Normal NCD goes: 30 per cent discount for your first claim-free year. 40 per cent for second year, 50 per cent for third and 60 per cent for your fourth year. But some companies have different scales. If you make a claim then you usually lose two years' NCD at next renewal. So on a £500 premium with 60 per cent NCD you would pay £500 less £300 (60 per cent), total £200. If you had a claim during the year and had no NCD Protection your NCD would drop two years back to 40 per cent the next renewal. So assuming no premium increases you would receive a renewal for £500 less £200 (40 per cent), total £300.

But the insurer may decide that your claim was worthy of a premium increase of £200, so renewal would be £500 plus £200, which is £700, less £280 (40 per cent), total £420. If you had had NCD Protection on the last example, your premium would have been £700 less protected NCD of 60 per cent of £420, total £280. This is why you have had reports from your readers because they have assumed that NCD protection means no premium increase after a claim, which it does not.

If you try one of the comparison websites and put in all the details, and have stated that you have had no claims and accidents within the requested period, you will get a string of quotes. Put all the details in again, but reveal that you have had a no-fault claim during the requested period, you will find that you get a totally different list and that many of the same companies have increased their premiums. This is because the underwriter has decided that anyone who has had a claim, whether at fault or not, is a greater risk. You and I know that it is not fair, but I have a suspicion that the statistics might well prove that if you have had a no-fault claim you are a worse risk than someone who has never had a claim. If you suspect that all this is smoke and mirrors then you could be right.