Advanced car insurance tips

Protecting your no claims bonus :

After several years of claim-free driving, you should be sitting on a sizeable no claims bonus. After five years, you could cut your premium by between 50% to 70%, depending on the insurer. That's quite a saving.

It is also a great way for younger motorists to drive down the cost of cover, as premiums fall rapidly after just one or two years without a claim.

If you do eventually make a claim, you don't always lose all the no claims bonus you’ve built up. Many insurers will slice two years off your bonus after a minor claim, although that could still cost you hundreds of pounds. If you make a major claim, however, some will strip away your entire bonus.

Nine out of ten drivers that have a bonus that they are desperate to keep, according to insurer More Than, and many would pay for any accident damage from their own pocket rather than sacrifice it. One in three of us have damaged our cars without claiming on a policy.

There is another reason to avoid claiming for every scratch and bump. Many insurers automatically reject new drivers who have claimed in the previous three years, which makes shopping around harder. For example, esure.com only accepts new customers with a minimum of four years' no claim bonus.

It's worth asking your insurer if your bonus will be affected if the accident wasn't your fault but the cost cannot be recovered, say, because the other driver wasn't insured. Also ask whether you can apply your bonus to a second car.

Think twice before buying extras such as alloy wheels - they are easy to steal, impossible to trace, and any claim will dent your no claims bonus.

Alternatively, you could pay a little extra to protect your bonus. This will typically add between 5% and 15% to your premiums, depending on the insurer, but it means that even if you do claim, you won't write off your bonus. Check the details of any protected bonus scheme carefully though, because some insurers will still push up your premium if you make a certain number of claims within a set period.

Remember, your no claims bonus is portable. So when shopping around for a new insurer, always tell them about your bonus.