If you don't make any claims on your policy (i.e you don't have any accidents or damage to your car), you will earn a 'no-claims bonus,' sometimes also known as a 'no-claims discount.' You can build this up each year and transfer it between insurance providers.

A no-claims bonus means you get a discount on future policies, which is usually worked out as a percent of the total.

The amount of discount you get will vary between insurers. The maximum you can enter is twenty years, however not all providers will offer a discount on this length. In this instance, your quote will include the highest no claims discount that the provider offers.

Some insurance providers give you the option of paying extra to protect your no-claims bonus, so that one accident doesn’t wipe out years of careful driving.

But, if you do make a claim, your premium could still go up after this because your claims history is usually taken into account when a provider calculates your quote.

In many cases, you won't need proof of your no-claims bonus. Insurance companies can check this by looking in an online database.

But, if they do ask you for proof, it can vary between insurance providers what they ask for. You may find proof on:

• Your renewal letter

• The cancellation letter you received when switching insurance companies

If you haven’t got either of these documents, you may want to contact your previous provider to get hold of them. You'll usually need to send the proof of no claims to a new provider within the first three weeks.