The average cost of car insurance in the UK is £550 and rising fast. Young drivers under 25 years old are on average paying over £1200. Finding the cheapest car insurance to meet your individual requirements can seem like a daunting task and not one that many people look forward to tackling. Trawling through websites and comparing premiums, excesses, and exclusions can be exhausting but with this useful guide, your hunt will be simpler, more focused and most importantly, help you find the best deals on the market.
17) Use The Right Job Title
Most people tend to try to make their job sound more senior when applying for car insurance. The thinking is if you have a better job the insurance company might consider you more responsible and give you a cheaper quote. In fact, the opposite is often true. “Kitchen Staff” get lower quotes than “Chef’s.” “Bricklayers” get lower quotes than “Construction Workers.” Basically, if you can describe your job in more than 1 way, get an online quote for all of them before applying. If you are a full-time parent, carer or retired. Make sure you check that box rather than unemployed. It will save you up to £300.
16) Don’t Wait Till The Last Minute
Comparing quotes and switching 3-4 weeks before your renewal date should save you over £200. Most insurance companies will now let you lock in a quote for 30 days or more. So find a cheaper quote, lock it in and switch at the end of your policy. If you can’t lock in the quote, consider switching early. Most policies will charge around £50 for early cancellation which means it would still be worthwhile doing if you are offered a much cheaper quote.
15) Add Another More Experienced Driver To The Policy
This tip is especially useful for younger drivers who are considered higher risks. In one situation, by adding his mum to the policy as a 2nd driver, the cost of insurance fell from £5,000 to £1,200.
14) Don’t Put Everyone On Your Policy
Our advice is to add as few people to your policy as possible. If you are a family of 5, does everybody need to be insured for every car? Do you really need to put your teenage daughter on your policy? Adding a young inexperienced driver to your policy can drive up costs significantly, especially if you drive a more powerful, larger car.
13) Protect Your No Claims Bonus
The single best way to get cheaper car insurance is to have a long “No Claims Bonus” which can offer discounts of up to 90%. Most policies give the option of protecting your no claims bonus in the event of an accident. It will add a few £££’s to the quote but it’s definitely worth doing.
12) Always Compare And Switch
Many drivers assume that loyalty to their insurance provider will get them cheaper quotes. This is almost never the case so you should never accept “auto renewal” until you have shopped around. We’ve heard stories of renewal quotes of £1,200 that would cost less than 50% of that if the same individual was a new customer rather than an existing one.
11) Take A Higher Excess
A £500 excess is fairly common in the UK but we’ve found that by accepting an excess of £1,000, individuals can enjoy a much cheaper quote. Don’t break the bank and make sure you can afford to pay out £1,000 if you are in an accident.
10) Always Pay Upfront
Paying for car insurance in monthly instalments is basically an expensive loan. Car insurance companies charge interest rates of between 9.9% and a whopping 45% APR. So we advise you to pay in full if you can. If you can’t then consider using a credit card with a lower APR or one that offers 0% interest on purchases for a period of time. Make sure you can pay it off before the interest charges kick in and double check if the insurance company charges any additional fees for paying by credit card.
9) Don’t Assume 3rd Party Is Cheaper
Customers tend to pay more than they need to because they assume Insurance Companies are logical. And that is not always the case! Take, for example, the case of 3rd Party Insurance.You would expect this to be cheaper because it only covers the other party if you cause the accident. In reality, if you select 3rd party cover, the computer models used by insurance companies will often place you in a higher risk category.
8) Trim The Extras
Insurance companies love to stuff their policies full of weird and wonderful extra’s which make customers think their policy is better value while making it more difficult to compare. Some common extra’s include Breakdown Cover, Personal Accident Cover, Windscreen Cover, Driving Abroad, Courtesy Cars. Each extra adds to the cost of the policy so check you actually need them. You may find that many of the extra’s are already covered in other policies such as travel, home and breakdown cover.
7) Increase Your Cars Security Features
Insurance companies love alarms, immobilisers and tracking devices. Consider adding them to an older car for a cheaper quote. If you have a newer car it’s likely these are already fitted so make sure you declare them on your application form.
6) Negotiate
The car insurance market is incredibly competitive so they are always willing to negotiate a deal. After you’ve found the best policy for you on a comparison site, get on the phone and try haggling for an even better deal.
5) Keep The Car In Garage
If you can reduce the annual mileage by 10,000 miles you should be able to save £100 on your car insurance quote. Secondly, if you have a garage, make sure the car is kept inside and not in your driveway. Insurance companies will reduce your quote if they know your car is secured overnight.
4) Buy A Car That’s Cheaper To Insure
Next time you’re buying a car bear in mind that the model you choose could have a significant effect on your premium. Sports cars and more powerful engines are 2 guaranteed ways to increase your premium. Read this AutoExpress article here to find the cheapest cars to insure in the UK in 2018
3) Own Your Car: Don’t Lease!
If you lease your car rather than own it outright, you are already paying way too much for your car insurance. Leasing companies build the cost of insurance into your monthly payments and you can be sure they’ve chosen the more comprehensive insurance policy they can find!
2) Install A Blackbox
If you are a sensible driver you can dramatically reduce your insurance premiums by installing a “Blackbox” that tracks your speed, handling and other pieces of data which help the insurance company determine your risk profile. If you are a boy racer, we’d suggest avoiding this tip
1) Compare The Comparers
No comparison website can guarantee you the best quote, simply because not all insurance companies work with them. We, therefore, suggest finding the best deal on a comparison website and then comparing it by calling a few insurance companies direct – Aviva and Direct Line will normally offer great deals to new direct customers.
Money Media Group Ltd trading as TheMoneyDaily.com (can be found on the FCA register under number 779888) are an IAR of Seopa Ltd (trading as Quotezone). Seopa Ltd are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for insurance mediation under FCA registration number 313860.
Disclaimer: TheMoneyDaily’s service is not intended to be, nor should it be construed as financial advice. We help our readers make informed decisions and can introduce you to comparison services and provide impartial information and guides. Where appropriate, we may introduce FCA authorised partners who can provide services relating to financial products.
