10 simple ways to reduce car insurance costs

Looking for ways to reduce car insurance costs? Then take a look at the ten steps below to reduce your premiums and possibly save hundreds.

How to reduce your car insurance costs

Quite rightly, car insurance is not a product that drivers can choose to do without. Because of this, it means that companies can charge you a fortune. As I’m sure many of you are aware, due to a change in legislation, our policies have increased in cost over the last few years.

If you only take one piece of information from this post, then remember this. NEVER, and I mean NEVER automatically renew your car insurance. Nearly every insurance company will automatically renew your contract for “your convenience”. Loosely translated this means they hope you can’t be bothered to change so they’ll charge you extra. Even if you think your renewal price is decent, check around.

Opt for a smaller engine

Many people believe that the cost of your car insurance is related to the value of your car. However, in most cases, it depends on the car’s performance.

If you can, try choosing a car with a smaller engine. The slower the car is, the cheaper your policy should be as insurance companies think you are less likely to drive at high speed everywhere.

Choose the right level of cover

If you’re new to car insurance, you may not be aware that there are 3 different levels of cover available. As you ask for a quote, you will be asked if you want the following cover:

• Third party
• Third party fire and theft
• Fully comprehensive

Third party

Third party is the bare minimum you need to drive on UK roads. If you were to have an accident caused by you, your insurance company would pay out to anybody else that may have been involved and your passengers. The only person that wouldn’t receive anything is you. That would mean you would have to pay for any repairs to your car. Of course, if another person were at fault, you would receive compensation.

Third party fire and theft

This cover offers the same level as above, except that you will also receive compensation if your vehicle is stolen or damaged by fire.

Fully comprehensive

This provides far more protection than the above and you should be covered for most eventualities. However, different companies’ policies protect against different events, so you need to read through them before accepting.

Which policy you should choose depends on your circumstances. Most people assume that third party is always the cheapest, but this isn’t always the case.

If you have a car worth several thousand pounds, you should always look at taking out comprehensive insurance, otherwise, one accident could see you lose the lot. But if your car is only worth a £100, then third party might be worth considering.

Compare prices

Try out as many comparison websites as you can. Usually, it will take around 15 minutes for each. If you’ve used the site before and none of your details has changed, it could take less than 5. Make sure you have all your details on hand – such as vehicle details (obviously) and any previous accidents you may have had – including dates. Not putting these in could cause your insurance to be invalid, leading to a whole world of pain!

Also, remember to check cashback sites too. Be warned though that I have been given a quote by a company and found that they offered cashback for £50. So I then went for a quote through the cashback site, only to find it £50 more expensive!

A company worth visiting for quotes:

Be quick

Sort out your new cover as soon as you can. Usually, you can arrange it up to a month in advance. Believe it or not, the sooner you renew, the cheaper your quote will be. Now I don’t know why this is, but over the last three years I have tested this out. The closer you get to your renewal date, the more your insurance will be. Don’t believe me? Try it out.

Add another driver

Adding another driver to your policy can reduce car insurance costs. Of course, this does depend on the other driver as somebody with a poor driving history will have a negative effect. However, when you’re on a comparison site, try adding a named driver to see if your costs reduce.

Get the mileage right

Because I was never sure, I wrote down that I covered 10,000 miles a year in my car. I thought that it was better to be safe than sorry. However, I discovered that I was driving only around 6,000 miles a year, so I was paying for more than I needed. If you’re unsure how many miles you drive, check your MOT certificates as they should have the mileage of your car every year.

Increase your voluntary excess

The excess is the amount you pay out if you have to claim in the event of an accident. It will reduce car insurance costs if you increase the excess you pay. And if the accident is not your fault, you can usually reclaim the excess.

Try a different job title

I have a friend who works for Border Force. Customs Officer quotes came back cheaper when inputting what she did for a living than if she wrote Border Force. This article shows how much of a difference job titles can make.

Pay upfront

If possible, try not to pay monthly. Insurance companies tend to charge you extra if you pay in instalments and the APR isn’t low. It may even be cheaper to pay with a credit card if you can pay the balance off within a couple of months.

Breakdown cover? No thanks

You’ll probably notice that most insurance companies now offer the option to tick a box to take out breakdown cover. Of course, they won’t usually provide the cover themselves, but a third party will. This means that the third party will offer the insurance company a nice little fee for their effort. And because they pay this fee, you usually end up paying more.

The cheapest quote I have found is £26 from an insurance company, but this is very rare. Expect to pay anything between £40 and £60. Taking out breakdown cover is usually cheaper if you find it yourself.

So, head to the comparison sites listed above and see how much you can save.

FAQs