Obviously its been all over the press recently and discussed how on various forums about how much insurance has increased recently so I thought I would post up a few tips on ways you may be able to reduce your premium. I cant guarantee these will work for everyone but here goes....
Cover – If your price has shot up, or all of your quotes are too high, do you really need Fully Comprehensive cover or will Third Party Fire and Theft do? Bear in mind though, TPF&T is generally cheaper as you are covered for less – obvious really. Granted you won’t be covered for damage to your own vehicle, so if you drive into a wall your insurers will fix the wall and you’ll have to sort out your car. But would you really make a claim on your insurance if it was covered, it’s worth thinking about…..if you ‘know the right people’ who can repair it cheaply, or the car is a ‘bit of a banger’ and only worth a couple of hundred quid, by the time you add into the equation the cost of your Excess and the loss of NCB would you actually benefit from claiming, if not, why not consider TPF&T. Even if it’s just for a year or so until the prices decrease!
Voluntary Excess – By volunteering to pay more on top of the standard policy excess required by any insurer you’ll often bag yourself a further discount. Don’t forget though, it needs to still be a realistic amount which you will be willing to pay, if it’s too high and you won’t be able to pay it if you do need to claim you’ll only end up shooting yourself in the foot.
Limited Mileage – How many miles will you actually drive your car over the course of the year? Fair enough if you use it every day you will probably do 10,000+ miles in a year, but if you are only using it to go to meets and shows are you really driving that far? Many insurers will offer discounts for limited mileage policies. If your car is driven less, there is less chance of you crashing it. Very low limits can even knock up to 50% off your premium!
Use – if you are only using your car for meets and shows and don’t need to drive to work ever, you only need to insure it for Social, Domestic and Pleasure, which again will often cost less than if you are commuting.
No Claims Bonus – One of the more obvious ways to save money I know. But, if at all possible try to stick with your policy until it expires in order to earn your extra year of No Claims Bonus. When it comes to changing your car, your current policy may want an extra £100 to cover it for the 3 months left of the year for example, whereas elsewhere you can get a whole years policy for £350, but don’t forget the year of NCB you will or will not earn could make quite a difference for years to come. Bear in mind the first years NCB discount is often up to 35%.
10 Month ‘Bonus Accelerator’ Policies – Whilst I’m on the subject of NCB, be careful when considering taking a 10 month ‘Bonus Accelerator’ policy. Although it sounds too good to be true that after only 10 months of being claim free you will earn a years NCB, the majority of the time it is and this NCB is only any use to the company you earned it with. You’ll find a very large number of insurers cannot accept NCB unless it was earned on a 12 month policy. Also whilst on the subject – the same tends to go for companies who promise to provide you with a NCB discount for being a named driver. I’m not saying always avoid these, but I am saying do your homework first, otherwise you just end up throwing your money away in the long run.
Insuring Your Car On A Parents Policy – This one is simple – DON’T DO IT. The majority of companies won’t cover this anyway and the ones who will, will rate on the ‘highest risk’ driver…..which will be you anyway. Since the policy will rate on the youngest, highest risk driver, you may as well insure the car correctly, and earn NCB for yourself……the short term pain is definitely worth the long term gain. You may also find with doing this that, again if you have a claim, the insurers will delve a little deeper into the circumstances, and again when they find out that your Mum doesn’t drive a highly modified GTI and it is in fact your car that……….guess what…….once again, you’re uninsured and landed with a very large bill!
Driver Restriction – The fewer drivers named on a policy, again the less it is likely to be on the road, which again can result in a discount. It is often a myth that adding a parent to a policy will make it cheaper. I’m not saying it won’t, with some insurers it might, but if they are not actually likely to drive your car, get quotes without them on there. Likewise, is the girlfriend/boyfriend actually going to drive it? Do you really need them on the policy?
Security – Many insurers will give discounts for security, if you’ve got some don’t forget to mention it, if you haven’t get prices from companies with and without security to see how much it will save you……it may be worth fitting some. Remember a Thatcham approved Category 2 immobiliser can be as little as £80 fitted. If you already have a Cat2 immobiliser, you usually won’t get any further discount for upgrading to a Cat1 alarm though…and since these can easily cost your £400, check if you’ll save any money before just getting one fitted and being disappointed.
If you’re not sure what security is on your car as standard, you can check here:
http://www.thatcham....abigrouprating/Ownership – We all get bored, but chopping and changing your car not only costs you the money lost in depreciation, paying to advertise to sell it etc, but a number of insurers will actually give discounts for you having owned your car for a length of time. The logic behind this is that as you driven the same car for a while you are able to ‘prove’ that you have experience driving it and are capable of keeping it out of ditches and away from trees etc!!!
Garage/Drive – Can you get your car kept off the road. Keeping it on the drive may give a reduction in the price of your insurance, keeping it in a garage almost certainly will. Especially if you live in a higher risk area.
Occupation – be as specific as possible – Insurance works on statistics and occupation is the same as everything else which can make a difference to your price. If a certain occupation on the whole claims more than another, the price for that occupation will increase. Therefore be as precise as possible when it comes to your occupation, don’t just say you’re a ‘Manager’ for example if you’re a ‘Personnel Manager’.
Home Owner – A bit of a expensive option just to save money on your car insurance, granted, but being a home owner shows a level of responsibility and can therefore reduce your price. If you own your house, don’t forget to tell your insurer.
Married – The same applies to being married. I guess they assume if you do write off the car, the other half will kill you anyway before you get to make a claim!!
Be Female – a little bit extreme for the lads out there but being female (especially young and female compared to young and male) can be cheaper to insure (at least until the new legislation comes into force!)
Specialist Car = Specialist Insurer / Normal car = normal insurer – If you have a highly modified or classic car, there is no point calling a run of the mill insurer, often they won’t have a clue what you’re on about and the cover will be almost useless and probably cost you more, you need to call a specialist insurer.
Owners Club – Many insurers offer discounts for being a member of an owners club or forum
. You’re already reading this on here, so don’t forget to mention if you’re a member as this can give a discount too. Enthusiasts spend a lot of time and money on their cars, they are less likely to then go ‘thrashing the t!ts’ off of them and having claims, hence cheaper prices!
Remember though……Above all else, there is no point lying to your insurance company about any of the above (or anything else for that matter) to try to get a cheaper price, as all that will happen in the end is they will find out, and you’ll end up uninsured……and if they find this out AFTER you’ve had an accident, this will get VERY VERY Expensive for you……not to mention the possibility of landing yourself with a Criminal Prosecution for Insurance Fraud etc.
Hope this helps...If I think of anything else I will add too this.
Martin
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