Driving a car isn’t cheap. If you stopped to add up all the money you spend on driving and maintaining your car, you’d probably need to have a lie-down and a cup of tea to recover from the shock. It’s not just the cost of the car, which is considerable enough. On top of that you have the insurance, tax, periodical repairs and petrol to contend with. And it’s probably the car insurance that takes the biggest chunk out of your bank account. There’s no way to get around paying your insurance – you can’t drive without it – but there are ways to cut down on how much you pay for it.
Last year the cost of insuring your motor went up again. It can often seem like you’re fighting a losing battle when you’re trying to cut down on your insurance costs. It’s easy to give up and accept the soaring costs as one of those terrible, but necessary, facts of life. This doesn’t have to be the case though. Here are 7 tips to help get you the lowest car insurance possible.
Keep Your License and Driving Record Clean
Although I’m sure nobody crashes there car on purpose, this is worth pointing out anyway. If your driving record is bad or you have points on your license, your premium will be higher. So next time you glance at your speedometer and see you’re going a couple of mph over the limit, think again. It’s not just a fine and points on the license, if you get caught you could also end up paying more for your car insurance. Do everything possible to keep that record and license, it’ll be your wallet that takes the hit if you don’t.
Shop Around
We’ve all seen the adverts. They’re impossible to avoid! I am, of course, talking about car insurance comparison websites. These can be very useful tools when finding the insurance deal that would be lowest for you. For example, you wouldn’t buy the first car you see on motorlinedirect.co.uk without shopping around first. You should also understand their drawbacks and limitations too though. For example, even the best comparison websites only cover roughly half of all the insurance companies and deals out there. One way to get around this is to use various sites. Some insurers, like Direct Line, can’t be found on any comparison websites – so keep that in mind.
Be 100% Honest When Filling Out Forms
I bet you’ve all had a dodgy mate tell you that if you put the address of someone who lives outside the city on your car insurance forms you can get a cheaper deal. Whether this is true or not is beside the point. I can pretty much guarantee that your car insurance company is cleverer and cannier than your dodgy mate. If they catch a whiff of something fishy, they’ll act on it. They’ll take any opportunity they can to avoid paying out on a claim, and you lying on your form gives them a perfect reason not to.
Up Your Excess
When you have your car insured, and you have a small problem with the car, it’s tempting to make a claim. It makes sense, you’re just getting your money’s worth, right? Well, not exactly. If you spend the year filing multiple small claims on your insurance policy, the chances are you’ll face a much higher premium on the following year’s policy. So try not to claim if you can avoid it and to help out with this it’s definitely worth giving yourself a high excess level. This could help dramatically cut your outlay.
Make Sure Your Insurance Matches Your Usage
This is something a lot of people get tripped up by. If you don’t use your car much then there’s absolutely no reason why you should feel obligated to pay a huge amount of money to insure it. This tip is particularly valuable for households with two cars, as the mileage covered is split between multiple vehicles. So each car is on the road less overall. You can get your mileage capped by the insurer, and they’ll charge you less for your insurance. If the car spends less time on the road, then you’ll be less likely to make a claim.
If you Don’t Want the Trimmings, Don’t Pay for Them
Think carefully about exactly what it is you want from your car insurer. Do you really want or need all the additional options and offerings on your policy? The insurer isn’t giving you them out of the goodness of their heart. They come at a cost. If you think you could do without a courtesy car when yours breaks down, take it off your policy. It may not be the biggest saving you’ll make all year. Every little helps though, and the small savings add up over time.
Watch Out for Special Offers You Qualify for
There are lots of specific offers that you just might qualify for. But, unfortunately, a lot of people aren’t aware of the savings they could be making. Don’t be one of those people. Shop around and read the smaller print. For example, if you’re over the age of 50 you could get a great deal from the Post Office on your insurance. They guarantee to beat any renewal quote by at least £50. It’s these kinds of offers you can’t pass up if you want to get value for money on your car insurance policy.
Now you’ve read through our help guide you have no excuses! These tips should stand you in good stead and set you on the right path. It might take a lot of time and effort to put into action, but we all need a little extra money in our pocket from time to time. Make sure you know your policy inside out and if there’s money to be saved – save it. Running a car is expensive, so don’t make it any more expense that it needs to be.