Car Insurance – Drive Your Premiums Down

It’s that time of year again – your car insurance is up for renewal. Queue sighs, eye rolling and yawns. No one likes the task of trawling the internet for the best deals. Comparison websites have made this a little easier; however, there are a number of ways you can reduce your car insurance quote without wasting hours of your valuable time.

Shop Around

You obviously want the best quote available but that doesn’t just mean the cheapest. Make sure you’re being offered the right level of cover, so no skipping the small print! Check your level of windscreen cover, legal cover and excess payments so that you’re not caught out should anything happen.

Use Your Head

When filling in your details, small things matter. For instance, consider your job title. If you’re a blogger or journalist, say instead that you’re a writer as this may well lower your quote. However, if you bend the truth a little too far and claim you’re an astrophysicist when in reality you’re a cleaner, any claims you might have to make further down the line may be invalidated due to false information being provided!

Naming a more experienced driver as the main driver on your policy (especially if you are a fairly new or young driver) can reduce your car insurance quote substantially. Obviously, check first that they are happy for you to do this. If so, the insurer then assumes you spend less time driving if you share the car and adapts the quote accordingly.

Your no claims discount is another important factor in keeping your premiums down. Depending on how many years you’ve been driving accident free, you can carve a considerable chunk off your insurance. Safer drivers are cheaper to insure.

Multi Car Discount

There are a number of companies that offer cheaper quotes if you take out a multi-car insurance plan. If there are other drivers in your household, you can save money by insuring everyone on one policy with the same provider. Each extra person increases the discount you’re offered.

Size Matters

The smaller the car, the cheaper your quote – usually. Obviously, if you are driving an F type Jaguar this won’t be the case! However, cars in insurance group 1 have smaller engine sizes are more economical and are easier to repair. The higher engine sizes mean the car is more powerful and statistically they are more likely to be involved in accidents, especially with new drivers.

Location, Location, Location

Where you park your car can influence your premiums. If your car is tucked up snug and safe in a locked garage overnight, that is obviously far preferable (and cheaper to insure) than a vehicle left out on a main road, in poor lighting, with no alarm fitted. Again, make sure you are honest with your insurer and if you have a safer option for parking, use it.

Technology Tweaks

Installing a black box is another money saver, particularly for young or new drivers, so long as you’re not the next Lewis Hamilton! Driving safely within the speed limits will mean your insurer can see you are a careful driver and your insurance costs can be reduced accordingly. Even if you don’t have a black box, staying within the speed limits means there’s no risk of points on your licence, which would put up your premiums.

A final bonus is that if you pay your insurer annually rather than monthly, your quote will be cheaper. You won’t be paying interest on the money your insurer has, in effect, lent you to cover the year, so your quote goes down.