Whether you have just passed your test or you’re a seasoned driver, paying for car insurance is a pain and the more you can do to bring the price down the better.
For those just starting out, it can be extremely discouraging to find out how much you will be paying the insurance companies for the privilege to drive. First-time drivers could be looking at a whopping £1,500 a year depending on the car as well as a host of other factors.
While there are some factors affecting the price of your car insurance that you can’t control, there is a lot you can control, and should! If you are serious about bringing the price down, read on to discover five easy steps to lower your car insurance payments.
Choose your Car Wisely
While this may be common knowledge, the car you want to insure can severely increase the price of your car insurance. Think about it, when an insurance provider offers you a price, they are assessing their liability and how much they are willing to pay if you get into an accident If you have a Ferrari or another expensive car, they will want you to fork up a big chunk of the money required to fix it if you get into an accident.
The vast majority of mid-range cars on the market and the ones that are owned by most people will fetch you a reasonable insurance quote, however. But, be sure to understand that your car can change your car insurance price significantly and to get quotes before you purchase the car. Comparison websites are very useful for this exact purpose.
Reduce your Mileage
You may have noticed that when applying for car insurance quotes they will ask you how many miles you will drive in a calendar year. The average mileage per year in the UK is between 8,000 and 10,000 miles.
Reducing your mileage and going for 8,000, or even less, could significantly reduce your car insurance payments. This is simply because the less time you spend on the road, the less likely you are to be involved in an accident.
The insurer will also ask you what you are mainly going to use the car for within this category. You will have to pay more if you are using it to commute to work because of government regulations introduced to encourage people to use public transport. If this is a possibility, it could reduce your car insurance payments.
Remember, your MOT certificate will tell your insurer how many miles you have done so there is no way of getting around this; pick a realistic number.
Choose the Right Cover
Most UK insurance providers offer three types of insurance; Third Party, Third Party Fire & Theft, and Comprehensive. These three different types offer different levels of protection and could alter the price quite a lot.
Third-party cover gives you the least protection but this doesn’t mean it will always be the cheapest option. When using comparison websites be sure to compare quotes for the different types of cover across providers, you may be surprised with what you find.
No-claims Bonus
The reasons car insurance tends to be so expensive for new drivers is because they don’t have any years of no-claims bonus. The more years you drive without claiming on your insurance, i.e. not getting into an accident, the more no-claims bonus you will get, reducing your insurance costs.
The insurance provider learns that you are a responsible driver that does not get into accidents so they are comfortable offering you a cheaper rate to remain with them. This is one of the easiest ways to lower your car insurance payments but takes some time to benefit from the bonus.
Car insurance isn’t cheap when you start driving and can often become a burden. If reducing your car insurance payments is a priority, then there are many things you can do to bring it down. Think carefully about the car you want to buy as insurers will require more money from you to insure more expensive cars. Driving as little as possible is also a good way to bring the cost down as the less time you spend on the road the less likely you are to crash. Drive sensibly to rack up your no-claims bonus and before you know it, you will watch your car insurance payments plummet.
