These days it costs more to insure a car, especially if you are a young driver or have a prior driving conviction. With premiums skyrocketing upwards of 2000, and not for super cars like Ferraris and Lamborghinis, we're talking sensible cars like Ford Fiestas or Vauxhall Astras, the insurance industry is a risky area due partly to the added distractions: Mobile Phones, GPS and even in car Televisions!
Even if you are a responsible driver it can sometimes be the case that you are paying for others mistakes. There are ways that you can help bring the cost of your car insurance premium down, some are relatively simple, some require a bit of work. By promising to pay more on your voluntary excess in the event of a crash you should find your premium reduced, although you'd need to be a very safe driver to consider this option.
So here's a short list of steps you can take to lower your car insurance:
Consolidate your insurance companies
This is the first step you should take, if you have insurance in other areas such as home insurance or life insurance then the company you have them with may offer a discount for running all your insurance through them. The best way to check this is to call up your current insurer and see if they offer car insurance too, if they do then see if they will reward your loyalty with a discount. If you have more than one car then getting all cars on one insurer can get you multi-car discounts.
Check all other suppliers
The easiest and often overlooked option when it comes to renewing your car insurance is to simply look elsewhere. In the days before the internet this used to be a laborious task that many people couldn't find the energy to do, having to phone up or go to the high street to gather car insurance quotes. These days there are a plethora of comparison websites that do all the legwork for you and can show you where your current insurer is in relation to competitors.
Consider 3rd Party only
This is an option that only really applies to older cars or young drivers who typically drive cheaper older vehicles. Choosing 3rd party fire and theft cover rather than fully comprehensive can save a lot of money. This means in the case of an accident the insurers will cover the damages done to the other vehicle but not yours. Obviously this would mean that if your car is written off or suffers severe damage then you would not be able to claim on your car insurance. With newer cars this practice is unadvisable as despite it bringing your premiums down it would mean a much larger payment In the event of a crash.
In the second part of this article we'll cover some more tips that can help you lower your car insurance quotes, including one that will help reduce your premiums by up to 65%!
