Owning a vehicle may give you a new sense of freedom, but very quickly costs can start to add up eating into your monthly budget. Car insurance is one such cost, with the average UK driver shelling out almost £500 per year to keep their car legal and on the road. For new driver’s, this cost can often be much, much higher, so here are 5 ways that you could make a saving on your car insurance.
- Shop around
Your friend may have their car insurance with a big name provider, and your boss may recommend another of the big three car insurance companies, but there are in-fact hundreds of smaller car and van insurance provider’s out there, such as One Sure, who can often offer you a better deal. Don’t settle for the first quote you get, use an online comparison site to compare hundreds of car insurance deals and don’t be afraid to go with a provider you may have never heard of before.
- Increase your voluntary excess
As a general rule, the higher your voluntary excess, the lower your insurance premium will be, but remember that if you are in a collision then you will need to be able to pay the excess you have promised before your insurance provider will cough up for the rest. If you know that you have some money in the bank to cover a higher excess, then have a play around to see how increasing your excess may reduce the cost of your insurance. Even increasing your excess by £50 to £100 can make a significant difference.
- Carefully analyse how much you drive
When buying car insurance, one of the questions you will be asked is how far you drive per year. The further you drive, the higher your insurance will be and so it is worth trying to make this figure as accurate as possible, rather than guessing a higher figure that will just be costing you money. If it turns out that you are going to exceed the mileage, then you can always ring up and alter this at a later date.
- Pay as a lump sum
Although it can be tempting to pay for your car insurance monthly to spread the cost, this usually results in you paying more overall than if you had paid for it as a lump sum. If you can afford to do so try to pay your insurance as a lump sum by saving for it throughout the year.
- Don’t just renew without looking elsewhere
Car insurance tends to increase year on year, and over time people can end up paying hundreds of pounds more than they need to, simply because they haven’t taken the time to shop for a better deal. Set a reminder for when your car insurance renewal comes up and then put the time into researching alternative providers. If you can get your car insurance cheaper elsewhere, then your current provider may match it to keep you on as a customer, otherwise, simply switch.
