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Home » Auto And Trucks Articles » How To Cut Car Insurance Costs By More Than 10

How To Cut Car Insurance Costs By More Than 10%

Fact: To drive legally in the UK, you are required to have car insurance to protect yourself and other drivers. It's one of the unavoidable expenses of owning and driving a vehicle on the road.

Whilst car insurance is a fact of life, high premiums are not. There are many ways to control the cost of your motor insurance premiums and even reverse recent increases in some cases. Here are just a few tips that can save you well over 10% on your car insurance this year.

1. Search online for the best quotes.

Often, car dealers work with a specific insurer "for your convenience". Before snatching the first motor insurance policy you find, do some research and shop around. Use a price comparison site to compare multiple policies side by side. Car insurance quotes can vary by hundreds of pounds for the exact same cover.

2. Buy online at the insurer's site.

Many, if not most, insurance companies offer hefty discounts when you buy your cover online. Why? They save money on time and agent commissions that way. It's standard to offer a 10% discount when you buy your car insurance online. While not everyone can buy online, there can be significant savings if you can and do.

3. Review when you renew.

Don't simply renew you policy when the time rolls around. Go over it to make sure that it still meets your needs and circumstances - and then request a new quote. Insurers will nearly always offer a lower quote when you're shopping around for policy than when they think they have you hooked.

4. Secure your car.

Since your premium is based on the risk of damage or loss of your car, every step you take to make your car more secure and safe will reduce your premium. Park it off street or in a garage, add a steering lock or an alarm and see your premiums go down.

5. Drive less.

The less you drive, the less your chance of being involved in an accident. If your mileage is lower than the norm, inform your insurer and find out if they offer a low mileage discount.

6. Be honest on your application.

While this technically will not lower your insurance premium, it can make a huge difference when you make a claim. It may be tempting to claim your auntie's suburban address as your garaging site and knock a few pounds off your premium - but if you need to make a claim, the insurance company could find out. If they prove you misrepresented the facts on your application, your claim will be declined and may end up liable for any damages from the accident to boot.

7. Pay in full at the start of the policy.

Check with your insurer to find out if you're charged more for paying in installments. In essence, when you pay in installments, you're taking a loan from the insurance company for your premium, and paying them back - with interest.

8. Pay by direct debit.

If you do choose to pay in installments, find out if your insurer discounts your premium when you pay by direct debit. Since direct debit greatly decreases the likelihood of late and missed payments, most insurers are happy to knock a few quid off the premium when you pay that way.

9. Add an extra driver to your policy.

In some cases, adding an additional driver to your policy will lower your premium, especially if that driver is older, female and has a good driving record.

10. Take a defensive driving course.

Many insurance companies will discount your premium if you complete a course in safe or defensive driving. In general, anything that reduces your accident or loss risk may lower your car insurance premiums.

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

I'm Feeling Very Mortgage Inadequate

Right now I'm feeling very inadequate. You know! It's that feeling you get when you've just let someone down. As Mortgage Professionals we have all experienced it. I just couldn't help. Here's the whole agonizing story from the very beginning...

Last Summer, Canadian Kyle MacDonald, an unemployed writer, set off on a quest to turn one red paper clip into a house, by swapping it for items that were bigger or better.

Based on a game called Bigger and Better (I don't remember that one when I was a kid) that he played as a child, MacDonald decided he would use his creativity and the power of the internet to trade up from one item to another, starting only with one red paperclip, to ultimately trade for his goal...a house.

MacDonald set up a web blog to trade his one red paperclip on July 12th, 2005 and he made his first trade for a pen (in the shape of a fish) on July 14.Well, it took Kyle 14 internet trades, and exactly one year to move from the red paper clip to a house on Main Street in the tiny town of Kipling in Saskatchewan province, Canada - a place he has never been to before.

Kyle's initial trade swapped the paperclip for a pen in Vancouver, the pen became a doorknob, which was traded for a portable barbecue, then swapped for a generator, to become a full beer keg and neon Budweiser sign in New York. A snowmobile followed which was then traded for a trip to Yahn in the Canadian Rockies? He swapped that for a 1995 Ford Van which was then traded for a recording contract which became one year rent-free in Phoenix. An afternoon with Alice Cooper followed, then a snow globe, a Hollywood movie role in Donna on Demand for a two-storey, three-bedroom, 1920s farmhouse on the town's Main Street in rural Kipling.

Kyle's new home community, which is named after the famed British author and poet Rudyard Kipling and is home to New York Times list award-winning romance novelist Mary Balogh, seems like the ideal place to crank out his life's story, which is scheduled to hit store shelves next summer. He successfully parlayed this whole adventure into a book deal with Random House and a movie deal with DreamWorks.

You can go to Google maps and key in the address: 530 Main Street, Kipling Saskatchewan to view the property.

His book, to be published in four different languages, will contain new material about his bartering experience. He said he was approached by about 40 book publishers and 50 production companies who were interested in his story.

Again, I feel terrible that as a Mortgage Professional, I couldn't help Kyle secure a home mortgage. Of course, being unemployed didn't help much. To tell the truth, I really don't originate mortgages in Canada. Plus, all of my lenders had already reached their quota and all of their free mortgages had already been allocated.

Congratulations Kyle MacDonald on a job well done. Quite a return on investment...one red paperclip for a house. Only in America...well actually, North America!