7 ways to get cheaper car insurance

less than 1 min read
27th November 2019

7 Ways To Get Cheaper Car insurance

Below is a list of ways that can help you reduce your car insurance premium. Basically, in the UK if you drive a car, you need to buy car insurance.

People are often aware of some of the factors that can affect their car insurance premium such as:

Your age.
Claims history.
Car model.
Postcode.

But there are other factors, that you can improve that may help you to reduce your premium when you look to renew your car insurance next time. By making little changes you could save money without skimping on the cover. Listed below are 7 little ways that could lead to you getting cheaper car insurance:

1. Switch three weeks before renewal

It’s important to time your insurance renewal correctly to avoid overpaying. That means not renewing too early, and not too close to the deadline. Research has found that buying car insurance around three weeks before your renewal date is the best time.

Prices tend to drop between 30 to 21 days and then starts to rise again after the 21st day. Insurers believe that drivers who renew their car insurance at the last minute are going to be riskier drivers so increase the price of cover for those drivers. Make sure you’re not one of them.

2 Choose your job title carefully

Did you realise the occupation you chose on your car insurance application could influence the cost of your insurance? Insurers base their premiums on past claims information and have found that some occupations are less likely to have a claim than others.

Individuals with vehicle-related employments, for example, wagon drivers or sales reps, can be viewed as more hazardous drivers by insurers. This could be simply on the grounds that as they spend more time in the driver’s seat or are deemed as more confident drivers so might take more risks, therefore they may be more likely to have a claim, so they increase the premiums to protect themselves.

But it is worth noting that having a slightly different job title could save you money as long as you are not misrepresenting the job you are actually doing for example, a ‘cook’ may get cheaper premiums than a ‘chef’ and a ‘joiner’ may pay less than a ‘carpenter’ even though they do the same/similar job.

So, if there is more than one way to describe what you do, get a quote based on each. As should be obvious, we're discussing little changes here, not distorting the activity you really do. Remember that misleading an insurer is fraud and you would be breaking the law.

3 Add an additional driver

If you add an additional driver, this can help you reduce your premium if that person has a clean driving record over a number of years. For example; if you’re a young driver you could add a parent. Please note: that you will still need to declare yourself as the main driver otherwise you would be committing a criminal offence known as “Fronting”. It also needs to be someone that could reasonably drive your car.

“Fronting” – Where you list an experienced driver as the main driver when that will not be the case. For example: Where a parent lists a child as an additional driver on the car rather than the main diver when the child will be the person that uses the vehicle the most.

4 Never auto-renew

It may be convenient to just let your car insurance policy auto-renew every year, but your insurer won’t reward your loyalty. They often use a practice known as “price walking”

"Price Walking" - this is where they get you in on a cheap deal and then gradually increase your premium each year hoping that the amount, they increase it by won’t be enough for you to shop around.

You can stop auto-renewal by changing your account settings online (if you manage your policy that way), or by phoning your provider. Remember Point 1 in this list: it is best to switch around three weeks before your current policy ends to get the best deal.

Even if you don’t really want to change your insurer, you could ask them to price match a cheaper quote.

Please note: that your insurer should remind you a few weeks before your policy renews automatically, if you miss the cut off point you still get a 14-day cooling-off period after auto-renewal in which you can still cancel – please note that cancellation fees + time on risk cover charges are likely to apply which you may need to take into account if you look to switch after auto-renewal.

5. Increase your excess

By choosing to increase the excess (i.e. by adding a voluntary excess to your car insurance policy), you could reduce the cost of your car insurance, but remember this will mean you’ll pay more if you need to make a claim. So, weigh up any potential savings that you get against the potential increase excess you would have to pay if you have an accident and need to make a claim.

6. Don't pay for covers you don’t need or can get cheaper elsewhere.

If your car insurance includes extra covers such as breakdown cover, legal expenses or replacement keys cover, make sure to check the price and level of cover because you might find cheaper cover elsewhere.

You can compare breakdown insurance cover here

You can compare lost or stolen car keys cover here

7 Improve your credit score

Insurers may look at your credit record when assessing your car insurance application. While your score doesn't anticipate your odds of being in a mishap, factors like your payment history and the sorts of credit you use help assess the probability of you making a claim (it's been discovered that individuals with a decent credit record will, in general, make fewer insurance claims).

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