One of the best ways to obtain cheaper car insurance is to shop around at renewal. Once your no claims bonus has reached its maximum, there is only usually one way for your premium to go, and that is up. Rather than receive the loyalty that you deserve for careful motoring, there will still be some kind of premium increase to bear from the carelessness of others, in many cases. It pays to shop around for alternative quotes in advance of your premium renewal. According to independent insurance broker one sure insurance the optimum time to get alternative quotes is around 24 days before your car insurance is due for renewal.
Apart from shopping around, there are a few other things you can do to lower our car insurance premium.
Know What Makes Insurance More Expensive
There will be factors that increase our car insurance that we would consider hard to change, and would not want to anyway, for the sake of insurance. These might be where we live, which affects the crime risk, and our job that can make insuring our vehicle more expensive. Those in the entertainment industry, for example, will pay way more. Also, delivery drivers and those working in construction. This is because they will tend to drive more and be in a hurry. Whereas a secretary is considered lower risk and so eligible for a cheaper premium. However, when it comes to what type of vehicle we drive, we can change that much more easily. It is about personal choice. With that comes how affordable it is to own the type of car that we drive.
The make and model of our vehicle will significantly impact what we pay. A part of this is how desirable the vehicle is to thieves as much as its engine size. So, the first tip is to gain insurance quotations before considering buying or changing your vehicle, so that you know just what to expect. A vehicle grouped higher with one insurer will generally be higher to insure with others too. It will then come down to who is more competitive because of other discounts offered.
A guide to car insurance groups will prove useful to check where your vehicle ranks compared to others. For instance, a higher engine will for definite put it into a higher group and therefore make it more expensive to insure.
Security
You can lower your insurance premium by storing your vehicle off the road overnight. Preferably not just on a driveway but inside a locked and secure garage.
Another way to reduce what you pay for insurance through security is to have an approved alarm system fitted that is recognised by your insurer. Thatcham alarms are favoured. A Thatcham Category 2 device, for instance, will isolate a minimum of 2 circuits or one vehicle control unit that is necessary for a car to run.
Accept a Higher Excess
On other kinds of car insurance policies, there will be an excess. This means paying a fixed and agreed amount towards a claim in exchange for a lower premium. You can control this excess with car insurance by adopting to have a voluntary excess on top of the already included compulsory excess. Also, when comparing policies, it is the compulsory excess that means certain insurance companies or brokers can offer lower car insurance premiums than others. You need to, as a policyholder, balance the different excesses possible against the premium payable. Here are some tips from Number1plates, to lower your premiums and save money as much as possible.
Low Mileage Discounts
Ask your insurer about discounts for low mileage. In exchange for proof that you do not travel many miles in a year compared to others, you can obtain a discount. It is restricting, particularly if circumstances may change, but will be something that will help you to obtain a lower premium than last year. It all depends on whether you use your vehicle for business or minimal social, domestic, and pleasure use, involving primarily short distance trips for shopping and the occasional holiday.
Low-mileage drivers are generally considered by insurers to be those who drive fewer than 7,500 miles per year. The mileage allowable is something to check with your particular insurer or broker.
Pay Insurance Premium in Full
It generally costs more money to pay an insurance policy in installments or by direct debit. So, if you can afford it, always opt to pay the insurance premium in full to save money. On the other hand, if you are paying for your premium on a credit card, it would work out cheaper to opt for the monthly payment method that your insurance company is offering, because these interest charges are likely to be lower.
So, here are some ways to save money when you insure your vehicle. It is useful to research what makes your insurance expensive to see if you can change any of these things easily and to think about the security of your vehicle in terms of where it is housed and what alarm it has fitted. Other ways of reducing insurance premium costs will be through accepting a higher excess and looking towards discounts such as those given for guaranteed low mileage. Finally, always pay your insurance premium in full, where possible, to avoid paying unnecessary credit charges.