The cost of car insurance has been increasing in recent months. You may have noticed this when you received your renewal notice in the post. So, how can you possibly reduce your premiums or at very least contain them? Below are six potential ways of doing so: –
Why not shop around on the Internet to see if you can get lower car insurance cover
Shop Around
When you receive your renewal notice don’t just file it away. Instead, why not shop around to see if you can get the same level of cover for a lower premium. A great way of doing this is to use one of the many price comparison websites. It should only take a few minutes to go though this process and, if you do find cheaper cover with another provider, you can always ask your existing insurer if they will match it. If they will not then it is easy to switch providers.
Security devices
Insurance companies often provide cheaper cover if you have things like alarms and tracking devices fitted as they act as deterrents to car thieves so it may be worth exploring these options.
Buy a car in a lower insurance group
Cars are placed in one of 50 insurance groups dependent upon a number of factors that affect the insurance company of possibility having to pay out in the event of a claim and how much they may have to pay out. For instance, a car in insurance group 1 such as a small family hatchback with a less powerful engine is going to be cheaper to insure than a high performance, expensive sports car in group 50. Therefore, if you are looking to change your vehicle, check which cars fall into the lower insurance groups and you may save yourself some money.
Where do you park your car overnight?
If you park your car overnight on the roadside outside your home it is more likely to be damaged or stolen than if it were parked on your drive or in the garage. Therefore, some insurance companies may reduce the premium if you park it in one of these later two places overnight.
Increase the amount of your excess
If you can contribute more towards the cost of a claim by paying a higher excess then this is likely to result in your car insurance premium being lower.
Review your cover
Check that the information provided to the insurance company when you arranged the cover is correct. For instance, if you used to travel 25,000 miles per annum in the car each year but now only do 5,000 miles per annum, let the company know and they may lower your premium. Have you changed your occupation in the time that you have had car insurance as what you do for a living could affect the premium. Does the person that you have named on the policy as an additional driver still need to be insured to drive the car – if not by removing him or her may reduce the premium.
The above are just some ways that you may be able to lower your car insurance premium.
