Getting a better deal on your car insurance is one of the best ways to cut your bills. Nowadays, people are too busy looking for how to make money and not minding how to cut their monthly expenses…are you one of them?
Are you one of the millions of drivers who simply renew car insurance without checking whether they can save some money by switching insurer?
Every year your car insurance renewal letter lands on your doorstep reminding you of your renewal date and new car insurance premium – what do you do?
Accept the new premium and have your car insurance policy renewed automatically for another year? Or do you look around to see whether you can find a more competitive rate elsewhere?
Car insurance is becoming more expensive and at times, extremely unaffordable. Lots of people have given up on driving or owning a car because they just can’t afford their car insurance new premium.
Top 5 Ways To Reduce Car Insurance Premiums
And again, lots of car insurance companies are cashing in on their customers because of their inability or unwillingness to shop around whether online or through a couple of phone calls to compare their car insurance policy with others out there.
If you are someone who lets your car insurance renewal pass each year without looking for a better deal you could be missing out on saving money on your insurance. Below are some of the ways you can reduce your car insurance premiums.
#1). Shop around for alternative car insurance providers
Most people are making mistakes by allowing their insurer to automatically renew their insurance policy without taking a look at what is available somewhere else.
It’s advisable not to accept your renewal quote without seeing if you can get a more competitive quote elsewhere. No matter how good or great you might think your current insurer is, there will always be other insurance companies out there with better deals or offers.
Never accept the renewal quote offered by your existing insurer as this is what will give you the opportunity to shop around whether online or through a couple of phone calls.
Different insurers base their premiums on different criteria, so while one insurer may charge you an expensive premium, you might find cheaper cover from an alternative provider. Shopping around is easy, just use a comparison site – you’ll get prices from around 100 insurers in less than 10 minutes.
#2). Get your mileage right
When an insurer asks how many miles you drive, don’t pluck a random figure out of the air, as it could result in you paying more for your cover than you need to. Work out how many miles roughly you do a week and multiply this by 52 to give you a yearly total. The lower your mileage, the less your premiums will cost, so it pays to get your figures right.
#3). Improve your car security
Make sure you fit an insurer approved alarm and immobiliser as this will act as a deterrent to thieves and you should benefit from lower premiums. Always remove detachable stereos and valuable items from the vehicle most especially if you park your car on the roadside.
Similarly, if you can keep your car in a garage, insurance costs will be lower as there is less likelihood of your car getting nicked.
#4). Add another driver
Believe it or not, adding another person to your policy can actually bring the cost down. So if you have got a partner, put them on as a named driver or if you have recently passed your test adding one of your parents to the policy could result in cheaper cover.
Make sure the person who drives the car the most is listed as the main driver though – otherwise you are committing a crime called ‘fronting’ which could invalidate your cover or result in a claim being rejected.
#5). Try to pay your premium in full
If you can afford to, it is advisable you pay for your car insurance in a lump sum rather than paying monthly. This is because insurers usually whack on hefty interest charges if you pay monthly, so you can make significant savings by paying upfront. This way, the high APRs that many insurers charge for monthly instalments could be easily avoided.