For price-aware customers like young drivers and those on a budget, knowing how to get cheap car insurance can be essential to keep the costs of keeping a car operational down.
There are several different options you can use to reduce the cost of your car insurance. Some of them require more preparation than others. They include:
Often, different cars will receive very different quotes for the same insurance cover. There are many possible reasons for this, from the age of the car (older cars are more likely to experience failure, and much older cars may be more expensive to service) through the cost (more expensive cars costing more to repair if they’re damaged) to the type (with some fast cars considered a greater risk).
The ideal car for cheaper insurance premiums is an inexpensive recent-model car known for its reliability. In 2018, many insurers recommend recent models of Nissan Micra, Kia Rio and Volkswagen Polo as three of the cheapest cars to insure.
Young car drivers’ insurance is offered specifically for younger, newer drivers. Some policies in this range are designed to reduce the costs that many young drivers face due to their perceived experience, higher likelihood they may take risks on the road, and the lack of time they’ve had to collect ‘no claims bonus’.
By carefully comparing policies within this range, young drivers can often find a better deal than they expected.
Black box insurance, also known as telematics insurance, is a car insurance policy which requires you attach a ‘black box’ to your car. It wirelessly broadcasts GPS data allowing your location, speed, and direction to be tracked. This means that if you experience an accident, it’s possible to show whose fault it was. That reduces the risk to the insurance company, and they pass that benefit on in reduced costs.
Black box insurance has also been shown to encourage drivers who might have had high-risk premiums to drive more safely, too. This reduces premiums, but it also makes you safer – which is a huge benefit.
While it isn’t advisable to reduce your cover below what you need, there are some ways to cut down on your cover – and thus your costs – which may be appropriate for some circumstances.
For example, students who use their car only while living away from home may be able to take advantage of limited mileage car insurance (available if you travel less than 5,000 miles in a year) or short term insurance policies – insured only for those parts of the year the driver will be active.
Be careful not to exceed and void your protection!
Even if your current policy was the best available to you when you last signed up, by the time you need to renew your car insurance it may not be any longer. In fact, it’s almost never true that renewing your current policy is the cheapest way to get the car insurance cover you want.
Instead, take the time to compare car insurance quotes each time. This technique is probably the most effective of any of the options we’ve looked at here, and best of all, it works alongside them.
