With insurance prices rising beyond affordability these days, what four things can you do to save money on car insurance?
If you have a vehicle you drive on a public road, it is a legal requirement to have insurance provided by a reputable and registered third-party insurance company.
People are required to have insurance on a vehicle so that if anything happens to your vehicle and you are not to blame, you can be compensated in some way. That could be financial compensation or replacement compensation to allow you to feel no loss from the incident or accident.
There are many tiers of insurance for all road-legal vehicles, such as third party, fire, and theft, and fully comprehensive. This is the element you get the most control over when choosing your new insurance policy.
Many companies will offer certain perks for the most expensive tiers to enable people to feel the most benefit from the insurance, such as voucher rewards or credit for days out, etc.
Respectfully speaking, insurance is costly, but no matter how expensive it gets, it is still a legal requirement to enable you to drive on public roads.
So how can you save money on your essential insurance policy to make it more bank-account friendly?
Pay It All At Once
Many insurance companies will offer different ways to pay your insurance; generally, it will be an upfront payment for the period the insurance covers (usually 12 months) or a monthly payment that is split equally over the 12 months, usually with a deposit.
To save money on your insurance, in this instance, it is always going to be more cost-effective to pay for the whole term of the insurance policy upfront in advance.
The reason for this is simply that it will give you the best price at the time of the quote when you opt to pay in advance, without any added fees or administration charges for things like setting up a direct debit for monthly payments or paying a deposit with a monthly premium on top for the privilege of paying monthly.
Take A Pass Plus Course
Believe it or not, there are specific driving qualifications within the driving sphere that will decrease your insurance premiums.
When your insurance requirements are underwritten, underwriters are there to look at elements of risk to a policy; namely, how likely it may be that the insurance will have to pay out on your premium if they choose to insure you based on the information you provide to them.
Amongst other things, such as:
- Age
- Years of driving experience
- Occupation
- Car location
Your insurance will also be favourably underwritten if you have any relevant professional driving qualifications, such as a Pass Plus course.
Having advanced driving qualifications shows the insurance company underwriters that you have been trained and have passed assessments in driving that are above and beyond the regular driving test. Therefore you have more knowledge and experience that have been sought in a more specialised field of driving.
The additional qualifications may deem you less risk for insurance purposes by the underwriters and can significantly reduce your premiums every year and save you money on your following insurance policy.
Add In-Car Cameras
When your insurance is being underwritten for risk, insurance companies will ask what security you have for your vehicle, so they can assess the likelihood of the car being stolen or tampered with and the insurance company having to pay out on this.
As part of the questions, they may ask you about:
- Tracking devices you have for the vehicle.
- Any black boxes that are installed for driving monitoring
- Immobilisers, and if they are factory standard to the vehicle or if they have been enhanced
- Alarms and anti-theft devices, again, if they are factory standard (as the car came) or if you have added any security features to improve the safety of the vehicle.
Among these, the insurance company may ask if there have been any In-Car cameras added to the vehicle, as this is classified as an extra security feature to the vehicle.
It can also reassure the insurance company underwriters that there may be a higher likelihood that any insurance claims can be evidenced for fault, which may significantly reduce your premiums.
Increase Your Car’s Security.
As we have just touched on the security features of a car, it’s best actually to say how they can reduce your insurance premiums.
When you buy a car, you have the option to put in place additional security features to ensure that if anything untoward happens to your vehicle, it can be tracked and found, or indeed make it incredibly difficult to steal undetected.
Insurance companies understand that factory-fitted security features, such as alarms and immobilisers, are fitted to cars as standard to reduce the risk of undetected theft initially.
However, you can always take improved measures to add extra security to your cars, such as trackers and remote alarm systems, that will further heighten the security and make your insurance premiums lower than they may ordinarily be.
Conclusion
So, to save money on your car insurance, you need to think about initially paying your full terms premium all in one go from the beginning of the policy if you are in a financial position to do so. Upfront payment in full will attract a lower premium than if you were to pay monthly, as most insurance companies will charge an administration fee and a deposit to levy a monthly payment plan.
You can enhance your driving qualifications also to enjoy lower underwritten premiums, as this looks like less of a risk to underwriters if you have more advanced driving qualifications beyond the standard national test.
Finally, lower premiums can be sought when your vehicle has additional security features that will potentially make the vehicle more difficult to steal undetected.
By adding extra security features such as in-car cameras (which also levy more trust with underwriters in the event of an accident) and additional alarms, underwriters will see these elements as a reduction of risk in a payout in the event of an accident or incident, and therefore attract lower premiums which will save you money.
Always shop around for your insurance, and always make sure you have the best quote for you before going ahead with any insurance policy, as mistakes and amendments after the terms start date can incur charges and swallow up the money you have saved in the beginning!
