3 sure fire ways to save money on car insurance
With our budgets being squeezed every day, looking for new ways to save money has become a bit like searching for the Holy Grail. If you’re a car owner, that could mean finding ways to shave money off your insurance, especially if your policy is coming up for renewal. So, to help you keep costs down, comparison site mustard.co.uk shares three sure fire ways to get cheap car insurance in the UK.
- Pay for your policy in one go
There’s no denying that car insurance is expensive and paying for your policy upfront can leave a significant dent in your budget. With that in mind, it’s tempting to split the cost and pay in instalments but don’t forget that doing this also means you’ll pay interest on top of your premium price.
Not only that, if you miss a payment you could be charged an extra fee. Repeatedly missing payments can also affect your credit rating and in the worst case scenario, your insurer could cancel your policy for non-payment.
If paying for your policy in full isn’t an option, think about a 0% interest credit card which allows you to pay back the balance without interest. Of course, you’ll need to remember to keep up with your repayments.
- Build up your no claims bonus
Every year you drive without making a claim on your insurance policy earns you a no claims bonus. That bonus is converted to a discount which is taken off your premium (which is why it’s also called a no claims discount). The more years of no claims you have, the bigger the discount.
The discount you get will depend on the insurer but earning the maximum no claims bonus can mean saving up to 75% on your premium. Needless to say, it takes time to build up a considerable discount (typically five years) but just one year of claim free driving can make a difference and could save you up to 30%.
For this reason, it’s a good idea to think carefully about what you claim for. Weigh up the cost of resolving an issue yourself (like dealing with minor scratches and bumps) compared to the effect this could have on your premium at renewal.
Also, if you’re tempted to make a claim, be mindful about factoring in your excess which is the amount you need to pay before your insurer can proceed. If you’ve got a high excess, you might find there’s little or no benefit to claiming on your insurance (depending on what the claim is for).
- Shop around
Shopping around is probably the quickest and easiest way you can save money on your car insurance.
Most insurers will send you a letter or email around one month before your policy is set to auto-renew or expire. This window of opportunity is often a good time to start searching for new quotes, as it gives you enough time to properly compare different deals.
It’s worth noting that although insurers can no longer charge loyal customers more than new ones, auto-renewing doesn’t mean you’ll get the best price on the market.
Car insurance is an incredibly competitive industry and providers are always keen to attract new business so it’s well worth comparing policies from a range of insurers.
The good news is that comparison sites like mustard.co.uk make it simple to search and compare quotes from leading UK insurers. All you need to do is answer a few questions about the policy you need along with details about you and your car, and they’ll take it from there.
