5 easy ways to bring down the price of your car insurance
12th Dec, 2023
Ah, car insurance. Let’s be honest, nobody leaps at the chance to renew their car insurance, especially if the costs seem a lot higher than they have any right to be (which is increasingly the case with a lot of things in life these days, isn’t it?). Unfortunately though, we’re all legally required to have car insurance as a prerequisite to being out on the roads, so that the worst costs are accounted for if you scrap your car.
That means there’s no (legal) way to entirely escape the cost of car insurance. Happily though, there are a variety of techniques you can use to bring the costs down. Here are five of the most reliable!
Make sure to shop around for quotes
This is the starting step for most drivers (new and existing), but it’s still worth highlighting – it’s a good idea to get quotes from multiple insurance providers so that you can compare prices. Different insurers offer different rates, so make sure to clear some time to properly sit down and weigh up your options. The best way to do this is almost always through price comparison websites.
You likely already know the biggest ones, including those with faux-Italian opera singers and meerkats as their respective mascots. Whatever you think of said mascots, there’s no doubt that the sites themselves are pretty handy. Crucially, they’re designed to be simple to use, so as long as you give yourself plenty of time to do the research beforehand, and don’t rush into any decisions, you should find yourself with a pretty decent array of options.
Build your No-Claims Discount
This one is as helpful as it is obvious, and in plain terms can be rephrased thus: don’t crash. A No Claims Discount is exactly what it sounds like – it rewards you for each claim-free year, and carries over between providers. That means the longer you go without making a claim, the larger the discount you can accumulate. Building and maintaining a good NCD can significantly reduce your insurance costs.
However, you’ll recognise this as a long-term goal, and not one that you can control by clicking an option on a drop-down menu or something. Happily, you’ve got a little more freedom to do just that with our next tip…
Increase your risk
One of the most crucial things to remember about car insurance is that it’s all calculated on risk. Insurers will charge you based on how much extra they think they’ll have to pay out in the event of an accident. So if you promise to shoulder any extra financial burden from the off, that can take the pressure off them, allowing them to give you better premiums.
That’s why agreeing to pay a higher voluntary excess (the amount you contribute towards a claim) can lead to lower premiums. Even a rise from something like £250 to £500 can result in a measurable improvement to your premiums – and you won’t have to worry about it until you have a crash (if you do).
However, obviously it’s important to ensure that you can afford the excess in the event of a claim.
Think about “black box” (telematics)insurance
This is one that lots of drivers are understandably reluctant to choose, but the rewards involved can be worthwhile. Basically, black box policies involve a tracker being fitted to your car to monitor your driving. It’s capable of detecting aggressive driving styles, including hard steering, speeding and swerving.
If your insurer’s data shows that you’re driving well, then you’re judged as less of a risk on the roads. You’ll often get a small discount from the off for being willing to install it, and then you can enjoy successive discounts in future years if your driving is good enough. If that’s stacked with your No Claims Discount, then you could notice significant savings in future years. This option is particularly beneficial for younger or less experienced drivers.
Move your car to a secure spot (if you have one)
It’s worth noting that don’t just judge you on your driving, but also on the risk to your car when it’s parked up as well. So if you’re parked on the street and in a major city centre (both generally viewed to be riskier locations) then you might find yourself facing higher premiums. If you’re able to take measures to park your car more securely – such as inside a garage – and communicate that to your insurer, they’ll view your car to be at less risk of damage or theft, so you can enjoy reductions in your premiums.
Basically, insurers may offer lower premiums to drivers who take measures to protect their vehicles. So as well as secure parking spaces, that also includes additional elements like security lights and in-car security devices like steering locks.
This is far from an exhaustive list – they’re just our top tips! And it’s also worth us saying: if you’re looking for new car insurance because you have a written-off car on your driveway, that’s exactly where we can help at Scrap Car Network. With more than 40 years of experience behind us, we’ve refined our process to make sure it’s never been easier to scrap your car. All you need to do is enter your car reg and postcode into the fields on our site, and we’ll have your scrap car quote to you in seconds. So… curious to find out how much your car is worth?
