There is no doubt that if you own a car then its insurance is one of the biggest personal expense you may have. Of course it all depends how old are you, how experienced driver you are and mainly if you had any claims recently. Nevertheless you will never buy cheap car insurance if you won’t follow some steps. I’m very happy to share my knowledge with you about this topic!

Five rules of expensive or cheap car insurance

There is no universal rule how insurance companies calculate insurance prices but generally speaking it works like that:

1. Younger and less experienced drivers pay more
2. Drivers who make claim(s) pay more
3. Big engine cars owners pay more
4. People who live in dangerous districts pay more
5. People who use car a lot pay more

Do you realize what is that one factor which connect all of those circumstances? Answer is simple – RISK. The higher risk you are on the road, the more you will pay for insurance.

What you should do to buy cheap car insurance – TOP 3 points

1. Use car insurance comparison websites. TopCashBack, Quidco, CompareTheMarket, Confused, GoCompare – here are some of the most popular. Try all of them as you can get different quotes in the end!
2. In most cases you should never renew your car insurance in the same company you are currently with. If logic tells you that next year should be cheaper than previous one as you didn’t have any claims, unfortunately it doesn’t apply here. Actually it makes much more sense to buy car insurance with other company as it will be most probably cheaper or even much cheaper!
3. Use car insurance job picker. This simple tool made by MoneySavingExpert.com let you find similar occupancy title which can result in cheaper car insurance! How is that possible? It’s simple – algorithms used to calculate car insurance price for you take into consideration also your everyday job. If you work in fixed workplace it’s obvious you are smaller risk for car insurance company than somebody who drives from point A to B, C, D, E etc. all day. However, be careful about choosing those occupancy titles and always tell the truth. If you are courier don’t tell your insurance you work in the office as at some point they will find out anyway. In result your policy will be cancelled and you will be left with a huge bill to pay!

7 more steps to buy cheap car insurance

It doesn’t mean though they are less important factors!

1. Think twice if you need any add-ons like legal protection, breakdown cover etc. If you Google them, you will find out that separately they will be significantly cheaper.
2. Consider changing your car for lower group insurance. Car from insurance group 1 may be hundreds of pounds cheaper to insure than car from group 50 (the highest group). However, even excluding such extremes, it’s very likely that if you change for smaller car with less powerful engine your insurance group will go down and therefore you will pay less. Read more about car insurance groups (CLICK!).
3. If you have EU/non-EU driving license, strongly consider changing it for British document. It’s not for free but it’s just one-time payment (no more than 50-60). There is a big chance you will save even a few dozens of pounds every year doing so.
4. If you are not going to drive more than 5000 miles annually, don’t put 10000 miles as it will cost more. Not much more but it still might be a few dozens of pounds. You drive more, you are higher risk.
5. If you are young, you should consider black box insurance. Such black box will track how you drive and usually black box insurance is significantly cheaper for younger drivers. But keep on mind you have that black box in your car for a few months and drive gently.
6. Drive safe to minimize risk of any accident. That will definitely skyrocket your premium next year. Claims will effectively prevent you from buying cheap car insurance.
7. Once again – don’t lie. If you will be caught doing so (and you will be definitely if you will be unlucky to make a claim someday!), it will cost you much more than any saving you made on car insurance. It might as well even more than your car insurance for long, long years…

If you have anything more to add to above lists, please share your opinion in the comments section!

You may also like:

Nutmeg – refer a friend – £100/friend

moneycorp – refer a friend – £75/friend

moneycorp – refer a friend – £75/friend

RateSetter – refer a friend – £100 bonus!

Please keep on mind that I’m NOT a financial adviser and you shouldn’t treat above post as any kind of financial advice. This is just my blog where I share my knowledge but I can be wrong while doing so! Also please remember that any financial decision you will make might affect your finances either positively or negatively. Your capital is always at risk when you invest. You should always read T&C (Terms and Conditions) to make sure you know all the rules.