A letter with the dreaded logo comes through the letterbox and you know it’s that time of year again: time to renew your car insurance. You open the letter, find your current insurer has quoted a renewal price and are offering to debit your account at no further bother to yourself.
With this convenience, however, comes a price hike of £50.00! Why has your flawless driving been rewarded in this way? Nobody knows. All the same, it happens to many motorists every year. Here’s how to beat the price increases hitting the insurance industry this year.
Shop around
Say you go shopping for a new car. You don’t buy the first car you see, do you? It works the same way with car insurance.
Use as many different comparison sites as possible and get quotes from specialist insurers for vintage, rare or modified cars. Then contact insurers directly to bring the costs down even further.
Be selective with named drivers
You aren’t being stingy. If your other named driver isn’t going to use the car often, taking their name off the policy could save you hundreds. This is especially true if you are adding children with less driving experience to the policy. It works both ways, however. If you are a young driver and add a parent with a healthy no claims bonus, you could benefit from their years of careful driving by receiving a better premium.
Protect your no claims bonus
One of the few extras worth paying for. If you have the option, protect your no claims bonus! You’ll be glad of it should the unthinkable happen.
Increase the voluntary excess
It leaves a bitter taste that insurance companies won’t cover the initial costs of a claim, but it does provide leverage for a cheaper quote. You could shave up to a thousand pounds off your premium by increasing your voluntary excess from £100 to £500. It’s an extreme example, but illustrates just how much you could save. If you’re a bona fide safe driver with years of no claims, what’s the harm?
Secure your car
Approved alarms, immobilisers and tracking devices are all known to reduce your premium. Up to 5% reductions are available to owners of cars fitted with Thatcham alarms or similar. The good news is many modern vehicles are coming factory fitted with these money saving, security-enhancing goodies.
Oaks Services is Surrey’s leading provider of MOTs and car repairs. As a local, family run business we deliver top quality vehicle repairs and services from fully trained and qualified mechanics. To book your car in for a service, MOT, or for a breakdown recovery service, call us today. We’re more than happy to help.
