Car insurance today can be a minefield.
With hundreds of providers in the marketplace, it’s no wonder comparison websites do really well.
Several factors lead to the rise and fall of insurance premiums and if you are a new driver, your research starts here.
It pays to know what you are shopping for and how to lower your costs.
Make sure you shop around.
It should be mentioned at this point that car insurance companies will only pay out, provided you follow the terms and conditions of the policy.
1. The car you drive. If you drive a small car with a small engine, you are likely to have cheaper car insurance. If you drive a sports car, you will have costlier car insurance quotes.
2. Your address. Your residence in rural or urban areas determines the risk you pose to your car. Rural areas and some inner city jungles are more prone to theft and crime, which ensure the higher cost to insure the car.
3. Other factors. This may be age, gender, driving history, modifications made to vehicles and marital status of the driver. The details of a driver are the primary data required by any car insurer. Females are considered the better drivers than their male counterparts, which provide them with cheaper car insurance quotes. Similarly, students and youngsters are attracting higher car insurance quotes due to inexperience and maturity.
4. Your driving history. Have you had accidents or points on your licence? Accidents can rocket your premiums year after year and collecting points will do the same. There can be discounts on some insurance policies for further training, such as pass plus and IAM or ROSPA driving tests. Many pounds can be saved by further training and your car insurance company will be impressed.
5. The type of coverage you require for the car insurance also determines the cost of car insurance policy. The premium of insurance falls with the less amount of cover you ask for. If you ask for health insurance for driver, you will probably pay higher premiums.
Car insurance exists in three forms:
Third Party Only - The level of cover provided by third party only insurance is basic and covers any liability to third parties but does not cover any other risks. (Other peoples property and not your own).
Third Party, Fire and Theft – This covers all third party liabilities and also covers the vehicle owner against the destruction of the vehicle by fire (whether malicious or due to a vehicle fault) and theft of the vehicle itself. It may or may not cover vandalism. This kind of insurance does not cover damage to the vehicle caused by the driver or other hazards.
Comprehensive Cover – covers all of the above and damage to the vehicle caused by the driver themselves, as well as vandalism and other risks. This is the most expensive type of insurance.
Some vehicles are exempt from requiring insurance; these include those owned by certain councils and local authorities, national park authorities, education authorities, police authorities, fire authorities, health service bodies and security services.
There is no need to panic about the cost of car insurance; if you are young, unfortunately it will be expensive whatever you choose to drive.
Keep the above factors into mind before buying car insurance. Use them to your advantage to help lower the costs.
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