Keeping insurance costs in check is a priority for most people, and it’s particularly relevant in the case of cover that’s a legal requirement rather than just a nice-to-have product designed to give you peace of mind.
Car insurance certainly falls into this category, so how can you cut costs while still getting the right type of package from a reputable provider?
Making improvements to your credit score
You might not realize it, but if you have bad credit it’s likely that this will have an undesirable impact on the price you pay for car insurance. So if you want to learn how to get cheap car insurance, doing something about a poor credit score is a great first step.
Your credit history is a factor that insurers take into account if you live in most states across the US, and will have a marked impact on the premium price you are quoted.
While this is not so much of a cost consideration for those in the UK, it does mean that you’ll pay more if you are taking out insurance on a monthly basis, rather than shelling out for a full year of cover up front.
A bad score doesn’t always mean you have a poor credit history, as people who don’t have a track record of borrowing can score lower marks, regardless of their net worth or income.
This means that even wealthy individuals still have a reason to leverage borrowing facilities, and repay any lines of credit on time.
Benefitting from insurance bundles
As with many finance packages, car insurance can be made more affordable if you combine it with other types of cover, rather than sourcing a single car policy from just one provider.
If you have more than one vehicle in your household, getting a bundle that protects all of them at once, and covers other family members’ use of them as well as yours, is often a cost-efficient option, for example.
Likewise if you are able to get insurance for your car alongside home insurance, travel insurance or anything else you might need for your lifestyle and to protect your interests, this may be a way to make a saving.
Increasing your exposure to risk
The core of any insurance policy is the calculated risk taken by both the insurer and the customer. The riskier an insurer considers you to be as a prospect, the more they will charge for their cover.
However, you can bring down car insurance expenses if you offer to accept more risk by exposing yourself to a larger proportion of the financial fallout of making a claim.
This is done via increasing the deductible, or the excess, which is the amount you’ll have to hand over if a claim is made in order to cover some or all of the repair costs and other fees.
Increasing your excess agreement can lead to a lower car insurance quote from the insurer of your choice. This is not always the case, so beware of exposing yourself to this risk for no good reason, and always read the small print.
Another way to take a risk on your car insurance with a view to making a saving is to opt for a less comprehensive package.
Picking a basic insurance product which gives you just third party protection, while leaving you to foot the bill for repairs needed for your vehicle, is a popular cost-cutting option.
Making the right choice
Finally, don’t forget that saving money on car insurance is not always going to leave you with the best possible type of cover, even if it does leave a little more cash in your account.
You have to consider your priorities, and think about the potential costs involved if you are overly frugal when it comes to insurance. You might decide that spending a little more is worthwhile.
