Drive Your Car Insurance Premiums Down In 8 Easy Steps - By: Nicholas Hunt

Running a car is an expensive business and insurance is one of the greatest costs, but you can't avoid it as it's a legal requirement. There's no reason though to just accept whatever quote you get from an insurance comparison site, as you can reduce your premium costs by following a few easy steps.

1: Compare Prices Online

Most policies will automatically renew each year, and it's easy to sit back and let this happen without checking your options. It's very easy these days to compare insurance policies online from a whole range of different insurers, and doing this can drive down the cost considerably.

There's also the benefit of usually getting a discount of at least 10% when you buy online.

2: Choose Your Kind Of Policy

Comprehensive policies have great levels of cover for all sorts of scenarios, but do you really need all the features they offer? For less expensive cars, going for a basic third party insurance policy can be much cheaper and more cost effective.

3: No Claims Bonuses

With most car insurance policies, you'll get a discount which increases for every year in which you don't make a claim. There will be a limit to the maximum discount you can claim, so check which policy you're considering has the highest possible discount.

It's also a good idea to find an insurer who offer a 'fixed for life' bonus, where you'll keep your current discount level even if you have to make a claim in the future.

4: Excess Level

With more or less all policies you will have to pay the first part of any claim - this amount is known as the excess. If you choose to have a higher excess, your premiums will usually be lowered, although it means any accident you have will be more costly to you than if you had a lower excess.

5: Car Security

A more secure car is less likely to be stolen, and so fitting an alarm system, an immobilizer, or another type of security device will normally push your premiums down a little.

The same is true if you have off-road parking for your car, whether that be in a driveway or in a garage, as this will reduce the risks of both theft and damage to your car.

6: Annual Payment

Although this isn't always the case, many insurers will charge you interest if you pay your premium in monthly installments. To avoid this, either pay your premium in one lump sum, or find an insurer who don't charge extra for spreading your payments out.

7: How Much You Use Your Car

More time on the road means more risk of incident, and so the lower your annual mileage the lower your insurance will cost. Actually reducing your mileage is unlikely to be possible, but make sure that you're not telling your insurer that you're driving more than you actually do.

8: The Drivers

A policy will usually cost more the more drivers you have named on it. In most cases, reducing the number of people who are covered to drive your car will reduce the amount you pay, as will making sure the policy is taken out in the name of the driver with the lowest risk profile. An easy example of this is to have a policy covering a man and a woman taken out in the woman's name, or for a parent's name to be on a policy also covering a younger driver.

About the Author

Nicholas writes for a site giving advice on how to get cheaper car insurance, less expensive cover for female drivers, and other car insurance topics.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Nicholas-Hunt/4450

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