Finding the right car insurance deal can be an arduous task, particularly when it leaves you out of pocket.
But Martin Lewis, 45, appeared on ITV’s This Morning and revealed ten points which will help bring down the cost of your car insurance.
1. To find the cheapest price at speed combine comparison sites then add those they miss.
There’s no one cheapest insurer, as prices are set individually. So the aim’s to check as many quotes as possible. Comparison sites do that, but they don’t all cover the same insurers.
Use two or three of the biggies: moneysupermarket.com, gocompare.com, confused.com and comparethemarket.com.
b) A couple of the big insurers like www.DirectLine.com and Aviva.co.uk aren’t on them. Yet they can be competitive, especially if you’ve no convictions and a clean licence, so check these separately. Also there can be special promo deals not included – there’s a list at mse.me/insurancedeals
And always check that the policy has the right level of cover for you.
2. Not at renewal? What you can do. If the predictions are correct and prices keep moving up, today’s prices will soon look cheap. Plus many are overpaying already, especially those who just auto-renew each year.
Renewal within 60 days? Some firms such as Aviva.co.uk, www.LV.com and www.Nationwide.co.uk give quotes valid for 60 days so get one now, then check against quotes at renewal time. As @dimuthuj7 tweeted: “@MartinSLewis Renewal £521. Quote a month ago, which was honoured, of £319. Thanks.”
Midway through a policy? Many wrongly think you can only switch at renewal, but you can do it at any stage. Check if you can get a cheaper policy now. If so, provided you’ve not claimed, for a £50ish admin fee (factor that in), you can usually cancel and get the rest of the year refunded.
3. Check multi-car policies if you’ve more than one car in the home. A few insurers offer special discounts if you have more than one car in the home – but comparison sites can’t include these deals, so do it manually. www.Admiral.com Multi-car gives discounts of up to 25%, depending on how many cars you insure.
4. Comprehensive cover may be cheaper than third party. Bizarrely, merely selecting comprehensive means some insurers see you as a lower risk, and it lowers the price, so always check comprehensive too if you want the cheapest.
5. Adding an extra driver could cost less. Again, counter-intuitively adding another person to the policy can bring down your premium, as the average risk is reduced. It’s especially strong if you’re a young driver adding a responsible older driver.
6. Legitimately tweak your job title. You can’t claim to be the Chancellor if you’re a pole dancer (or vice-versa), but many people have wide ranging roles. So by tweaking your job description you might find your quote is lower.
7. Don’t ‘pay monthly’ – it doesn’t exist. Insurers may call it paying monthly, but actually they loan you the year’s cost and while a few are interest free, most charge often hideous interest. The worst offender I’ve seen charges up-to-93 per cent APR interest. So check and if it’s costly, pay upfront if you can. If not, try to get one of the many year-long-plus 0 per cent credit cards. Just ensure you pay it off over the year, then there’s no cost.
8. Consider installing a ‘black box’. This device is the tech (officially called ‘telematics’) insurers put inside your car to monitor how you drive and when. It’s especially useful for younger drivers facing hefty costs via other means, though if your mileage is limited and you don’t drive at peak times or late at night, it can work well too.
9. Got special circumstances and struggling? Speak to a broker. If your circumstances aren’t normal, getting insurance can be tough. Often getting an insurance broker to find a bespoke policy for you can beat comparison sites. See www.biba.org.uk/find-insurance/
10. Can you get cashback. Once you’ve found your cheapest policy check cashback websites like Quidco.com and TopCashback.co.uk to see if you can get any money back on the policy you’ve chosen if you buy it via them – this can be over £50, so is often worth it.