Car insurance

The size of your car insurance premiums can vary significantly depending on your age, where you live, number of accidents you have had and a whole host of other information. Whilst you cannot change some of this data there are various ways in which you can reduce the amount you actually pay to insure your car.

The most important of these is to not just accept the first quote you are given but instead to shop around for the best deal. In the olden days it used to be acceptable to phone up and get 3 or 4 insurance quotes and then to go for the lowest quote but thanks to price comparison sites such as gocompare.com and moneysupermarket.com it is possible to get quotes from hundred of insurance companiese in just a few seconds so use these in the first instance to find a selection of the best quotes.

You can then either phone the top couple of companies up and get them to quote you again over the phone and play them off against one another to get yourself a better deal.

Alternatively you should consider using a cashback website such as Topcashback or Quidco. These sites earn commission from some insurance companies such as Esure and Natwest and if these companies gave you the lowest quote then the cashback sites will pay you up to £100 if you buy your policy through them.

These sites have been well documented in the media including the BBC and the Guardian. The sites simply earn commission on their sales which they pass back to you to encourage you to shop through them. It is important to note that the price you pay for your insurance does not increase because you have used a cashback site it simply remains the same, but the cashback site earns a commission and to reward you for using them they share some of this commission with you.

Some other tips to get your premiums down include keeping your car in a garage or on a drive as this will reduce your premiums compared to parking it in the street. Fitting extra alarms and security equipment will also reduce your premiums.

You should also avoid modifying your car as flashy spoilers and other modifications could lead to your premiums increasing.

If your car is quite old or has a fairly low value you should think about just getting ‘third party, fire and theft’ rather than taking out a fully comprehensive insurance policy.