How to save money on car insurance

There are three ways to save money on car insurance.

  1. Change the details on your car insurance form to save cash
  2. Change your car insurance cover level to pay less, but get something different
  3. Compare car insurance quotes to ensure you’re not overpaying

We take you through what you need to know about each to get the best deal possible.

1. Filling out a car insurance quote form to pay less

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So…many…questions…

Car insurance companies (like an Auto Insurance Fullerton company) use hundreds of factors to assess how much your car insurance will cost. Everything from your age and gender to your job to where you live and who else can drive your car.

That means you can save money on your car insurance without changing cover levels or even providers.

Things to look out for are job titles, where the car is parked, who is named as the main driver and secondary driver, as well as ensuring the basics are correct and that you’re not overpaying as a result of an incorrectly filled in form.

Deciding how you pay can also save you cash – many insurers charge interest if you pay monthly, so if you can afford it, pay up front.

One word of warning – while you can change these to get the best car insurance quote, an outright lie can result in a claim being turned down or even prosecution for fraud.

For more details, here are our six secrets to cheaper car insurance quotes .

2. Changing your car insurance cover level to get a cheaper quote

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More cover can mean cheaper quotes…

You would think that more cover would mean more expensive car insurance, but that isn’t always the case.

Frequently quotes for third-party, fire and theft are higher than those for fully comprehensive cover, because car insurance providers see people taking this out as a riskier prospect.

However, it’s always worth checking what your car insurance quote includes and what you are paying for.

Do you really need a courtesy car, breakdown cover, European vehicle recovery, theft of items left in the vehicle? Also check you’re not double paying.

Does you travel insurance cover European recovery, meaning your car insurance doesn’t need to. Does your AA or RAC membership cover breakdowns? Does your home insurance cover theft of items outside the home?

Are you an AA, RAC or Green Flag member?

  • YES
  • NO

The next easiest step to saving money is to increase the excess – the amount you have to pay before your car insurance kicks in. A larger excess means a cheaper quote, although it also means you pay out more in the event of an accident.

There are also car insurance policies that charge you more or less depending on where, when and how much you drive. One of these could save you money over traditional policies, although they generally mean you need to install a telematics box to track your driving activities. Commercial drivers and trucking companies install something similar, in the form of fleet management software, in order to make sure that they are doing everything in their power to make sure that productivity and efficiency is kept high, as well as saving money on this particular area in the long run. This is why telematics has become increasingly popular among road users over the years. You can test it out to see whether this would save you cash with a free smartphone app.

3. Comparing car insurance quotes

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Careful when comparing

Moneysupermarket, Confused.com, Comparethemarket, GoCompare and more offer car insurance comparison services.

What they frequently don’t tell you is that they do not always compare the whole market to see who’s cheapest and they also simplify deals to make it easier to fill in forms on their sites.

That means car insurance comparison engines might not offer the cheapest deals for you.

By contrast, insurance brokers charge for their services, but offer a far more tailored approach that could result in a cheaper deal.

Did you check your car insurance quote against a comparison site before renewal?

  • YES
  • NO

To get the best results when comparing car insurance, try to ensure you fill in every section of the form you can to give the comparison services a better chance of finding the best deal.

Make sure you order the results by “cheapest” and untick any boxes that say things like “best deals for now” as these frequently restrict the search. Alternatively, it might be worth looking to see if there’s a “whole of market” option that you can select to ensure more firms are included.

To save even more money, once you have found the cheapest deals, you might be able to get cash back when switching car insurance by using a cashback service likeTop Cashback or Quidco rather than using the comparison site directly.

And don’t forget your current car insurance provider – they might match the best offer if you speak to them.