Here are 9 Tips to reduce your automobile insurance costs. It’s not easy keeping a car on the road when money is tight in a recession, but for many of us it’s not something we can choose to go without.
We need our cars to go about our day to day life, which means we have no choice but to pay the high price of gas, expensive road tax, mechanics’ fees, parking tickets and more. And then there’s car insurance to sort out, something that’ll cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year.
But it’s not all bad news. There are a number of easy ways to make sure you’re in the driving seat to get the best deal when the time comes to insure your car. Here are some simple to follow steps that will not only help you save on car insurance, but will also cut your overall motoring costs:
Choose your car carefully — in an ideal world, we’d all love to speed around in a fancy sports car or state of the art 4×4. But these types of high performance automobiles are more expensive to buy, more expensive to run, and more expensive to insure. Picking a more modest model with a smaller engine can help you save on car insurance and save big on gas.
Always look for a better deal — automatically renewing your car insurance might seem the easiest thing to do. After all, insurance companies value your loyalty and they’ll give you the best available price, won’t they? Unfortunately this isn’t the case and means it’s absolutely essential that you look around for the best value. You could be losing out on hundreds of dollars by simply not bothering to even try and find an alternative provider. Thankfully, hundreds of insurance companies can be compared online in a matter of minutes, so it’s an easy thing to do.
Save on car insurance with a higher deductible — this is a fairly straightforward and obvious way of reducing your motor insurance cost, as increasing your voluntary excess will lead to a cheaper premium. Sometimes raising a deductible by a couple of hundred dollars can net you a 10% discount, but be sure to only set a level that you can afford to pay if you do actually have an accident.
Ease up on the accelerator — becoming a fuel efficient driver is a great way to keep your insurance down and save money on gas at the same time. Accelerating smoothly rather than aggressively, and sticking to the speed limit will not only make it less likely you’ll pick up costly speeding tickets (traffic violations lead to higher insurance premiums), but it’ll also help you use less fuel and cut your gas bill.
Crank up your credit rating — insurance companies do take into account your credit score when calculating your car insurance premiums, so it definitely makes sense to get yourself into the good habits of paying credit card bills on time and getting rid of as much debt as you can.
Ramp up your security features — it’s statistically proven that newer cars are less likely to be stolen than older models, mainly because they have all the latest anti-theft and security devices installed. If you do have an older car, getting it fitted out with alarms, locks and tracking devices will enable you to get a better insurance deal.
Drive defensively — a guaranteed way to see your car insurance premiums increase by hundreds of dollars is to get involved in an accident or pick up a few pesky traffic violations. Prove you are a good driver by steering clear of these kinds of misdemeanours, and think about taking a few hours to pass a Defensive Driving course, an easy way to get a 10% discount with many insurers.
Pick a package deal — don’t buy auto insurance coverage before first talking to your home or life insurance provider. There’s always a chance that they’ll be able to add car insurance on to your existing policy, often at a discounted rate to reward your customer loyalty.
Go for a one off payment — if you can, pay your insurance up front in one lump sum, rather than over a number of separate instalments. If you pay monthly, some insurance companies classify the deal on a similar basis to a loan and will charge you interest, meaning you’ll pay more in the long run.
About the Author
This article on how to save on car insurance was written by Chris Owens from Money Supermarket, a UK-based consumer website that enables customers to easily compare prices on insurance, personal finance products, energy providers and more.
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