Eden Reveals the Ways You Can Lower Your Car Insurance

Insurance can burn a deep hole in your pocket if you aren’t careful. Fuel costs and buying your car can be damaging enough to your bank account, but adding a high insurance premium is icing on the cake. While we can’t guarantee you that your insurance will be lowered, it sure helps to find out what other people have been doing to get cheaper car insurance. Before you dive into these tips headfirst, contact your insurance provider to check if your policy will be changed.

Insurance Tips and Tricks

Master Your Policy

​

Did you know that your insurance is (in part) measured by the miles you drive? If you tell your insurance provider that you’ll drive an excessive number of miles, they will believe you and quote you a big premium. This is why you need to be as accurate as possible and be conservative with your guess. Remember that quoting a number well below your actual miles will get you in a lot of trouble, as it is fraud. Check the number of miles you did last year, round down and try to stick to that target.

Some other tricks you should explore with your provider are renewing sooner rather than later, paying an upfront premium rather than monthly instalments (it’s sometimes cheaper overall) and double-checking that you aren’t paying for extra bonuses in your policy that you might not need, such as windscreen cover.

Lifestyle Changes

The level of risk your car is to theft and damage will also change your insurance premium. Public spaces such as streets are at a greater risk of theft than private driveways. If you have a private space, double check you have expressed that you park there to your insurance provider. Be careful though, parking in a garage might increase your premium as it is quite common for people to damage their cars driving in and out of garages!

Does your job have multiple titles? If so, consider quoting a title that implies lower risk to your insurance provider. This needs to be within reason as you can’t call yourself an accountant when you’re a taxi driver – again, that’s fraud. For a good example, someone who’s a writer may get a lower insurance premium than if they called themselves a journalist, even though they describe the same job. This isn’t guaranteed, of course, so it’s best to do a little digging into your job and talk with a financial advisor.

Think About What Goes in Your Car

Modifying your car may impress your date, but you might not be able to pay for the dinner with a higher insurance premium. Changes such as bigger wheels or an upgraded exhaust may increase your insurance premium dramatically. Some reasons why are because the car is more attractive to thieves, or because the car is faster and more dangerous.

A good car modification can be a black box. This monitors and sends your driving speed and habits to your insurance provider. If you have been driving safely, you may receive a lower insurance premium, but driving badly with a black box may lead to a higher premium. Increasing the security of your car, such as adding a car alarm or immobiliser may also cut your insurance premium.

Finally, many people add a named driver to their car to reduce insurance. This can be someone older or even someone with a low-risk occupation. Be careful though, you need to ensure you are the main driver and state your named driver is not.

Cheap Cars to Insure​

If all that is too much hassle, you could simply get yourself a car with a lower insurance premium. All cars are classed into one of 50 insurance brackets and each bracket charges a different amount. Check out our blog on car insurance groups explained here to get a clearer understanding. You are going to want to find cars in the lower insurance brackets to avoid ramping up your bills. This is a common starting point for young people who want to look for cheap cars to insure for new drivers. Let’s go through some cheap cars to insure below.

- Hyundai i10. This funky hatchback remarkably stays in very low insurance brackets while bringing a tonne of equipment as standard, from sat-nav to parking assistance. The i10 is particularly great for first-time drivers or families as it has all the space you need and is a very forgiving drive that handles amazingly. It may not look as snazzy as its competitors, but it will save you a lot of money, not just because it can be in insurance group 3 but through its incredible efficiency and calm driving attitude.

- MG3. Bringing style and sharpness to the table, the MG3 is certainly a cheap car to insure. If you are looking for something with a decent boot space and an engine with a kick, then this should be is something on your to-drive list. Its 1.5L engine is affordable to run, not only classing it into insurance group 7 but also making the whole car very affordable to buy.​

- Vauxhall Corsa. Each generation of the Corsa continues to hit the nail on the head with great engineering. It is easy and fun to drive, powerful when it needs to be, and generously offers some high-end equipment as standard, such as LED headlights and touchscreen entertainment. The last generation of the Corsa finds themselves in some of the lowest insurance groups possible. Oh, and did we mention that the Corsa has won multiple awards and has been the UK’s best-seller for years on end? Sounds convincing enough…​

 Cheap Family Cars to Insure

Let’s not forget those who want a little more room! Check out some cheap family cars to insure below so that you can spend less money on the drive and more time on what you care about.

- Hyundai i30. If you loved the i10 but want something a little more spacious, look to the Hyundai i30. This is perfect for families looking to slash insurance bills as it can find itself around insurance group 8. As a jack of all trades, the i30 can cover all your bases with a 395L boot space and a great mileage of up to 74mpg! Affordability hasn’t been sacrificed either, taking the same cost-effective aspects of the i10 while bringing on safety features for the whole family such as lane guidance systems.

- Vauxhall Astra. The popularity of the Vauxhall Astra, particularly as a family car, comes from its clear and organised driving style. The newer models are shaping up to be incredibly stylish and refined, and along with a wide variety of engines to choose from, you can easily turn the Astra into a cheap family car to insure. To give you an idea, the excellent 1-litre turbo engine gives over 60mpg, a low emission (therefore a lower tax) and will put you in insurance group 11.

- MG ZS. As a budget-friendly SUV, the MG ZS proves you can run an SUV on affordable insurance. If you are looking for more cabin room and boot space than a hatchback, exploring the ZS might be your best option. The choice between the 1 or 1.5-litre engines gives you excellent variety, where the former can place you in an insurance group as low as 10. The MG ZS also features an abundance of technology while keeping the price down, such as a high-mounted infotainment screen that is easy to operate when driving.​

If you are interested in exploring any of the cars mentioned, click the link in their names and you will be taken straight to their information page. Alternatively, if you need a little extra help deciding which car is right for you, your budget and your lifestyle, contact our experts here - they are more than happy to help. Remember, sorting your finances and insurance can be tricky, so we would recommend contacting a financial advisor and your insurance provider if you are unsure about any changes you would like to make to your policy.