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When buying a car insurance policy, it's common to assume that the facts the insurer is most interested in relate to the car in question and the owner's driving skills. For example, the type of car, how old it is, whether the driver has any motoring convictions, how many years of no claims bonuses she has achieved, and so forth.
However, try to get a quote from any car insurer and you will see they are also interested in you and your lifestyle. For example, they will want to know your age, gender, marital status and postcode.
This is not random demographic information gathered because they want to know their customers better for marketing purposes. They are using this information to calculate your premiums, based on statistics which show the likelihood that a person in your situation will need to claim on the policy.
Logically, the greater the risk is that you will claim on the policy, the higher your premiums will be.
For this reason, it is very difficult to pinpoint a single insurer as offering the best deal at the moment. The cheapest deal for you will always depend on your individual circumstances and situation, as well as the car you drive and your driving record.
But which specific factors affect the cost of your premium? For example, does being married make a policy more or less expensive? If you park your car in a garage, will you pay less? Can female drivers really get cheaper insurance?
According to insurance company Diamond, the reason married drivers pay lower premium is because its data shows that married drivers tend to claim less than single drivers.
On the other hand, despite all the statistics demonstrating that, overall, women are safer drivers and despite all the female-driver-only insurers out there which claim to offer fantastic deals to female drivers, companies like Admiral are in actual fact currently offering cheaper deals for men than they are for women. This just goes to show that, if you are a woman, you should never assume that a female-only insurer will offer you the cheapest policy. An insurer that offers policies to both men and women may well provide policies which are better value for money - so you should compare the whole of the market before you decide which insurer to go with.
Location also plays an important role, a driver in London can pay up to £100 more yearly than an out-of-London car-owner. This is because crime and traffic in London are both higher, making it more likely for car-owners in London to make a claim.
Garage-owners also tend to get lower quotes, again for safety reasons. However this is not always the case. Some car insurance companies, such as Diamond, are not aware of this fact and will actually offer you lower quotes for a car parked in a garage rather than on the street. This is a good reason to check the quote for both street and garage parking even if you do have a garage facility, seeing as this is not always beneficial.
Similarly, the more experience you have as a driver, the lower your premiums will be. This does not just apply to teenagers, even twenty-year-olds get a worse deal than thirty-year-olds, especially if their license is new. This is bad news for new drivers, but no surprise.
Bearing all this mind, it is a very bad idea to choose to lie about your age, marital status, gender or any other personal details on your car insurance quote form. This could potentially invalidate the insurance policy which would cause various long-term problems for acquiring insurance and consequently also for driving.
Have you ever wondered where cheap car insurance is hiding? Believe it or not, cheap car insurance isn't as elusive as you might think! In fact, it's been right under your nose the whole time, taunting you, teasing you with the possibilities without ever coming out into the open. (It's kind of like Big Foot and the Lochness monster that way!) The bottom line is, the discovery of cheap car insurance can be yours if you know where (and how!) to look.
The first step to finding its secret hiding place is to look around. No, this isn't a child's game of hide and seek, and the cheap car insurance you're looking for probably isn't hiding underneath your bed (although under the hood of your car might be another story). It's important to remember, however, that car insurance providers are kind of like pizza parlors. There are plenty of them floating around in every corner of the country, and each of them is just a little bit different.
Since every car insurance provider is different it stands to logic that their prices would be different too-and they usually are. You could find yourself saving 10-20% or more on your car insurance premiums just by bidding a fond farewell to your old provider and hopping on another insurance bandwagon, and nine times out of ten you can do it without sacrificing any of your coverage.
The real secret of cheap car insurance, however, isn't just looking around. Most insurance companies give you the chance to find out your "base" premiums using their automated service, either online over the phone. Once you find a car insurance provider willing to give you a good deal using your basic information it's time to see how low you can go. How are you going to do that?
Discounts.
Discounts are the bread and butter of the cheap car insurance industry. Why? Because you can shave another thirty percent or more off of your insurance premiums by finding discounts that your insurance provider forgot they offered! Every insurance provider is different, and many times new agents don't even know what discounts their insurance provider offers. Because of that, it's important to stay informed! Common car insurance discounts include:
1) Your age. Most companies lower your car insurance premiums dramatically when you turn 25, then again at 55.
2) Your job. Did you know that teachers and engineers are statistically less likely to have accidents and, consequently, pay considerably less for their car insurance?
3) Your credit score. You're never going to get away from it. It's pointless to try.
4) Organizations you belong to. Many insurance providers team up with specific organizations to offer their members a discount in exchange for sending more business their way, so if you belong to a club or organization (or your employer has hopped on the car insurance bandwagon) you might be eligible for discounts you never even knew existed.
5) Your car. The Highway Loss Data Institute compiles a list every year of the cars most likely to be stolen/vandalized/involved in an accident/etc., and insurance companies pounce on these like a cat chasing a mouse. If your car is on their "better than average" list you're going to go to the front of the line for cheap car insurance.
6) Your car's safety features. Seat belts. Air bags. Anti-lock brakes. All of these things can save you money on your car insurance.
7) Your driving history. You knew it was coming sooner or later! Every ticket you get, every accident you cause, drives up the cost of your insurance and puts cheap car insurance that much farther out of reach. Honor the rules of the road and that five year good driver discount can shave hundreds off your annual premiums!
As you can see, cheap car insurance isn't as far away as you might think. Isn't it time you took advantage of it?