How to Cut Insurance Costs

Looking to save costs on your insurance? Well, you’re in luck! We have found that by understanding your car insurance groups, it can improve your overall insurance pricing, as well as other existing factors which can cause a positive impact too.

What are car insurance groups? For every car manufactured, they will be assigned to a car insurance group. Cars are sorted into the different groups by “bands”, going from the cheapest to the most expensive to insure. These are calculated via the Group Rating System, or insurance providers will choose to make their own groupings.
 
How are car insurance groups decided?

• New car values: The car’s price and specification will give a rough guide as to how much it would be for replacement and repair costs.
• Damage and parts costs: The calculated probability of damage to each model and the pricing of car parts involved will estimate the repair costs.

• Parts prices: 23 common car parts are used to cross-references one manufacturers’ parts costs to another.
• Repair times: The longer it takes for a car to be repaired, the higher the premium will be. By taking this into consideration it will be higher costs and a high group rating – according to Thatcham Research, it’s known that over half of all money paid out in motor insurance claims goes on repairing cars. Therefore, spare parts and repair times are the major factors that affect insurance pricing.
• Performance: The higher the performance of the car, insurance providers feel this will heighten the risk of frequent insurance claims, due to its acceleration and top speed.

• Safety: It’s important to keep in mind, vehicles that are fitted with Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) have a higher chance of avoiding ‘low speed front to rear’ accidents; therefore, it benefits from a lower insurance group rating.
• Bumper compatibility: In terms of bumpers, their alignment and structure can improve a car’s insurance rating.
• Car security: The more security features a car has installed – the better. This can include an alarm or immobilisation system and high-security door locks. However, if you were to lose your keys or fob, this can result in a hefty bill to replace it.

How can I cut my car insurance costs? As it stands, buying a car from a lower insurance group is the best way of ensuring you cut the costs of your policy. Although don’t worry if you have a car within the high groups, there are still a range of techniques to guarantee you a cheaper insurance quote.

• Adding more security: installing recognised and approved immobilisers and alarms can make your car more secure, and in result will lessen the probability of you making a claim.
• Pay a high voluntary excess: this is the amount you contribute in the event of a claim, thereby you may have the option to pay a lower premium.

• Pay the annual policy upfront: insurers often charge interest on top of the monthly payments.
• Don’t opt for added optional extras: this can be like selecting to have a courtesy car, breakdown cover, personal accident cover or windscreen cover.
• Using an insurance comparison website: by inputting your details into the website’s database, it will then search for you, the best deal suited to what you’re looking for. A great site we recommend is Quotezone, read more about what they offer here.
• Telematics insurance: this involves a satellite tracker which monitors your driving style; measuring speed, acceleration and braking. By driving safely, you will be rewarded with lower insurance premiums.

 
We hope this gave you a few things to consider when choosing your next car and what to bear in mind when choosing the right insurance provider for you.
Hopefully, you will also be able to pass on advice to your friends and family to help them discover how to cut their own insurance costs.

For more CarCliq guides click here.
For more information on Telematics Insurance click here.