Only 10 shopping days left until Christmas! But don’t lose your head - or your car keys!

With December 25th fast approaching and the shops staying open later to accommodate the pre-Christmas rush, many of us will be in a blind panic, tearing around, hands full of shopping lists and potentially laden down with bags full of gifts and food. Throw in trying to juggle work, home and social commitments – and it’s stressful! But don’t lose your head!

Despite being fun, Christmas is also very often a hectic time too, and you may become a bit forgetful. For example, how many times have you struggled to your car with both hands full of bags of shopping, only to think – where have I put my car keys?

In most cases, that feeling of panic is soon replaced with a feeling of relief as you find your car keys in your pocket, or lurking the bottom of your handbag - or somewhere else! But what would happen if your keys really were lost? Or stolen?

Either way, it is not a nice situation to be in. The good news is that some car insurance providers will cover the cost* if the car keys or lock transmitter of the vehicle are lost or stolen.

Some car insurance cover will help pay for the cost of replacing the locks on the doors and boot; the ignition and steering lock; and the lock transmitter – which, if you do not have cover for, could potentially work out very expensive to replace, especially with the more sophisticated models of car now available.

Here are some ways in which to make sure you keep your car keys as safe as possible:

• keep a spare set of car keys - but not in the car. If you do lose your car keys, you won’t be able to get to the spare set!
• add an electronic key finder to your keys;
• use a key chain and attach it to your jeans. Yes, you may think fleetingly of the band The Village People when doing so, but at least your keys will be safe, from loss and / or thieves!
• when at home, never leave your car keys hanging by the front door. If someone does break in to your home, having the keys there is providing them with a getaway vehicle!
• ladies – some handbags now have an inbuilt clip, which you can affix your keys to, so you can always get your hands on them!

Finally, do remember that because not all motor insurance providers cover loss of keys, if you are shopping around for car insurance quotes, look for car insurance that offers loss of key cover – it could prove very useful!
*subject to terms and conditions

Tracking down cheaper car insurance

Car insurance is an expensive necessity as every driver must have at least third party cover.

Driving without insurance is a serious offence that often results in a driving ban, points on your licence and a fine.

Car insurance companies include lots of factors in calculating your insurance premium, like age, gender, where you live and the type of car you drive.

Some of these are beyond your control to change to try and keep your premiums down – but others are, so here’s a list of tips that may help you save money on your car insurance.

• Drive more carefully – do everything you can to keep your no claims bonus intact and this gives you a hefty discount each year
• Park your car off the road, in a locked garage if you can.
• Fit an alarm, immobiliser and a tracking device if you can – any insurance approved anti-theft device will knock money off your premium
• Try and reduce your mileage and night driving – people who drive between 7am and 11pm and average less than 10,000 miles a year often pay a lot less than drivers who use their car more
• Don’t add too many named drivers – everyone bumps up your policy
• If you can afford a higher excess, then pay the extra because this will cut the cost of your premium as well
• Shop online – use more than one comparison site because not all insurers are on all the sites and some are not on any. Generally, buying your car insurance online might save you up to 10% on what you would pay through a broker.
• If you’re a married man see if there’s a difference in cost between your wife taking out a policy with you as a named driver rather than the other way round. Many insurance companies give cheaper premiums to women drivers.
• Look for an extra bonus, like discounted breakdown cover, that reduces the costs
• If you belong to a special member club for a particular type of car, the club may have a special deal with a broker or insurance company that will save you cash.
• If you’re a woman driver or aged 50 or over, look for a special insurance deal as you are a lower risk than most drivers.
• Don’t pay your insurance in instalments – it will cost you more. Instead, consider paying your premium on a 0% interest credit card and paying the premium off over your interest free period.

For example, if your annual insurance premium is £360 and you pay with a 0% interest credit card that gives you a six-month interest free period, pay £60 a month off your card instead of paying interest to the insurance company.

Summary

• Try and reduce your premium by reducing your risk – fit anti-theft devices to your car and try and park off the road in a garage
• Shop online for a discount – but make sure you go to more than one comparison site because not all insurance companies are represented on all comparison sites
• See if you can qualify for a discount deal through a special insurance provider if you can
• Pay a higher excess and reduce your premium

Getting cheap car insurance

The law says that you have to insure your car, but that doesn’t mean that you should a pay a fortune for it. There are a few things that can help you get cheap car insurance, and we’ve pulled them together for you in this article.

• Shop around. Get quotes from different places, and compare the features as well as the price of each provider. The easiest way to get a lot of quotes quickly is to use one of the online insurance comparison websites. Some providers will let you remove things you might not need, such as European breakdown cover or a hire car, to make the policy a little bit cheaper.
• Garage your car overnight. Parking your car in a garage can get you a decent discount off the full premium.
• Secure your car. Consider buying a Thatcham approved security device, such as a steering wheel cover or immobiliser, as this can often get you another discount. Even if your car is secure in garage when at home, it makes sense to be sure that your car is secure when parked up while you are at work or out shopping.
• Don’t automatically renew. A lot people make the mistake of assuming that their current provider will automatically be the cheapest when it comes to renewal. That isn’t always the case, especially as many providers offer additional discounts to brand new customers.
• Look out for promotions. Many providers offer incentives to take out a policy with them, such as free legal or breakdown cover. Some even offer cashback, and when you take the cashback amount or the cost of your normal breakdown cover off the price of the premium you might well find that it works out cheaper overall.
• Haggle. Don’t be afraid of making providers work to get your business. If you’ve had a cheaper quote from someone else, ask them if they can beat it.
• Check your mileage. If you don’t drive a lot of miles every year, then ask if you can have a low mileage policy. Insurance companies may see you as being a lower risk, but if you don’t tell them they’ll make assumptions and charge you accordingly.
• Speak to insurance specialists. If you aren’t a ‘typical’ driver, there are providers who specialise in certain areas and can often give you a better deal. If you are under than 21 or over 50 for example, or drive a 4×4 or a classic car, there will be a provider wanting your business and offering cheaper policies to get it. Search the internet or look at the adverts in motoring magazines to find them.

How much is car insurance?

Car insurance premiums vary from driver to driver and insurance provider to insurance provider. This is due to a number of factors used by the insurance company to create a risk profile. This risk profile is then used to determine what it will cost to have you insured.

While this sounds like it is dictated to you, you are able to have some influence over how your car insurance premiums are calculated by understanding the various factors used.

These factors include:

• Age, gender and driving history;
• Car value;
• Your location;
• Security devices fitted…and more

By using some of these factors you are able to reduce your insurance costs.

Decide how to buy insurance can reduce costs

There is also another factor that can influence how much your car insurance will cost. You can reduce your insurance costs by shopping around and getting multiple quotes before making a purchase. As mentioned above, different insurers will apply a different risk to you and therefore some insurance companies will insure for less than others.
Buying online also usually means a discount typically of up to 10% dependent on the provider. This reduction is passed onto you, as web customers cost less to service.

Always shop around when you receive your renewal notice. Determining factors and costs change, meaning that spending a short amount of time on a price comparison site could help you to make savings.

Summary

• Car insurance costs are made up of a number of variables;
• Some variables you can influence, others you can’t;
• Deciding on how to buy your insurance can provide a saving;
• Always shop around and don’t automatically accept your renewal as being the cheapest option.

Car Insurance Comparisons

If your car insurance is coming up for renewal, it’s very tempting to put it off and just let it roll over. After all, you did all of this last year, right? How much price fluctuation could there really be in just twelve months? If you had the best offer back then, surely it’s still the best offer now?

Well, no… far from it, in fact. Whenever you’re looking to renew your insurance, the first thing you should be doing is scouting around the various providers, trying to find the best deal for you. The financial climate is never what you’d call particularly stable, and many insurance companies rely on people being too lazy to examine the alternatives before they sign on the dotted line. Add this to the fact that any introductory offers you received in the first year of your insurance policy generally won’t last into your second and you might find yourself paying much more than you have to.

Help is at hand, though, and it’s all thanks to the internet. There are literally dozens of companies springing up online dedicated to helping you find the lowest possible quote for your car insurance. These comparison sites work by taking certain details from you (age, gender, make of car, location, etc.) and seeing what the various providers would charge you for your insurance. By doing this for every provider on its books – often an absolutely staggering number – it can find you the best possible policy for you, all with just a few clicks of the mouse and taps of the keyboard.

Additionally, you can be sure that if you’re comparing quotes online, the information you get is going to be absolutely up to the minute, ensuring that you don’t end up getting yourself settled on an offer that has expired, or rapidly increased in price. In the long run, this can make things a lot easier; you don’t have to deal with the extra frustration of having the rug pulled out from under you just when you think you’ve got everything sorted.

Price comparison sites are a good way to check out the shape of the current marketplace before you sign your name to anything. Although it may seem a bit intimidating to be assailed by such a great deal of data in such a short space of time, they’re designed to be as easy as possible to use – they have to be, as there are too many alternatives out there for you to choose from. If the first one you try is confusing, or you don’t think it offers you enough choice in insurers, don’t be afraid to look for a second opinion. As with anything, the point is to make the process work for you as easily and straightforwardly as possible; if it doesn’t, then getting your car insurance is going to become a needlessly complicated chore. If that happens, you may end up getting bored and settling for the first package that looks OK – precisely what you were trying to avoid by using the services of a comparison site in the first place.

Does my address affect my car insurance?

We all know where we live, but few of us know our risk address for car insurance – and that’s the key to how much we pay for our cover.

So what is our risk address?

To your insurance company it’s the place where your car is parked during the night for the bulk of the duration of your car insurance policy.

The insurer factors in the crime risk for that postcode area to set your annual insurance premium. The rule of thumb is the more crime in the area, the more expensive your car insurance will cost.

If you live at home with your family in a rather well to do area with a postcode and crime level to match, that relatively crime-free leafy suburb probably reduces the cost of your car insurance.

Then you start seeing someone who lives in a little more downmarket area, and you start spending a lot of time at his or her place, then your risk address changes.

You should call your insurer and tell them that your home address is still the same, but your car is parked overnight at the new address for typically ‘x’ amount of nights a week.

Then standby for a shock – because you may see an increase in your car insurance because of where he or she lives.

What happens if you don’t tell the insurer about your new risk address?

This can be fraught with problems, because if you read your policy small print, you’ll probably find this is one of those important details you are obliged to report.

It’s a strange world where your mum and dad don’t mind where you are, but your insurance company is upset if you don’t tell them.

The end result is if your car is vandalised, stolen or broken in to while parked at your boy/girlfriend’s, then your insurance company could invalidate your policy and refuse to pay out because you have broken the terms and conditions of cover.

Can the car registration documents list one name and address while the insurance show another person’s name and address?

The answer is, it doesn’t matter as long as the insurance company knows the risk address – and because the risk address is one of the factors that sets the policy premium, you can tell the insurance company what you like about where you live - as long as it is the truth of course!

Besides the ‘downmarket’ boy/girlfriend warning – no personal offence meant, of course – night workers should also consider what they tell their insurance company about their risk address.

If you work permanent nights and drive and park your car at work, then technically, this is your risk address and you should tell your insurer to make sure your policy is not invalidated if something happens to your car while parked at work and you need to make a claim.

Five Tips to Help You Lower Your Car Insurance Premiums

It’s an unfortunate fact of life that owning a car is an expensive business. Aside from high fuel costs, road tax and repair and maintenance bills, you also have that annual kick to the wallet that comes in the form of your car insurance premiums. However, there are ways to keep it reasonably low – and they don’t necessarily involve a lot of work on your part.

Here are a few quick tips to get you on your way to an affordable insurance package:

1. Know what you need before you start looking.
If you’re new to driving, or you’ve just changed cars (and need to adjust your level of cover accordingly), make sure you know exactly what your policy needs to cover you for before you start getting in touch with insurers. Taking ten minutes to write down what you’re looking for should mean you don’t end up with extras that have no use for you, but will drive up your costs.

2. Go to a specialist provider.
If you’re a woman, over the age of fifty (but below sixty, typically) or the member of certain professions, you may be considered lower-risk, and thus be eligible to get your insurance from a specialist provider. This can cut a massive amount off your premiums, if you’re lucky (or well-informed) enough to qualify.

3. Go direct, and book online.
Many companies are willing to offer substantial savings for booking your insurance online, as it means they don’t have to hire call-centre staff and are thus able to pass some of the savings onto you. Similarly, booking direct with a company means that you cut out any middleman fees, which can help you keep your premiums down.

4. Get a lower excess.
If your insurance company will allow it (and most do), try and get a lower excess on your policy. This could save you a lot, especially if your car isn’t worth much to begin with (and thus having minor dents and scratches repaired isn’t that important to you), but will mean you get a lower payout should an accident occur.

5. Haggle
It’s been a good way of getting a better deal since ancient times, and the fact that few people do it doesn’t mean it can’t work. If you’ve found a deal that’s good (but not quite good enough), don’t be afraid to ask for a reduction. Most companies – especially those that insure you by phone – have some wiggle-room when it comes to their policy costs, and would prefer to have your business for a little less than to see you give it all to one of their rivals. After all, the worst they can do is refuse. Having said that, don’t push it too far… if they’re really reluctant to give you a better deal, you might be better off going elsewhere.

Is car insurance for a woman cheaper?

In the UK, women’s car insurance is marketed as a separate product. There are several niche insurers who cater for women drivers. Mainly, this is due to the understanding that women should be treated differently to men when it comes to insurance.

Figures produced by Governmental departments show that:

• 98% of dangerous driving convictions are men;
• over 90% of convicted driving offences are men;

On top of this, research has shown that women tend to drive slower than men and also do not cover as much mileage annually. Taking this into consideration when calculating an insurance premium, means that women are seen a lower risk and therefore an insurance company charges less for car insurance for a woman.

Different age groups
The statistics shows that younger women drivers, those under 45, will tend to receive the reduced premiums. Over the age of 45, the figures for accidents are more balanced that therefore reflect on the cost of insurance.

The future
The figures also show that the gap is closing between men and women but there is a long way to go. It should be said that it is the risk profile of a woman and their proven driving abilities by having less accidents and convictions than means they get more competitive premiums than a man of a similar age driving a similar car, but if that profile changes then insurance prices will go up.

The Risks Associated with Driving an Uninsured Vehicle

There are a staggering number of motorists who drive without car insurance which is frightening when you consider the risks as well as the fact that driving without cover is a serious offence.
The reasons that uninsured drivers give for not taking out insurance are varied and typically include the following.

• Cost: Many people claim that they simply cannot afford to take out insurance
• Forgetfulness: A large proportion of uninsured drivers simply forget to renew their cover
• Time Constraints: Some uninsured drivers claim that they do not have the time to arrange insurance
• Ignorance: Some people are unaware of the legal requirement to take out insurance
• Wilful Lawbreaking: It is sadly the case that a significant proportion of those driving without insurance simply do not consider insurance necessary

Whatever the reasons people give for not taking our insurance, it is never worth it. Some of the possible results of taking this course of action include the following:

• License penalties: If you are caught driving an uninsured vehicle it could least to 6-8 penalty points being added to your license. Considering that you need only 12 points for your license to be suspended, driving without a license can be a significant step towards getting you ‘off the road’.
• Risk of a fine: Uninsured drivers are routinely fined for what is considered to be a serious driving offence. Fines range from £500 – £1000.
• Exposure to serious liability: If you are uninsured against third party liability you are leaving yourself open to cost recovery attempts by other drivers or their insurers if you are ever involved in an accident.
• Risk of vehicle seizure: In some cases the police may decide to seize your vehicle until you can prove that you have arranged the required insurance. The costs associated with this, coupled with the inconvenience, can be very significant. You will be liable for all transport, administration and storage costs.
• Significantly increased premiums in future: If you have been caught driving without insurance, insurers will henceforth regard you as a very high risk customer. This means that your insurance premiums will rise significantly for at least 3 -5 years. This obviously leads to the ironic situation where an attempt at ‘cost saving’ can eventually lead to much higher costs.
• Risk of a custodial sentence for repeat offenders: It is not unheard of for people who repeatedly flout the law by driving without insurance to be criminally prosecuted and sent to prison.
• Negative impact on others: Uninsured drivers cause insurance premiums for the rest of the driving population to rise by as much as £50 per person. This means that those not paying their way are actually placing a huge financial burden on the rest of society.

It should be very clear from the above that, whatever the perceived, ‘advantages’, it is never a good idea to even consider not being covered by insurance when you take to the road. The perceived ‘saving’ or avoidance of hassle pales in comparison when you consider the extremely negative impact that this choice can have on your life.

Saving on Car Insurance

Vehicle Insurance is obviously not an ‘optional extra’. Apart from the fact that you will be exposing yourself to huge liability claims if you drive without insurance it is also illegal to drive anywhere on a public road in the UK without your vehicle being properly insured. Since you cannot avoid having to pay for insurance it would make a lot of sense to do everything in your power to make sure that your premiums are as low as possible.

The worst way to achieve insurance savings is to ‘underinsure’ your vehicle by taking out inadequate cover. Another common ‘saving’ that can turn out to be very costly is to accept a ‘lowball’ quote from an obscure company that might not be able to honour the insurance contract that they have with you. The best ways to save, on the other hand, all have to do with doing a bit of homework to ensure that you are assessed as ‘low risk’ by insurance companies. This will of course translate into significant savings on premiums.

Before we look at specific examples of how you can improve your risk profile, it is worth mentioning that you should always ‘shop around’ a bit before accepting an insurance quote. This may seem like a lot of hard work, but there are currently many services around that will submit your profile to a large number of insurers in exchange for a ‘finder’s fee’ (paid by the insurer, not you). Making use of such a service can be a very effective way of slashing your insurance costs.

There are some aspects of premium pricing that will be very difficult to change, short of growing older and changing your car! This is because younger drivers face higher premiums as do very powerful ‘supercars’. The story does not end there however. There are several kinds of discounts available to those who are perceived to be lower risk drivers. Be sure to mention the following when you apply for a quote:

• The length of your ‘no claims bonus’ – If you did not make a claim in the recent past insurers will automatically place you in a lower risk category.
• The ways in which you will use your car – ‘Social use’ (i.e. not using the car to drive to work) will normally lead to lower premiums.
• Membership of professional organisations – Some insurers will offer you a discount if you are a member of a respected professional organisation.
• Your age – Some insurers will lower their premiums once a driver reach age 55, only to raise it again when he/she reach an advanced age. You should therefore be sure to make the best of your ‘golden premium years’!
• Safety features – The installation of advanced safety features could lead to lower premiums.

Some other ways to lower your insurance costs are the following:

• Apply for combined cover. Insuring more than one vehicle with an insurance company could lead to lower average premiums on both (or all) of the insured vehicles.
• Elect to pay a higher excess. If you offer to pay a higher level of excess in case of a claim it means that you assume more risk yourself, leading to a lower monthly premium.
• Choose the right level of cover. For a new vehicle it makes perfect sense to take out comprehensive insurance as replacement costs will be very high. If you drive an older car it might be worth it to just take out insurance for ‘Third Party, Fire and Theft’.

Summary:

• It is illegal to drive without insurance in the UK. Insurance premiums are therefore an unavoidable expense.
• It pays to ‘shop around’ for the best insurance quote.
• If you can somehow prove that you are a ‘low risk’ customer your premiums will be lowered.
• Some other ways in which savings can be made are applying for combined cover and electing to pay a higher excess.

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