10 Tips on How to Save Money on Your Car Insurance Renewal Quote
Many people make the mistake of renewing their car insurance policy without taking the time to learn if they are getting the best rate and coverage first. There are many insurance companies who simply will not tell you if you are getting the best rate possible or if there are small tweaks that you can make to lower your yearly insurance costs. It is up to you to take the time to find out if you could get a better rate with a different company, if the current insurer has better rates available, and if there is anything that you can change to lower your yearly insurance cost.
Here are ten simple tips that you can follow, that I use, to ensure that you are getting the best rate that you possibly can and that you have the coverage that you actually need.
- Take the time to determine if you need more or less coverage than you currently have. It is important to determine exactly what coverage you have before you renew your policy. If you have an older model car, you may want to have a policy that has only third party, fire and theft coverage instead of full comprehensive coverage. Cutting back on the amount of coverage you have could help you save a good amount of money each year.
- Estimate your mileage as close as you possibly can as insurance companies typically charge more money to cover individuals who drive many miles per year. Being as close as you can to the actual mileage you drive will help you to be sure you are not paying more money than you need to for the coverage.
- Make any changes to the policy that is needed. Be sure that your children are on or removed from the policy as needed to be. Ensure that you are only paying for individuals that actually drive.
- Look at multiple websites to be sure that you are getting the best rate that you possibly can. The best sites to use for the rate comparison are:
1. Confused.com
2. Comparthemarket.com
3. Gocompare.com
4. Moneysupermarket.com
5. Tescocompare.com
Don’t forgot get the following that are not on the comparison websites:
6. DirectLine.com
7. Aviva.co.uk
- Be sure that your employment is listed properly. If you are a homemaker, you need to be sure that you are listed as a homemaker rather than being unemployed. An unemployed individual will pay a different rate than those that are homemakers.
- Do not modify your car as this can impact the amount you are charged for the same amount of coverage.
- Be sure to inform your insurance company if you had a security system put into the vehicle. Many insurers will charge a lower rate for a car that has a great security system.
- Be sure to ask about multi-policy discounts. If you have coverage for your home and car through the same company, many will give you a great discount on all of the policies. Also ask about multi-car discounts, several insurers offer a discount if you insure several of the cars in your household with them.
- Learn about the different options when it comes for paying the excess. You may want to have a higher excess to pay less for the policy throughout the year. Remember that you will have to pay this amount out though if you need to make a claim.
- The most important tip of all is to be sure that you are always upfront and honest with the company about everything. If you do not disclose information about your driving record, there is a chance that your rates will go up when the company finds out about your true record.
What experiences have you had when renewing your policy?
Car insurance companies tend to raise your insurance rates on every renewal by a tiny percentage most of the times, because they’re banking on that you won’t call them and ask them to undo the raise for merely few dollars. If you could imagine them doing this to thousands of clients, then you can see how much additional revenue such practice will bring. That being said don’t count on insurance companies to save you money on your current policy and do the research yourself to see what you can avoid paying and you might be surprised at the yearly savings you could have.
I totally forgot that I’m driving much less on a daily basis because of my last move. My new flat’s much closer to work from my previous one and I should have taken that up with my insurer when I moved. Damn it, I can be such an idiot.
Often times saving money is just a matter of making a phone call and getting discounts on the things you should be paying less, but I get so lazy and I never take advantage of these things. It’s the same thing with car insurance. I know I could call either my current insurance company or a new company and get a better deal, but I say “I’ll get it done tomorrow” and I just forget for another month, until I say I’ll get it done again. Not today though, I’m calling my insurance company right now.
I’ve been using the same car insurance company for the past 5 years and I think it’s been long overdue to search a new insurance company to get a better rate. You always get better deals initially, so I’m sure I’ll get a better rate than the current one. I’m always trying to save money on everything else, I can’t believe I overlooked insurance payments.
My brother knows all the little details on any insurance coverage, but for the life of me I just don’t understand what the heck they mean. There are so many conditional things and so many fine prints to read, I think they purposely make it difficult to understand, so that average person like me would have a hard time disputing some of the monthly charges. I guess I have no choice but to learn all those insurance lingos.