Avoid The Lure Of Application Lies

If like many people you see car insurance as a “grudge purchase”, as described by the head of insurance at comparison website uSwitch, then you may well have been tempted to tell a few small porkies on your application in order to get a lower quote.

If this is true then you are not alone. Recent surveys suggest around 10% of applicants lie in order to get cheaper car insurance.

Popular untruths include age, address and where the vehicle is parked; all factors that can have a significant impact on your car insurance quote. A small but increasing number of people have even started not declaring bans for offences such as speeding or drink driving.

Despite the enticement of a lower premium lying on you application is ill-advised. While it could save you money in the short term it is likely to hit your wallet severely should you insurance be deemed invalid in the event of a claim.

This is too big a risk to run, if you want to get cheaper motor insurance (and lets be honest, who doesn’t) take the time to shop around and compare as many quotes as possible. This is a far better way to make a saving and won’t land you with a huge bill should a claim be necessary.

Five Top Tips for Cheaper Car Insurance

Improve your security – by fitting an alarm, immobiliser or tracker you reduce the likelihood of your car being stolen. As this lowers risk for the insurance companies they should be able to reward you with a lower premium. Before you install any security contact your current insurer to see how much of a saving you could make. And of course always make sure the security you use is approved by your insurer.

Limit your mileage – one of the factors that helps determine your car insurance quote is how much you drive. If you can limit your mileage you can lower the cost of your motor insurance. Always make such to leave yourself some extra miles in the bank. If you go over the limit you could face penalty charges.

Pay Annually – most car insurance companies will charge a fee (in the form of interest) if you want to pay you premiums monthly. The cost can add up to 29% on to a typical policy. If you can pay for your insurance up front then do so as it is much cheaper option. If you can’t afford this consider taking out a credit card that offers an interest free intro period.

Hold back on the mods – any modifications you make to your car such as lowering, adding a spoiler, new wheels or even a colour change are likely to see you motor insurance costs increase significantly. Try to limit the number of mods you add and check with your insurer before hand to see what the impact on your insurance will be. You must inform your insurer of any modifications you make otherwise your policy will be invalid if you make a claim.

Drive sensibly – sounds simple and that’s because it is. Having speeding tickets and other traffic offences against your name can make your car insurance much more expensive. Drive with care, build up your no claims bonus and the savings will soon follow.

Price Comparison or Direct Broker?

The recent advertising campaign by Direct Line, effectively denouncing the use of price comparison websites, has lit the fuse for a rather amusing slanging match between insurance brokers and aggregator websites.

The question that needs answering it seems is which is the better option; getting quotes direct from brokers or using a price comparison site?

While it’s true that comparison sites do not include all car insurance providers on their quoting systems there is no denying they do allow you to get an at-a-glance idea of how much you could save extremely quickly. Contacting that many insurance companies individually would take an age.

It’s also true that aggregator websites such as confused.com and moneysupermarket.com have to make some assumptions when calculating car insurance quotes. Every motor insurance company asks different questions after all. These assumptions can affect the accuracy of the quotes found in online comparison.

Going direct to a broker allows you to get a very accurate price. However, it is only one quote and it might not be competitive.

Comparison websites may still have some improving to do so; they openly admit this themselves. But they are still a valuable tool in helping people save both time and money. Some insurance companies it seems simply do not like comparison sites creating market transparency, forcing companies to offer better deals in order to attract customers.

In this blogger’s opinion comparison sites get the thumbs up because they champion the cause of the average person.