Car Insurance Tips

Wherever you live, if you want to drive a car you will need to have the correct insurance. It's absolutely breaking the law to drive without being properly protected by a car insurance policy, getting the best insurance policy to suit your requirements is vital to ensure you are adequately protected and not paying any more than you should be.

Car Insurance is normally based on a three main factors

1. The Car
2. The Driver
3. Where you live

The Type of Car Let's take a look at the car first, Most of us are happy to have any car that will get us to the shops and back reliably and in reasonable comfort with enough space to contain all the shopping that a busy family needs! Some of us like to have speedy or highly modified vehicles that are more fun to drive and tell everybody about us - a form of expression if you like. Its the latter category that is likely to have the more expensive insurance premiums. Generally, the higher the value of car the greater the insurance costs. The higher the performance of the vehicle, the more expensive the insurance will become. The more modified, the heavier the insurance. It's always worth checking what the appropriate insurance is going to be before you buy a vehicle and this way you won't find yourself in a awkward situation where you have spent your hard earned money on the car, but then can't really afford the car insurance, who has now got a red face? The Driver Now let's take a look at the driver. This is usually based on previous experience.

If you are a new or young driver you are going to have to pay higher insurance rates. If you have a bad track record and prior claims; then again you are likely to be punished for this with a more expensive premium. You should also consider any other driver you may want to insure on your car and their prior experience. This will all affect the final charge you have to pay annually. Where You Live Where you live is crucial for Insurance companies as they can assess the likelihood of any damage or theft from or of your vehicle, depending on your locality. In nutshell if you live in an inner city, the chances are that, the premium will be higher, because there is likely to be a general higher crime rate. If you live in the suburbs then the cost is likely to be less except if that particular area has social problems.

Once you get out into rural areas; in most cases, that is where you will find the cheapest insurance rates. Deciding on what Car Insurance you need There are dozens different insurers out there, offering many alternative policies. You should start by thinking what you need your policy to cover - do you want it to cover damage to your auto or just somebody else's (third party, which is the minimum you can have to be within the law), do you need an agreed value for your car or a courtesy car whilst yours is being repaired? Do you only drive a small amount so a limited mileage policy would be suitable? Is your car a classic and can it be insured as such? How much excess premium do you want to pay? This is the amount you pay when claiming before the insurance payout, the higher the excess the lower the premium. Finding the right company Once you have asked yourselves these questions (and answered them!) get in touch with a few companies and get different quotes. Don't be shy to say what quotes you already have as they may be prepared to go lower.

Take note of what advantages each policy brings you, some offer breakdown cover, or a discount in your first year, see what you prefer. A lot of research can be done online and some firms offer "online" discounts which can save you more. Always ensure that your insurance company is properly registered, its worth asking friends who they use and would recommend. Price comparison sites are also very good but I have found that you need to verify that that is the cheapest quote, don't forget they get a commission too! I recently went direct to a company who were not the cheapest on the comparison site, and they came up 10% lower than the cheapest, so how does that happen? The moral here is simply doing your own research. Although car insurance may seem highly priced, being properly covered is vital. Don't risk not having proper insurance - remember you will be committing an offense if you don't have car insurance cover.