Tips – how to save on your insurance

Want an insurance tip? Insurance is a balancing act of risk between you and the insurance company. To get cheap insurance, reduce how much of a risk you are to the insurance company. For long-term insurance, like life cover, it means getting a desk job and starting your insurance policy at a young age. For car and home insurance it means doing the following:

Grow older

When it comes to car insurance, young drivers are more of an insurance risk because they statistically have more accidents than more experienced drivers. While you have no control over how old you are, you do have control over your insurance policy. When you turn 25 or 30, phone your insurance company to request a discounted rate based on your new risk.

Buy inexpensive assets

This does not mean cheap, but items that are value for money. This underlies an important underwriting principle: the more expensive an object is to replace if lost, stolen or damaged in an accident, the higher the risk the insurance company takes on when insuring it. In fact, the cost to repair a car or home is one of the largest contributing factors to increasing premiums year-on-year. Consider your insurance premiums before you buy that Jaguar.

Relocate

That’s extreme, but the location of your home influences how much you pay on both car and home insurance premiums. If you live in a high risk area (for both natural disasters and theft or vandalism), then your car and home insurance premiums will be expensive.

Improve the security

This applies to both the home and the car. The more security the home has (such as a gate, electric fence and surveillance), the cheaper the car and home insurance will be. If the car is parked inside the gate, in a locked garage, the insurance will be cheaper, as it will be if the car is fitted with a tracking device.

Insure for the right purposes

A car used for business must be insured for business purposes (this excludes those vehicles used to get to and from work every day). While it may be cheaper to insure for personal use, the insured can reject insurance claims for vehicles used for business that were insured for personal use.

Insure for the right value

Often insurers will give you the option to cover the vehicle for market or retail value. The more money the insurance company is supposed to pay out in the event of total loss, the higher the monthly premiums. For cheap insurance premiums, insure for market value.

Consider a higher excess

The higher you pay in, in the event of an accident or theft, the less the insurer has to pay out. Increasing the excess means taking on more risk yourself, which reduces the risk of the insurer which in turn reduces the insurance premiums. Only do this if you can afford it.

Comparing insurance quotes is also a great way to reduce the cost of premiums. The difference between the highest and lowest quote is always huge. Why not use our form to get 9 Independent quotes with minimal fuss. Insurance companies are constantly collecting data that will change the price of your insurance, so a company that is the cheapest this year may not be cheapest next.