Top 5 Tips to Lower Your Car Insurance Premiums

Car insurance premiums can become very costly for car owners, but it is an expense that they cannot do without. Fortunately, there are ways to reduce your car insurance premiums. Here is how:

A. Maintain a clean driving record.

Having no driving ticket or having no traffic violations on your record can help you reduce your car insurance premiums by as much as 50%. Apart from proving yourself a careful and responsible driver, and therefore a low risk one, insurance companies would not hesitate to cover you at a discount. You can also get as much as 50% in terms of a no claim discount or no claim bonus when you renew your policy.

Some insurance companies also give your added incentives for having a good record, helping you save more.

Meanwhile, a clean traffic record earns you a certificate of merit which equals to a 5% discount.

B. Opt for a higher excess.

Each insurance company will impose a certain amount as your policy’s excess amount. The excess is the amount you would have to shoulder in any claim against your policy before the insurance company would be liable for anything. This means that the higher the excess amount, the lower your premiums would be. If your insurer allows you to set your own excess amount, then opt for a higher excess to reduce your premiums.

C. Choose only benefits that you need.

Study your policy before buying it and make sure that all the add-ons and benefits in there are of use to you. Removing add-ons and benefits that you do not need means that you do not pay for it, thereby reducing your premiums.

D. Do not name inexperienced or young drivers unless it is absolutely necessary.

While definitions differ from one insurance company to another, a young driver is usually one who is less than 26 years old, while an inexperienced driver will have less than three years driving experience. Naming somebody who falls under these categories can cause your car insurance premiums to shoot through the roof! Check to see how often an offspring, or a brother or a friend drives your car and gauge if the frequency they drive your car would justify the added premiums.

E. Choose to have “age restricted cover”.

You can choose to limit the age of people who can drive your car. Say you opted for an age restricted cover that only allows people above 30 years old to drive your car, you can get as much as 15% discount on your car insurance premiums because of that. The downside is if somebody younger than 30 years old drives your car and gets into an accident, your insurer might not be liable to pay for the damages.