8 Easy Tips for Cheaper Home Insurance
No one likes paying for home insurance, but it’s a necessary evil for most of us. This doesn’t mean you have to pay through the nose for it though – try these 8 easy tips for cheaper home insurance and see how much you could reduce your premiums by.
- Shop Around
By comparing prices from several insurance companies, you’ll probably be able to reduce your premiums by a substantial amount. This may seem obvious, but research has shown that a surprisingly large proportion of people either just renew their current policy, or get only one or two quotes. Many insurance web sites will automatically compare dozens of policies for you, making this one of the easiest ways to reduce your insurance bill.
- Buy online
If you buy your policy online you can often get a discount of up to 20% on normal prices, because there are less administration costs involved and the savings can be passed on to you.
- Combine your buildings and contents policies
Many insurers will give you a discount if you take out both types of home insurance with them, and this usually works out cheaper than getting the two kinds of policies from different companies.
- Pay upfront
Although most insurers let you pay your premium in monthly instalments, many will charge interest for this. If you can afford to pay a full year’s premium in advance, then this will work out cheaper in the long run.
- Don’t claim for small amounts
Making many small claims can increase your insurance costs, as your insurer may see you as a greater risk and increase your premiums. You will also lose any no claims discount your policy has. Of course, you’re entitled to claim for anything your policy covers, but ask yourself if making a small claim is really worth the hassle and possible future costs.
- Voluntary excess
This is related to the last point. Insurance policies feature something known as ‘excess’, which basically means that the policy won’t pay out on claims below a certain value. On some policies, if you choose to raise your excess to a higher level, then your premiums will be lower.
- Increase your home security
Beefing up your home security with better door locks, window locks, outdoor lighting, and alarm systems can all result in lower premiums. Ask your insurer what you could do to get extra discounts.
- Reduce your cover
Many policies feature benefits that you might not need, such as cover for personal possessions while travelling, or ‘free’ legal advice. Look through your policy and see what parts of it you really need – by cutting your cover down to size you may be able to reduce your premium.
8 Easy Routes to Cheaper Car Insurance
Car insurance is one of the most expensive costs involved in driving a car, and it’s not something you can avoid – a minimum level of insurance is required by law. That doesn’t mean you have to blindly pay whatever your insurer quotes though, as there are several simple things you can do to reduce the cost of your premiums.
1)Shop around and buy online: Figures show that many people simply renew their current policies without shopping around. The internet makes it easy to compare prices from different insurers, so why not take advantage of this? Plus, you’ll usually get a discount of 10% or more just for buying your policy online.
2)Policy type: do you really need a comprehensive policy with all the extras? Going for a third party fire & theft policy can reduce your premiums hugely, and is definitely worth considering if your car isn’t an expensive model.
3)No claims discounts: Nearly all policies feature a discount that increases for every year you don’t make a claim. The higher the discount available, the more you could save. Also look at insurers offering a ‘no claims bonus for life’ feature, where your current discount level can be fixed forever, even if you have to make a claim somewhere down the line.
4)Excess: The excess on a policy is the amount of a claim you have to pay before the insurer pays the rest. Choosing to have a higher than standard excess level will usually mean lower premiums.
5)Security: Fitting your vehicle with an alarm, immobiliser, or other security devices can lead to premium reductions. Parking you car off-road, for example on a driveway or in a garage, will also mean a cheaper policy.
6)Pay annually: Many insurers charge you interest for the privilege of paying in monthly installments. Pay annually if you can afford it to avoid this, or look for one of the companies who don’t charge extra for monthly payment.
7)Mileage: The more mileage you run up every year, the more your insurance will cost. Even if you can’t reduce your mileage, make sure you’re not overestimating how much you actually do drive, and give your insurer an accurate figure.
8)Drivers: The more drivers you have on your policy, the more it will cost. Reduce the number of people insured to drive your car to the minimum possible, and try to get the policy in the name of a driver with the lowest risk profile. For example, if a car is driven by both a man and a woman, insuring it in the woman’s name will often result in a cheaper quote.
5 Steps To Cheap Car Insurance Premiums
Car insurance is compulsory, but it’s not necessary to pay more than you have to. A few simple steps combined with some time surfing for competitive car insurance rates really can save you serious money at renewal time.
Step 1 -Cut the Risk and Cut the Cost
The easiest way to cut your car insurance premiums is to cut the risk and accept a higher voluntary excess. An insurer’s standard excess may be 100 but if you meet the first 250 of any claim, you’ll see a reduction in your premium. This is because you’re taking on more of the risk so you get a discount. But it’s a gamble, be aware that you might have to meet the cost of a broken window after an attempted theft or a bill for repairing bodywork damage after a car park crunch.
Step 2 -Security Means Savings
Fitting security devices can also result in cheap car insurance premiums. All major insurers insist on Thatcham rated security equipment, usually a minimum of an alarm. If you live in a high-risk area for car crime, it makes sense to fit extra security. It saves you money when your insurance renewal is due and gives you extra peace of mind.
Step 3 -Annual Mileage, Less Means More in Your Pocket
If your annual mileage is, 5,000 miles or less, ask insurers if they offer discounts for agreed mileage restrictions.
Step 4 -Named Drivers Trick
Adding a named driver to your policy can increase or reduce your premiums depending upon the named drivers age, sex and driving record. Adding a young driver will increase your premiums, particularly with a limited or poor driving record. However, adding a driver over 30 years old with a long and clean driving record can cut premiums, particularly if the named driver is female!
Step 5 -Shop Around and Save Even More
The biggest car insurance savings come from shopping around. There can be massive differences between the lowest and highest car insurance quotes for exactly the same car and driver(s). Start off using good comparitive online quotation sites, take their best quotes and go direct to the cheapest car insurance company for more specific quotes.
So next time your renewal quote arrives, don’t just accept it and give your money away to the insurance company. Use the steps above and get the right cover at the right price.
20 Tips To Cheaper Car Insurance
1.Buy from the internet.Most companies offer a discount for online applications as this is automated process and costs them a lot less to process your application, you can usually see discounts of 5%-10%.Click here to get a instant online insurance quote
2.Shop around.All insurance companies use different formulas to calculate your insurance premium by adding or detracting money after each question the ask you.By shopping around you could find big savings on your insurance premium.
3.Buy extra products.Most insurance companies also do other insurance products ie”Building’s and content’s insurance”.Most insurance companies will give extra discounts for purchasing more than one product,by doing this you could save a fair amount on all your insurance premiums.
4.Pay your insurance premium in one go.By paying your insurance premium in full you can avoid paying costly interest charges that would be added if you paid your insurance premium by instalments.Some insurance companies may charge as much as 15% APR on instalments.You may even receive a discount for paying in full.If you can not afford to pay in full check out what rate a small loan would be you may still save some money.Fill out a online loan application.
5.Increase your voluntary excess.Your excess is the amount paid by you in the event of a claim,by increasing this your insurance company should reduce your premium.
6.Lower your annual mileage.Lowering your annual mileage can reduce your premium,most insurance companies will quote you for around 12,000 miles a year.Try and work out how many mile’s you will do if it’s likely to be less you may get a discount.Be honest about this as your insurance company may ask to see old MOT’S and service history to verify your mileage in the event of a accident.
7.Have a Alarm,Immobiliser or Tracker fitted.Theft of and from your vehicle play a major role in the calculation of your insurance premium.Having a alarm or immobiliser fitted will give you a small discount to your premium and having a tracker fitted could make you quite a saving.
8.Take the advanced driving test.Passing your advanced driving test will show your insurance company that you have extra skill when driving and are less likely to be involved in a accident.
9.Don’t inflate the value of your car.Adding extra value to your car when you apply for your insurance quote will do nothing for you apart from increase you premium.In the event your car is stolen or written off you will only be paid the market value of your car at the time of your accident.
10.Look after your credit rating.Insurance companies are now looking at your credit score as part of the calculation for your insurance premium.Maintaining a good credit rating could avoid unnecessary additions to your premium.
11.Insure your car Third Party Only.Third party only is the minimum cover you are required to have by law it’s also the cheapest.If your vehicle is of a low value then you could consider this type of cover.You need to remember that with this type of cover if you was to have a accident that any damage to your vehicle would not be covered for repair.
12.Keep a clean licenceInsurance companies take driving convictions very seriously and can dramatically increase your car insurance premium,by maintaining a clean licence proves to the insurance you are a safe and careful driver.
13.Remove any unnecessary drivers.If you have a young driver on your insurance policy that no longer use’s the vehicle you should remove them as this will reduce your premium.
14.Young driver’s add a older driver.Some insurance companies will reduce young drivers premiums if they have a older named driver on the insurance.
15.Build up your no-claims discountOne of the biggest factors affecting your car insurance premium is the number of years no-claim’s discount.You could receive up to 75% discount for around 5 years of no claims.The more years you can stay claim free the safer driver your insurance company will see you as.
16.Protect your no-claims discount.Although this will increase your insurance premium if you have a lot of years of no-claims you may want to protect this as a small claim may increase your premium by up to 75%.
17.Buy a lower insurance group car.A very important factor to your insurance premium is what car you drive.Most insurance companies adopt the Association Of British Insurance Group Rating.This rates vehicle’s from 1 – 20 generally speaking the higher the group the higher the premium.By buying a car with a lower group rating can lower your premium especially for young or inexperienced drivers.
18.Join a car club.If your vehicle is a classic or specialist consider joining a club related to your car most clubs offer insurance schemes which have very good premium rates.
19.Put your spouse as a named driver.Some insurance companies offer discounts when you add a spouse as a named driver as opposed to unmarried couples,they see marriage as a sign of stability and associate stability with safe driving and there for give you a discount.
20.Take pass plus.If you are a new driver consider taking your pass plus.some insurance companies could give you as much as a 25% discount and when you have just passed your test and have no no-claims this could make a considerable saving.