There’s no escaping it - car insurance can be an expensive business. However, if you have a car, you  legally have to have car insurance. On top of all the other running costs, like petrol, maintenance, MOT and road tax, it can all add up.

While there’s nothing you can do about about road tax, MOTs and the cost of fuel - except to find the cheapest local petrol station - you can still find cheap car insurance. Read on to discover our top tips...

9 Tips for Cheap Car Insurance

The cost of your car insurance will depend on a number of facts, such as your age, how long you've been driving, where you live, your driving record and the spec of your car.

Remember if you apply for insurance using incorrect information you’ll just be wasting your money. Being economical with the truth won’t help you to get economical car insurance! Any claim you make under false details will be invalid and you might even be convicted of insurance fraud, making it extremely difficult to get insurance in the future.

Don’t worry, you can still knock some pounds off those insurance quotes without fibbing. Here’s how:

1 Don’t Overvalue Your Car

Use a realistic valuation for your car. If you need to make a claim, insurers will only pay out the market value of your vehicle. It's important not to overvalue your vehicle so that you can replace it with the exact same model and age of vehicle.

You can get a reasonable estimate for your car by searching for a similar model on a used car website, such as Motor Range. Overestimate its value and you could be paying a higher insurance premium for cash you won’t be able to claim if your car is damaged.

2 Keep Your Mileage Down

Do you know how many miles you drive each year? It’s hard to be accurate but by trying to estimate, you could save yourself a little on your insurance premiums. More mileage means more time on the roads and, according to insurance companies, more opportunity to be involved in a collision. 
Therefore, by accurately reporting your annual mileage, you could find cheap car insurance. If you really need to keep your premiums down, think about reducing your mileage by car-sharing or walking, especially if you’re looking at improving your fitness regime!

3 Store Your Car Safely

Most of our garages are full of garden furniture, bikes, and all that household junk we’re keeping ‘just in case’. In fact, these days, it’s rare that we use a garage to park our car. But if you’re looking for cheap car insurance, it might be worth clearing some space for your car as insurance companies view this as a safer alternative to roadside or driveway parking. 

Of course, not everyone has a garage but even driveway parking is viewed as less risk than leaving your car on the road overnight where it might get damaged by passing traffic. But beware! Don’t tell the insurance broker that you’ll park in the garage or on the driveway and then leave your vehicle on the road, because if something happens, you won’t be covered.

4 Choose Your Job Title Carefully

If you’re applying for a car insurance quote online, you might discover that if you tweak (not lie about) your job title, you can make savings on your premiums. For example, it’s been found that ‘nurse’ returns lower quotes than ‘healthcare assistant’ and that a ‘proofreader’ may be offered cheaper car insurance than an ‘editor’. Research suggests that the duller your job title, the lower your insurance!

Don’t forget to ask if the broker is able to apply a ‘blue light’ discount to your insurance costs, if you work in the emergency services.

5 Consider a Black Box

Telematics (or black box technology) allows you to prove how careful a driver you are. If you’re confident in your driving ability, many insurers offer this option and if you’re careful to use your car when the roads are quieter, you can prove that you’re not a risky driver and worthy of a reduced insurance rate.

6 Update Your Car Wisely

If it’s time for you to replace your car, make sure you do it sensibly. Low-powered and low-cost cars often have cheap car insurance costs, and all good retailers, like Motor Range, will be able to give you an indication of which insurance group each car falls into.

Rated from 1 to 50, the lower the insurance group, the cheaper your premium will be. Online experts, such as Parkers will also be able to help you to discover the right insurance group for your car.

7 Stay Secure

Arming your car with simple anti-theft devices, such as a steering wheel lock, can contribute to a favourable quote, too. But there’s no point in mentioning these when asking for a price unless you intend to use them.

Newer cars may have built-in safety features such as anti-collision devices and trackers to reduce accidents and foil potential thieves. It’s always worth mentioning these to your insurance broker, thereby reducing your insurance costs.

8 Increase Your Excess

Most insurance contracts will come with a level of excess - an amount that you must pay towards repairs before the insurance company will make any contribution. Agreeing to pay a bigger voluntary excess may provide you with cheap car insurance. 

Many insurance providers will waive the excess if the damage is caused by someone else, so if you’re not a risk taker and are confident in your driving, this could be a useful way to reduce your insurance bill.

9 Make Use of Family

Young drivers or those with little experience may find a reduction in cost by naming a more experienced driver with a good record as an ‘occasional driver’ on their insurance. This doesn’t always work and varies from insurer to insurer but is certainly worth a try. 

And for those who share the same address as other drivers, a multi-car insurance with parents, siblings or a partner might also encourage cheap car insurance quotes. These may not be available online so it’s always a good idea to speak to an agent and ask! 

Last but not least: Compare, Compare, Compare!

If you’re applying online, it’s probably worth playing around with some of the details that we’ve mentioned above until you find the best price.  Insurance comparison websites are a good place to start. Remember to compare like for like, with the same levels of excess, courtesy car provision, etc.

Never take the first insurance quote that you’re offered. If you can speak to the provider, do so and ask them if they can offer you a better rate. When it’s time for renewal, do the same - shop around and ask if they can better the quoted rate. You might be surprised with the savings.

Remember that many insurance companies operate an automatic renewal policy so unless you inform them that you’ve found cheap car insurance elsewhere, they’ll bill you regardless. So make a note to review your policy every year.

Implement these money-saving tips into your everyday driving habits and before long, you’ll be knocking down those insurance costs without even knowing it!

Don’t forget that you can make even more savings by visiting Motor Range’s showroom in Liverpool. Simply ask one of our helpful sales advisors to steer you in the direction of our huge range of low-insurance cars.