Influencing Factors When Buying Car Insurance

Are you confused over what actually affects your insurance premiums for your car? With many falsehoods floating around, knowing exactly what does and doesn’t affect your insurance quotes come renewal time can be tricky.

image credit

Renewing car insurance is a pet hate of many Brits. Studies have found that people are overpaying around £675 million on car insurance collectively due to staying with the same provider. However, longtime customers tend to get a raw deal with insurance quotes increasing if you stay with the same insurer year after year.

It is widely noted that insuring your car around three weeks before the end of your existing policy can get you the best price if you are shopping around.

This post looks at some of the different motoring factors that impact the price you pay for your insurance quotes.

Your Age

The cost of car insurance for young individuals between the ages of 17 and 25 can be prohibitively expensive; in some cases, the insurance is even more costly than the vehicle itself. There are, however, measures to mitigate the impact of the situation.

Although it may be worthwhile to consider getting a telematics vehicle insurance policy or adding an experienced named driver to your coverage, it is vital to be cautious of fronting, which is illegal and likely to cancel your premiums, thus increasing other insurance quotes. You may not be covered in the event of an accident.

Your Car

If you own a car, both the age and value of your car will influence your insurance price, as well as your insurance group. Cars are grouped depending on many characteristics while new, such as the price of the vehicle, the cost of repairs, and the price of the vehicle body shell and replacement parts.

Also, safety features like locks and alarms are evaluated during the insurance group process to see how secure the vehicle is. However, specialised cars such as imports or customs are not taken into consideration by the groupings.

A modified exhaust or tinted windows could increase your insurance premiums. Alternatively, if a vehicle has safety features like autonomous emergency braking (AEB) or collision warning systems, the price of the car could be reduced. 

Your Driving Habits

There are various things you can do to alter the cost of your insurance premium, including how you drive. For example, your yearly mileage estimate informs the insurance company how much wear and tear your vehicle experiences each year.

As well as your driving record, which will include any traffic tickets, suspensions, convictions, and previous insurance claims, you will also have to worry about any motor vehicle insurance claims you have filed. If you don’t have accident and injury cover on your existing policy, you might find it beneficial to consult no win no fee lawyers.

There may also be a postcode lottery with regards to how much you are likely to pay. This may indicate more claims where you live if your community has high crime rates or you reside near a junction with high accident rates. The likelihood of theft or an accident is considered because even while it does not reflect on your personal driving practices, it can increase your risk.

No Claims Discount

Once you have completed your first year of driving, you will accumulate your no claims discount if you haven’t had an accident. For each year you keep a clean insurance record, the no claims bonus will increase. Once you have a few years under your belt, you can choose to protect this on future policies. This option comes with an additional fee, but if you don’t want to put your history at risk, it is worth considering as the more no claims you have, the lower your premiums will become anyway.

Other Factors

Other factors that lay a part include;

• Add on options such as a replacement car
• Driving in Europe
• Legal cover
• Windscreen cover
• Level of voluntary excess chosen
• Whether you choose to have a box fitted
• How many miles you are likely to drive each year

Overall, what factors ultimately influence the price you pay for your car insurance are extensive and complicated. Add to this that different insurers evaluate things differently and have other criteria for lending and levels of conditions that adhere to. And before you know it, the recipe for providing your quote is more confusing than it appears on the surface.

While you cannot control some of these factors, you can control the type of cover you choose and how you obtain your quotes to get the best price.