Car insurance. How to get cheap car insurance, where to get your car insurance quote (including where to get an online insurance quote)

Motor and Car Insurance

If you drive a car or other motor vehicle on the public roads you need car insurace (also known as motor insurance)..
Motor insurance policies can vary wildly in price as it is dependant on a number of different factors. Where the car is kept, the driver(s) occupation, the age of the driver(s), the annual expected mileage, the number of named drivers and, of course, the type of car. All things being equal, a 50 year old married man who drives 5000 miles per year and stores his family saloon in a garage overnight will pay a much lower premium than a 19 year old man who drives a "hot hatch" and parks it on the public road.

What types of car insurance are available?

The two kinds of insurance are Comprehensive Motor Insurance and Third Party Motor Insurance. Comprehensive car insurance covers damage to the vehicles belonging to the policy holder and any third party where the policy holder is at fault. Third Party car insurance only covers the third party.

Are there any other types? I've heard about classic car insurance for instance

As well as standard Comprehensive car insurance and Third Party car insurance there are other, more specialised policies that may be available.
Classic Car insurance is available to people driving cars over a certain age (you may possibly have to agree to limited mileage too).
Motor Traders Insurance is available to businesses and individual in the motor trade. This type of policy will usually cover the insured to drive any car in their care. It will usually cover vehicles taken off the traders main trading site to their home over night. Car valeting businesses and car servicing garages should also be able to obtain this type of insurance so that vehicles in their car are covered.

Why does my car insurance policy cost 50% more than my neighbour despite having the same car?

There are many factors that can affect the cost of a car insurance policy, so you may have exactly the same car as your neighbour, but that doesn't necessarily mean your policy will cost the same.
A few factors affecting the cost of your car insurance policy include, drivers age and age of any additional drivers, whether you are insured to use the vehicle in connection with your business (in addition to standard commuting to and from your normal place of business), the amount of miles you travel each year, your occupation and where you park your vehicle at night.

How can I get cheap car insurance?

Car insurance can be expensive, but there are various things that you can do to reduce your car insurance premium. You can elect to increase your voluntary excess. Most motor insurance premiums have a compulsary excess (£100 for example), but if you agree to a voluntary excess as well it usually reduces your premium. So agreeing to a total excess of £250 rather than a compulsary excess of £100 can help to reduce your car insurance premium).

If you only travel 4,000 miles per year, tell your insurance company. Informing the insurer that you travel limited miles within a year will usually mak your motor insurance premium cheaper.

Don't include your 19 year old brother who has just passed his test. Having a young, inexperienced driver on your insurance will probably increase the cost or your motor insurance premium.

Garage your car overnight. A car locked away in a garage overnight or parked on a private driveway is less likely to be stolen or damaged. This should knock a few pounds off your car insurance premium.

Be a safe driver! A full "no claims" discount can knock well over 50% off your motor insurance premium.

What is a "no claims" discount?

As a reward for not making any claims against your motor insurance, car insurance companies will give you what is known as a "no claims" discount. For example, if you have not made an insurance claim for 12 months, your insurance premium may be reduced by 15% when you come to renew the car insurance policy. The percentage discount will continue to rise the longer you go without a claim up to a certain limit (usually 5 years). You will then have what is known as a maximum no claims discount.

If you do make a claim once you have built up a "no claims" discount, your discount will usually be reduced (unless you have a protected no claims discount which is sometimes available to those with maximum no claims discount).
The exact way that this works will depend on your particular policy, but as an example, if you have 5 years no claims discount and you then make a claim, your no claims discount may be reduced to 3 years.