CARRENTALS.CO.UK – DRIVING TIPS SERIES - No. 10
Car Insurance Tips
So you’ve picked the car you want, found it in the right colour, hunted down the best price, all that’s left is the car insurance. But where to start? With so many providers, offering different discounts and terms, most people are left bewildered. In the final part of the driving tips series carrentals.co.uk offers advice on car insurance and what it all means:
· Basic Option - There are three main options for car insurance. With ‘Third party only’ insurance if the policyholder runs into another car and injures the occupants, the insurance will pay out for any repairs to the other cars involved and will cover any medical claims or injuries suffered by others involved in the accident. But this policy will not cover the cost for repairing your own vehicle or cover your own medical expenses and you will not be covered if your car is stolen or involved in a fire.
· Middle Option - ‘Third party, fire and theft’ will cover you as above, but will also pay out if your car is stolen or if it is involved in a fire.
· Comprehensive Option - Comprehensive or ‘fully comprehensive’ policy will pay out for third party damages and injuries, plus it will pay out if your car is stolen or involved in a fire and it will pay out for any damage to your own vehicle or for your own medical expenses.
· Young Drivers - If you are young and drive an inexpensive first car, third party fire and theft insurance is probably the best policy, as you are more likely to simply replace the car if it is damaged, rather than seek repairs through a comprehensive policy.
· Expensive Wheels - The comprehensive policy makes sense for people with expensive vehicles where the value of the car is a great deal more than the cost of the insurance premium.
· Cheaper with Age - Once you are over 25 years old, and providing you have a good driving record, the cost of comprehensive car insurance can drop quite considerably.
· No Claims Bonus - For every year that you are insured and do not make a claim, you get a no claims bonus which entitles you to a discount, sometimes up to 70 per cent. You can protect this no claims bonus so that if you are involved in an accident, you can still get a discount – this can be expensive, but in most cases it is a worthwhile investment.
· Choice of Car - Choose your car carefully if you want to keep the cost of insurance down – all cars have an insurance group ranking and most dealers and garages will be able to advise you of the likely insurance grouping of the car you are interested in.
· Location - The area that you live in will also determine the cost of your insurance. If there is a lot of traffic, or if theft and break-ins are more prevalent, this will all affect the cost. If you can park your car in a garage rather than on the street this will help keep the cost down.
· Added Extras - Many insurance companies include certain benefits in their policies, the most common example is being supplied with a free courtesy car following an accident. However the more benefits you receive, the higher the price you will have to pay so think carefully about whether you really need all the benefits on offer.
· Excess - When arranging insurance you will have to agree an ‘excess’, which is the amount that you have to pay when making a claim - the larger the excess the cheaper the policy. Most policies have a compulsory excess but you can also agree a voluntary excess charge which will further reduce the cost of your policy, although you might find yourself with a large bill if you are involved in an accident.
Disclaimer - These tips are not exhaustive and are for information only. carrentals.co.uk can not be held responsible for any losses incurred as a result of acting on any information contained herein.
For further information visit the following sites:
http://www.channel4.com/4money/insurance/guides/car_insurance_guide_211003_page1.html
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