UK motorists pay over the odds for car insurance

The UK’s 34 million car drivers could save an enormous £1.9 billion a year on annual car insurance premiums by shopping around online, according to car insurer swiftcover.com.

With car dealers expecting one of their busiest days of the year on 1 March, swiftcover.com has advice for buyers and renewers on keeping their insurance premiums down.

In 2007, swiftcover was the cheapest insurer more often than any other insurer on leading comparison website, www.moneysupermarket.com/. For example, a 25-year-old woman, buying a new Peugeot 207 in Bolton this week, would save £331.29 with swiftcover.com, compared toMore Th< n and even £96.26 compared to the best deal with the AA.

Tina Shortle, Marketing Director of swiftcover.com, comments. “With household bills rising ever higher, it seems crazy that UK consumers should willingly waste over £1.9 billion by sticking with the same old insurer year after year. Smart consumers know that an online insurance company is likely to be cheaper because it doesn’t have to pay hundreds of call centre staff and can pass on the savings to its customers.” Saving money on motor insurance - swiftcover.com’s top tips for car buyers As well as shopping around, by taking a few simple steps, drivers can lower the cost of their premiums even more:

Opt for a car in a lower insurance group. Every car is given an insurance rating of 1-20 by the Association of British Insurers (ABI), depending on how expensive your car is to repair, how powerful and how secure it is. Rating group 1 would be a very small and cheap car and rating group 20 would be a high powered or very expensive model.

Drive a smaller car if you can. If your car is worth £50,000 rather than £5,000, it will cost your insurance company 10 times as much to replace your vehicle in the event that it is stolen or written off.

Make sure you are not paying for policy features you will not use. For example, many policies automatically add on and charge extra for overseas cover or a courtesy car. Check the small print carefully and, if in doubt, make sure that you ask.

Make it a husband and wife affair. Policies are often cheaper if you add your spouse.

Remember that agreeing to pay a larger excess means you often pay a lower premium.

Buy online – it’s usually cheaper than using companies that have expensive call centres.

Have a car alarm, immobiliser or tracking device fitted. Some insurers may offer a discount.

Park your car in a garage or off the road. Parking your car on the street overnight will mean higher premiums.

If you already own a car, don’t just assume that the ‘generous’ renewal quote from your insurer is the best on the market – you can often get a much better quote online.

Buy green! swiftcover.com offers a 10% discount for owners of environmentally-friendly hybrid cars like a Honda Civic, Honda Insight, Lexis GS, Lexus RX and Toyota Prius.