Top ten cheapest cars to insure

British drivers looking to purchase a second hand car this year due to budgetary constraints may get more savings than expected.

swiftcover.com has uncovered the top ten cheapest car makes and models to insure in the UK, illustrating the best deal for second hand drivers, together with the best value quotes for an average driver across a range of popular makes and models in the UK.
The top ten cheapest second hand cars to insure with swiftcover.com are:

Smart
Fiat Seicento
Skoda Fabia
Toyota Aygo
Nissan Micra
Citroen C1
Renault Clio
Suzuki Wagon R
Volkswagen Fox Urban
Peugeot 107

Buying a second hand car brings savings to customers wishing to insure their car, as ultimately the cost of replacement is lower due to greater depreciation. The model and make of your car can bring even greater savings, as this study of cars made in 2003 shows, using price comparison site moneysupermarket.com.

To highlight the difference a make and model makes to car insurance, swiftcover.com took an example of a man, aged 32, living in Birmingham, with one previous speeding conviction. In addition, the quote took into account a full no claims discount, together with voluntary excess of £300, for a car with mileage of 10,000 per year, kept on the drive. The study also compared the costs of other insurers, for the same scenario, and the results were often two or three times greater in price. The RAC frequently came up as an insurer with premiums often over three times the cost of swiftcover.com's policy prices.

The chart shows the cheapest car to insure with swiftcover.com is the Smart Pure, coming in at £350.84 per year and the family car the Volvo V70 as the most expensive at £581.95 per year. Despite being more expensive than the BMW and Mercedes, the Volvo was still much cheaper with swiftcover.com than the rival quote from LV, which was over double the price.

Commenting on these results, Tina Shortle, marketing director at swiftcover.com said: "With the current downturn in new car sales, together with a general feeling of caution amongst consumers, swiftcover.com was curious to see where it stood in terms of offering value to its customers when it comes to insuring second hand cars. Many of the premiums of our rivals were nearly 200 per cent higher, for the same case scenario, so we were reassured that our pricing structure still manages to give the best possible value to those insured with swiftcover.com - particularly in these hard-pressed times."

The latest car figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers (SMMT) showed a steep decline in new car registrations, with September figures down by 21.2% compared with the previous 12 months, to just 330,295 units. It is clear that consumer caution has been driven by the current credit crunch - interestingly, despite a marked decrease in sales of new cars, the SMMT figures showed there had been very little impact on the sales of second hand cars, with only a slight decline in early 2008. With the AA's recent announcement that UK motorists are paying an average 19% more than 2007 to run their car, consumers are eager to make savings where they can.