From today Friday (21st) car insurance costs are set to rise for women so here’s our tips on how to reduce your costs
Imagine if car insurance companies offered lower premiums to Red heads, Librans or left handed people as these were all statistically proven to be in a lower risk category. That doesn’t sound very fair does it, surely blondes would take offence, Virgos would contend that they are the most conscientious of the Zodiac signs and generally we would all argue that car insurance premiums should be based solely on driving ability and claim history.
From this Friday driving ability and claim history is exactly how car insurance policies will be determined. As a result thousands of women in Ireland face sharp increases in the cost of motoring insurance next year due to a new rule, that comes into effect that outlaws the use of gender in calculating premiums. From December 21, 2012 companies in the insurance services sector cannot offer reduced premiums to women. Women currently pay less because they are judged safer drivers but now female motorists face huge rises in their insurance premiums under a new law.
Younger women particularly have benefited in the past where in some cases they can pay roughly half the premiums quoted for young men. Increases of between 10% and 45% are likely to be imposed on women drivers between the ages of 17 and 30, with lower rises for older women.
So what can you do to reduce your motor insurance premium? Here is our top Ten Tips to reduce the cost of your car insurance
- Evaluate insurance costs before you buy your vehicle then consider the year, make and model.
- Reduce Insurance Coverage.- Think about dropping Fully Comprehensive Insurance for Third Party Fire and Theft as it is normally a lot cheaper. It is not an option for everyone but certainly it is one to consider if your car is worth less than €2,000. Also for young drivers it may be the only option when it comes to prohibitively high premium costs and once insured you can start building your no claims discount.
- Don’t modify your car – the more changes you make the more additional costs you risk accumulating, so inform your insurance company BEFORE you make any changes as some may even invalidate your policy
- Raising your excess – If you have been accident free for a number of years than a way to reduce your overall premium may be to raise your excess. (The excess is the amount you have to pay if you make a claim on your insurance ).
- Ask about other discounts. You also might be able to pay less depending on your age, or if you’ve had no accidents. Some insurance companies offer discount for completion of advanced driving courses, e.g. The Aviva Ignition driving course or First Ireland offer DRIVEsafe a driving tuition programme for learner drivers.
- Think twice about paying in instalments. Pay your premium in one payment, if at all possible as it is always more expensive to pay in stages.
- Shop around for Insurance Quotes. The more you get the better your chance of finding the cheapest quote. Remember to compare all insurance quotes on a like-for-like basis though e.g. Some may offer breakdown cover as an optional extra for others it may come with the policy so check all these details.
- Parking – The safer your car is tucked away at night the happier your insurance company will be and in some cases can save you 5% on your car insurance.
- Put a realistic value on your car. When asked to value our cars most of us have a pretty inflated price in our mind. Remember in the case of an accident the insurance company will only pay out what the car is actually worth at the time of the claim. There are numerous car sites selling used cars that can be used to access the true market value of your car.
- Reduce Annual Mileage – The more you travel throughout the year the more of a risk you are to an insurance company so if you can limit your annual mileage this will be reflected in the cost of your premium.
11th December, 2012