Cheap car insurance is not always the best option, but there are times when you want to lower your insurance premium.  Too many people fall into the trap of only focusing on the price of the insurance and they often end up with a policy that does not offer the cover that they need.  While price is important, you need to ensure that your insurance suits your needs.  There are also a number of other methods that you can use to lower the overall costs of your insurance policy.

Never Auto-Renew

Insurance companies love when people auto-renew because it allows them to increase the price of the policy when you are not paying attention.  You should not be sucked into the auto-renew spiral because your insurance company does not have your best interests in mind with this and they are not going to be rewarding you for loyalty  Insurers do have to state what your policy costs were for the previous year, but you might not always notice this if you are auto-renewing.

If you want to save money, you need to shop around when it comes time to renew your policy.  You should do this even if the policy that you are offered by your current insurance company is good.  You need to check what else is out there because insurance companies generally have the best rates for new customers. Always looks for an insurance comparison service.

Look At A Higher Excess

Getting a higher excess is not a solution that is good for everyone and should only be looked at by those who can afford it.  By increasing the excess, which is the money you have to pay when you claim, you will decrease the monthly premium.  Of course, you need to ensure that you are able to afford the new excess should you have to claim.

A higher excess may also serve as an incentive for you to not claim for smaller incidents.  When you do not claim for these incidents, you are increasing the no-claims time which will also help lower your costs.  Not making a claim is often considered one of the best ways to keep your premium down.

Do Not Pay Monthly

When you get insurance, you will be offered a monthly pay rate and a single lump sum rate.  Paying your premium in one go is actually cheaper than paying monthly and you should consider doing this.  Of course, this is not always something that you will be able to do, but you should try whenever possible.

Haggle

A lot of people do not think about haggling over the price of their insurance, but they should.  When you haggle, you need to be armed with the quote the insurer provided and the suggestion that you could get a better deal elsewhere.  If you are nervous about this approach, you should ask if they could move a bit on the price and you will be surprised by how often they are willing to do this.

You should then ask them if they would go even lower.  You should not be afraid to tell the insurer that you are not willing to take their deal.  There is always another to be had from a different company.

Also read: Why multiple car insurance is right for you?

Drive Fewer Miles

The less you drive, the lower the risk to the insurance company.  This means that you could lower your insurance by driving less.  Before you commit to this, you need to realistically determine how far you need to drive in a year and not simply pull a figure out of the air.  If you are driving 5,000 miles less, you could be saving around $50 on your insurance which is not something to sneer at.

This is an easy way of saving that could tempt some people to be less than honest.  This is a bad idea and you should only commit to this if you are going to be driving less.  Insurance companies are aware that people lie about this and they will check how far you have gone.

Insure Your No-Claims Bonus

This might seem counter-productive because it will actually add to the cost of your premium.  This is why many people are in 2 minds about this, but only you can determine if this is something that you will consider.

Protecting your no-claims bonus may seem like a logical step, but it does increase the cost of your premium by a substantial amount.  However, when you do this, even if you have to make a claim, the years of discount will still apply the next time you renew.  This is a double-edged blade because even though the discount will apply to the new policy, the costs will still go up because you have made a claim in the last year.  This means that you are going to be paying extra for 2 years because you have made a claim.   While you will still pay more the next year because of the claim, the bonus that you have insured will lower the increase.

Also read: Benefits of Car Title Loans