Car Insurance Renewal Costs

Posted on May 08, 2024

Car insurance renewal costs are the latest household bill to go through the roof, with the average quote now more than £1,000 a year. Money Saving Expert (MSE) found that car insurance prices rose by more than 50% in the last 12 months, so it is more important than ever to do what you can to get the cheapest quote for the cover you need.

If your motor insurance is up for renewal soon, here are 5 steps you can take to make sure you’re not paying over the odds…

1) Shop around

Angry motorists are complaining at the skyrocketing prices which are becoming increasingly difficult to squeeze into our budgets, but did you know you could save £100s by switching your insurer. With car insurance prices speeding away from us, shopping around and changing your insurance provider are good options to try and save some money. Insurance giants like Direct Line, are encouraging their customers to shop around before renewing their insurance each year.

2) Add a named driver to your policy

Adding an older, more experienced driver to your policy may bring your price down. This is because your insurance company will think the driving is shared between yourself and your added driver, and assume you’ll be spending less time in the driver’s seat.

Make sure you put the driver who will be behind the wheel the most as the main driver. It is against the law to knowingly put the more experienced driver as the main driver in a bid to lower the cost when, in reality, you’ll be doing the majority of the driving. Put yourself as the main driver if you’ll be driving the vehicle the most and this will also allow you to build up your no claims which will lead to a discount in the future.

3) Pay annually

Paying for your car insurance annually is usually cheaper than paying in monthly installments. If you pay monthly, interest is added to your repayments, and you’ll be paying more than you need to over the course of your policy.

If you can’t afford to pay for your car insurance in one lump sum payment, a Retail CU loan could help. With great rates from just 2.9%, a Retail CU loan will allow you to spread the cost of your insurance with affordable repayments straight from your pay, without paying extra interest to your insurance company. With rates cheaper than most credit cards, and with save as you borrow, you’ll have a lump sum when you’ve repaid your loan too.

4) Be prepared

According to MSE, the best time to get car insurance quotes is 20-26 days before you need the policy to start. Your renewal notice from your current insurer typically appears around 28 days before your policy ends, so act quickly and begin looking for new quotes straight away.

The cheapest time to get quotes is 23 days ahead of your renewal date and remember your cover becomes more expensive the closer you get. MSE analysed 70 million quotes from the top 4 price comparison sites showed the average policy price was £1,198, but 23 days earlier the same policy was just £694!

5) Tweaking your job title

Tweaking your job title (within reason) could help you save £100s on your car insurance. MSE found “an illustrator is often cheaper than an artist, an editor cheaper than a journalist, and a PA cheaper than a secretary”.

Try the Car Insurance Job Picker Tool to see if you could legitimately tweak your job role to save some cash. Remember, never lie as this is fraudulent and can leave you in hot water!