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Car insurance can be one of the biggest costs of driving – especially if you’re a new driver. When shopping for a quote, it pays to know some of the tricks that can save you money. Here are just a few surprising things that can lower your car insurance rates.
Parking off-road
Parking on a driveway or in a garage can often save you money. This is because you’re more likely to get hit by cars when parking on the road (and therefore more likely to make claims). If your home has off-road parking, make sure to select this option.
Driving a manual car
Manual driving lessons could save you money in the long as opposed to learning in an automatic. It’s often cheaper to insure manual cars than it is to insure automatic cars. This is because the gearbox in an automatic car is much more expensive to repair.
Choosing the right job title
According to TheGeneral.com, certain job titles can affect your insurance rates because they may suggest a certain amount of risk when it comes to theft, vandalism or accidents. Avoiding these expensive buzzwords could lower your rates. You can look up some of the most expensive job titles to insure online.
Getting married
Whilst you probably don’t want to marry a stranger just to lower your car insurance rates, it is worth noting that married drivers are cheaper to insure than single drivers. Why? For whatever reason, married people seem to have less accidents.
Adding additional drivers
If you’ve only been driving a couple years, adding additional drivers might increase your insurance rates. However, if you’ve been driving quite a few years, adding an additional driver could have the opposite effect and lower your insurance rates. This could be because having an extra driver allows you to spread out the cost of insurance rates, so you’re more likely to keep up with payments on a consistent basis.
Looking for quotes Incognito
Many insurers charge higher prices online if you’re a return visitor to their site. They determine this by using browsing information stored in your cache. Using a private browsing mode such as Chrome’s Incognito mode stops insurers being able to receive this previous browsing information so you get the rates that a new visitor would get.
Buying insurance ahead
It could also be worth taking your insurance scheme out a couple days or a couple weeks ahead of when you plan it to start. If you need to get insured on the day, you’ll spend a lot more money – it suggests to insurers that you’re desperate and they will take advantage of this. Plan your insurance ahead to save money.
Paying annually
Paying in annual instalments can also save you money in the long run. A single annual instalment is usually the equivalent of eleven monthly instalments, resulting in a saving of an entire month. It does mean paying a larger chunk of money up front, which may not be possible for some people, but if you have some savings it could be worth the investment.
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.