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Guide to lower car insurance

This guide to lower car insurance bills outlines how to lower car insurance payments and reduce car insurance payments.

UK drivers pay more than £10 billion a year for car insurance. Here are our top tips to keep your share of the bill down...

Lower my car insurance payments - compare car insurance premiums

The easiest way to save is to compare car insurance policies at renewal time.

Insurers adjust premiums every day, so the company you were with last year may no longer offer the best car insurance for you. If you've been with the same insurer for some time, shopping around could lower your bills by hundreds of pounds.

And just buying online will typically save you about 10% compared with other methods – but the saving can be as much as a quarter.

Lower my car insurance - no-claims discount = lower bills

The second biggest saver is your no-claims discount (NCD). The longer you go without claiming, usually up to a maximum of 4 or 5 years, the lower risk you'll seem, and the more insurers will reward you.

You keep your NCD when you switch insurers (although they may want proof, such as your old insurer's renewal document).

How your NCD lowers your car insurance bill

The discount varies between insurers – but can be up to 70%. The table shows typical savings, based on an £800 policy.

Years without a claim	Typical no-claims discount	Cheaper car insurance: savings on an £800 policy
1	30%	£240 lower
2	40%	£320 lower
3	50%	£400 lower
4	60%	£480 lower

Typical NCD as shown by Association of British Insurers

If you make a claim, you lose your NCD. One claim can be equivalent to knocking two years off your NCD. Another claim may wipe it out altogether.

Remember, this is about claiming, not blame. If an accident wasn't your fault, but your insurer foots the bill (the other person was uninsured, say), it counts as a claim.

So don't claim for minor damage (but still tell the insurer about the incident).

When you have the maximum NCD, insurers often let you 'protect' it by paying a slightly higher premium. So if you do have to make a claim, you won't reduce your NCD.

Reduce my car insurance - choose who insures it

If you're married and genuinely share the driving, get quotes for you and your partner as the main driver.

Depending on your relative ages, experience etc, you may find one way works out cheaper than the other.

Even if you're the main driver, adding a more experienced driver at your address to the policy can reduce your premium – this could knock 15%, say, off.

Reduce my car insurance - security means cheaper insurance

The more secure your car, the lower your premium - there's less chance of it being stolen, for instance.

So if you have a garage, park your car there overnight. If not, see if you can rent a secured parking space. Failing that, parking on the driveway is lower risk than parking on the road.

Lower my car insurance bills - use the extras

If your policy includes extras, make sure you use them. Typical ones include:

Windscreen damage cover
Courtesy car while yours is being repaired
Fully comprehensive cover in the EU

The flipside is that you can lower your car insurance bills by not paying for things you don't need. You may not want a courtesy car if you own two cars or don't drive much.

Lower my car insurance payments - pay up front to lower your bill

If you can, pay the whole premium upfront as a lump sum (perhaps using a 0% credit card if you don't have the money spare).

If you pay monthly, it's treated as a loan, so you'll pay interest, which can be up to 30%.

Lower my car insurance brought to you by LowerMyBills from Experian

The LowerMyBills lower car insurance guide was created to help you understand how to lower car insurance bills – compare car insurance premiums, no claims discount, look at who's insured, and extras - giving you the information you need to reduce your car insurance bills and lower your car insurance payments.