When taking out car insurance for the first time, or looking to renew your policy, it’s always good to shop around to make sure you’re getting the best deal.
Many policies offer lots of different benefits, with elements that you can personalize to your driving needs. However, most insurance providers will give you an average price, based on certain demographics or the type of car you own.
What if we told you there are some premiums that you might not have considered, that could save you money over standard car insurance?
Read on to find out more.
Multi-car insurance
If you live in a property in which you find yourself needing to insure multiple cars, multi-car insurance could save you both time and money.
Not only will it make your life easier by keeping all your coverage in one place, but you could be eligible for discounts when you insure all your cars in one place.
The number of cards you can insure on a single policy is determined by state rules and your insurer. For example, you might be able to insure up to four cars, as long as they are all kept in the same State and registered under your name or your spouse’s.
Then, you’ll be able to reap the rewards and enjoy only having one quote, one renewal date and customizable coverages.
That’s right, you can personalize each policy to suit each car, so if you have a more expensive one, or one that get’s driven more frequently, you can make sure these are each covered to meet their specific requirements.
Further discounts might be added if one of your cars is electric or hybrid, as these reduce your CO2 emissions and many insurers will reward you for being more eco-friendly.
Telematics insurance
Another great way to save money on your car insurance is telematics. This is a single-car policy which is great for new and young drivers or anyone who would generally fit into a demographic that would make the cost of their insurance higher.
The beauty of telematics is that location-based services use telecommunications and informatics to send data to your insurance provider. They can then analyze this to see how safe your driving is.
Things like how suddenly you break at stop signs, whether you abide to speed limits and how safely you perform maneuvers are taken into consideration and your policy is adapted accordingly.
This means you’ll be paying a premium that’s based specifically on how you drive, not how people like you are expected to drive.
This is done using a chip that’s installed into your car’s windshield, or an app that simply requires you to have your location services enabled at all times.
Using your phone’s Global Positioning System (GPS) and nifty tools like the gyroscope (which can tell what way your phone is facing, for example), your insurance provider will be able to gather an accurate picture of how you drive, the time of day you drive, and whether it’s actually you driving or not.
The distance you drive is also measured, as statistically, the more you drive, the more you are exposed to the roads and the higher your risk of being involved in an accident is. So, with telematics, if you don’t drive your car very frequently, you won’t end up paying a premium that costs the same as someone who does.
What’s more, you can save money further by accessing your data and viewing your driving safety. You could see that you’re slamming your breaks on a little too hard at stop signs, and by simply making this transition a little smoother, you’ll be driving more safely and your insurance premium could go down because of this.
—
It’s clear there are plenty of ways you can save money on your car insurance, and shopping around really is important in securing the right deal for you.