The one thing to remember with car insurance and frankly most financial products, is that these days loyalty often does not pay.
The advent of purchasing your policy over the phone and in recent times via the internet, has made it easy to compare prices and switch insurance companies at the click of a button.
Many firms often have incentives to take out a policy with either reduced rates, cash back or vouchers.
Automatically letting your insurance renewal roll over is the sure way to miss out on saving money and getting a better deal.
Here are the top tips for renewing your car insurance:
1. Never accept your renewal quote - there is nearly always a better deal to be had.
2. Contact your existing provider either by phone or online messaging and ask if your renewal quote can be reduced further. Many times you will get a reduction in your price just by doing this.
3. Get a fresh quote with your existing insurance company, as if you were a new customer. Compare this with your renewal quote. If it's less, then this gives you a great starting point to argue the renewal price with the company. Often they will price match a new customer quote.
UPDATE: As of January 2022, insurance companies can no longer offer new customers cheaper quotes than existing customers for the same risk. However, it's always worth trying a new quote to ensure the insurer is abiding by this new rule.
4. Get quotes from across the market via comparison sites and directly on insurance company websites. You might be amazed at how much lower your quote is with another provider.
5. Remember, when you get new quotes, be sure to include the extra year you have just earned on your No Claims Bonus/Discount - by far the biggest rating factor! Whereas some companies may have given you high quotes in the past, the extra year of No Claims Bonus may mean they offer you much cheaper rates this time around.
6. Don't be concerned about moving to a different provider. At the end of the day, insurance is a numbers game and you are just a single policyholder amongst millions of others. Of course they want you to renew, but if they aren't rewarding your loyalty in lower premiums, then why should you stay with them? Remember, you can always switch back to them next year if their rates are better.
7. When getting alternative quotes, be sure to do a like for like match. For example, does your current policy include legal cover and No Claim Bonus protection? If so then ensure any new quote has the same. Don't get tricked into buying cheap insurance only to find you don't have the same level of cover - it may be cheap for a reason!
8. Even when you find a cheaper quote elsewhere, always contact them directly over the phone or online to see if they can reduce it even more. You may be surprised at how far they will go in order to win over your business.
The bottom line here is that you could be missing out on big savings if you just do a little work, shop around and contact providers. The one thing your insurance company wants you to do is absolutely nothing! They hope you just let the automatic renewal process take its course.
