I’m going to start right here and apologise for the click bait title, but I really did save £200 on my car insurance using this secret trick. So secret in fact, when I told people about it, they hadn’t heard about it either! If I didn’t do this, I wouldn’t have been able to insure Jack the Toyota RAV4. What’s more, this is 100% legal and can be used by anyone over the age of 25.
Getting cheaper car insurance isn’t black magic
The internet is awash with different articles coming out with the same 10 points, which are all well and good but they’re that common place now that insurance companies are wise to it. It’s not in an insurance company’s interest to give you a cheap premium. Due to all the jackasses driving like Lewis Hamilton but without any of the talent, they need to pay out damages to those affected. As well as that, it’s not cheap to create a CGI’ed meerkat and pretend he’s from Russia.
Insurance companies base their car insurance premiums on data. Data is always king in this respect, and when you’re trying to save money on car insurance you need to leverage the data in your favour. That isn’t easy given that car insurance companies are notoriously vague about how they come up with their figures.
You need to consider that insurance is based on risk which is based on car insurance data. If you’re a young 18 year old man you’re more likely to have a crash compared to your granny who is 65 years old. Then you need to consider the cost of car repairs.
Like I eluded to in an old article about the Top 5 Cars For When You’ve Passed Your Driving Test, how much a car costs to fix affects it’s car insurance premium. The Ford Fiesta was the most popular car in 2019, but if you smash the head light cluster on it, it’ll cost you £200 for a replacement – and that’s second hand!
If your car has to be fixed by the insurance company, you know damn well it’s going to a body shop they’re friendly with, who happen to have pricey hourly rates for work, and will purchase the head light directly from their pal at the Ford dealership. It isn’t cheap.
Use car insurance data to save money on car insurance
So we know we need to manipulate the data to get cheaper car insurance. But if we don’t know what the data is, then how can we use it against them? Simple. Car insurance companies see risk as a reason to ask for more money, so we give them less risk in the first place.
You need to be organised, as it’s been recently revealed that car insurance see those of us who leave it till the last minute to get car insurance as higher risk. Why? Well surely if you’re disorganised in life, then you’re going to be more of a careless driver. It’s total rubbish of course, but those are the rules that the car insurance companies lay down. But we can stick two fingers up to them by getting our insurance renewal a good 2 or 3 months ahead of time.
But what if you buy a new car? Often insurance premiums can change because of this, as the risk was based on a different car. Most of the time we can’t forsee a change in car. So what can we do to mitigate that?
Save money on car insurance now! This is how I saved £200 on my car insurance
So if you follow me on Instagram, Facebook or YouTube, you’ll know that I recently bought Jack. Jack is a 1995 Toyota RAV4. This makes it 25 years old, and while it doesn’t qualify for classic car exemption in the UK, some insurance companies will cover you on a classic car insurance policy. It means that older car ownership can be just that bit cheaper.
Except, the policy for Jack was coming out at nearly £900 to insure for the year. In comparison, I pay about £300 for the year to drive my 1998 Toyota Corolla E11 on a normal policy. So in this case, classic car insurance wouldn’t work out any cheaper.
I gave my current insurance provider a call. I’m insured with Adrian Flux who are a broker, and they look through their systems and are meant to give you the best price. It’s also worth noting here that I am not sponsored by them, or anyone else. Which is a shame, as the sponsor money would go a long way on the Lada project!
Anyway, long story short, they came in with a quote of £580. Far cheaper than the car insurance quotes I received on a classic car policy. But it was a bit too expensive for my wallet at the time. So even at this point, I really did need to save money on my car insurance!
Try this trick to save £200 on your car insurance
As I spoke with the lady at Adrian Flux about getting a better deal, she asked if I was going to modify the car in any way. I didn’t really want to, and hadn’t thought about it. I sat and thought about it, and said I would tint the rear windows and fit an aftermarket performance cone filter to the Toyota RAV4. She ran through the modifications, she came back and said the insurance was now £380 on a modified car insurance policy!
I didn’t argue with her, I bit her hand off. Window tint from eBay for £10 came in the post the next day, the cone filter the day after for £25. Fitted on to the Toyota RAV4 and it’s been brilliant. It hasn’t affected the driving of the car either which I was worried about.
For a professional job though, in terms of window tinting, it will cost about £100. Well, the rough quotes I’ve had so far have pointed in that direction. Not only does it improve the look of the car, but it also helps keeping the car cooler in the summer. If you keep the car long term, that £100 out lay will save you money in the long run in terms of car insurance!
It may not work for everyone
While I am sure most of us who want to enjoy older vehicles on the road without paying for the advertising budgets of car insurance companies will benefit from this trick, it may not work for everyone. I’m not sure if age is a factor in this and if you’re under 25 it might not work for you.
Please, if you try this out at renewal time and whether it works for you or not, please let me know in the comments below!
