Car insurance differs from life insurance or health insurances in one aspect; it is mandatory while the latters are not. That being said, if you think you are in good health you may not opt for a health insurance (but that is not advisable anyway). On the other hand, if you drive a car you must have a live car insurance, else the cops are going to fine you for that. There are a few ways to cut down your car insurance expenses by a sizeable portion. Check out how to reduce your car insurance cost here, without losing any benefits of it. Keep reading!
Stay insured with one insurance company
It is not a good idea to switch your car insurance companies frequently. If you have come under the insurance of a particular company, do not change it all of a sudden only because a competitor company is allowing a marginally less premium or giving a few additional benefits. If you stay insured with one company for longer insurance horizons, the premiums will be comparatively lower.
Do not claim for colossal amounts
Most people do not submit their claims for smaller expenses related to car injuries, for example when it is a few hundred or a few thousand rupees. They think that they should reserve the claim for bigger amounts if required in the days to come. Wrong! You should not claim huge amounts, or you will end up increasing your premium amount. Instead, if you do need to claim any money, do it for smaller accidents and expenses. Often when we meet with an accident we call our car insurance agent right away to settle the claim, without noticing that this will increase the premium while renewing the insurance in future. Unless badly required, avoid claiming big amounts for car insurance.
Do not decorate your car a lot
If you add a lot of things to your car and decorate it grandly, you are eventually increasing the net asset value of your car which will ultimately result in higher premiums. Particularly younger people have this tendency to decorate their car with costly enhancements. Just a week or so back, a friend called me and wanted to know whether I can lend him a few thousand rupees for a few days. As I enquired for the reason, I learnt that he has purchased a new car and is planning to install a costly music system. That is a very unsmart thing to do, considering your insurance premium. After all, all you need is to play some music in your car, right? You are not going to turn your car to a disco or concert hall for sure! Research a little about frugal yet beautiful decorations available for your car to make sure your insurance premium does not rise up to the heavens!
Buy pre owned cars
Buying used cars is a great way to keep your car insurance premiums under control. Gone are the days when people were used to think that driving a pre owned car is not cool. The world is getting more and more frugal day by day, especially during all these harder times of recession and inflation, so why shouldn't you? By purchasing a pre owned car, you can make sure that the value of your car is much less than that of a brand new car. I am not asking you to drive a piece of junk either, but you can easily look out for pre used cars that are just a couple of years or less old. They will shine from outside almost like brand new cars (so you do not compromise with the cool factor of driving a new car), and from the financial point of view, their value will be much less so the premium amounts will significantly go down as well.
Occupation plays a part
Insurance companies tend to prefer certain occupations to others. If you know that they are not going to love your job or source of income much, what about your spouse? If your husband or wife is doing a more secured job (for example you work in a corporate sector and your spouse is a government school teacher), it is better to purchase the car in the name of your spouse to take advantages of relatively lower premiums due to more secured occupations.