Changing Your Car Insurance Provider

It's almost car insurance renewal time and you're thinking about changing car insurance providers to try and save some money, or to get better policy terms.

DO NOT allow your car insurance policy to renew without shopping around as you'll be shocked at how much you can save.

Changing Policy Mid-Term?

Generally speaking you don't always wait to change cars until the day your insurance policy expires. This means you may have to look at changing details of your insurance from one car to the new one in a seamless manner.

Always check what the charges are for doing this - BEFORE you take out a policy if you think you're going to be switching cars (think lease, moving house, change of circumstances) as charges can be as high as £75 to transfer details to the new car or cancel it altogether.

One provider that doesn't charge you for moving a policy from one car to another is Direct Line. You may have to pay the difference if more to cover the new car, but they won't slap an admin fee on as well (unlike almost all others!).

No Claims Bonus

The No Claims Bonus is a reward you get given each year for not claiming. Starting with your 2nd or 3rd year you will get a percentage off the policy fee because they deem you to be less of a risk because you have not claimed for a period of time.

If you are in a position where you only have a couple of months remaining on your current car insurance policy, it may be wise to wait until it runs out. If you do this, you could earn a full year's no claims bonus (if you haven’t claimed for any accidents in the last year) and this can allow you to get cheaper insurance when you do decide to change car insurance provider.

Comparison Sites - Shopping Around

You can't fail to have noticed that comparison sites are everywhere - in fact they are pretty much the only place most people go to to get a quote these days. There are a few independent brands that do not feature on comparison sites like MoneySupermarket.com or Confused.com (Direct Line is one of them), but for a quick reality check on your rough cost to insure - head straight to one of the comparison sites for starters.

One good thing with MoneySupermarket.com or Confused.com is that they have some great car insurance promotions each month from various insurers. This means you will be offered d a cheaper premium as they want your business. The sole intention of this promotion, is they hope to keep you as a long standing customer - whereupon your policy fees increase markedly after the first year if you let that renewal letter come in - and don't compare it.

Whatever your reason is for changing your car insurance provider, you should research your options fully before opting for a new plan.

Insurance Contracts

Always read the small print in car insurance contracts to find out exactly what you will be covered for and evaluate a number of car insurance deals – whatever you do, don’t be tempted to opt for the first car insurance policy that you see, there may be better deals available elsewhere on the market. The biggest thing to look out for is :

• cancellation charges
• admin fees
• changing car admin fees
• silly things they don't cover (potholes!)

Take advantage of those comparison websites that are now available online to find the best cheap car insurance deals and compare them against each other, this can be a great way to find cheap deals.

Recommendations For Specialist Insurance

It’s also a brilliant idea to ask friends, family or other people that you know for recommendations, especially if you have an exotic car (read left hand drive or US gas guzzler), import from Japan, or you have a modified car (souped up, big wheels, engine remaps).

If someone else has done the legwork then this could save you hours of ringing around. Most comparison sites won't be able to handle unusual cars or amends to the basic spec. so you will need to be patient and diligent in getting a range of quotes to suit.