If you're being honest with yourself when you choose your car insurance, do you do it with the price in mind? You're not alone; millions of people are looking for the cheapest deal every time their policy comes up for renewal.
They find the lowest price, check the details, and if it seems to work, they commit. Simple. But really, that's not exactly the best way to choose your car insurance company. The details matter, the policy limits, the excesses, both compulsory and voluntary, and what is excluded. You need to know and choose your policy based on the lowest price isn't always the bargain you might think it is.
So let's take a look at exactly what you should be checking out to choose the right insurance company.
Understand What Type of Cover You Need
In the UK, there are a few different types of policies you can choose from, including third-party only, third-party fire and theft, fully comprehensive, temporary insurance, black box or telematics insurance and classic car insurance, to name a few.
All have different limits, different conditions, restrictions influencing the price you pay and the suitability for your needs. If you have a classic car you need to insure, then you might find Lancaster Insurance classic car cover is a better choice than a standard policy, or if you're a new driver under 25, a telematics cover might be more suitable and more affordable.
Understand What Is and Isn’t Covered
It's really important that you know what is and isn't included in the policy before you take it out. Because once you do it's too late if you realise it's wrong after the cooling-off period.
It might be that you need a policy that allows you to drive other cars or for other people to drive your car, and certain policies exclude this (you need to check the terminology for this). Or you might have modifications you forgot to include, and they're not covered, ed meaning your insurance is now void.
The last thing you should be doing is relying on guesswork, as not only could it render you without insurance, but it might end up being illegal, too.
Understand the Limits
Every single car insurance policy will have limits. Limits as to the maximum payout for certain scenarios, storage requirements, driver restrictions, mileage limits, etc., and if you don't know them, you could unintentionally be exceeding them, again, leaving you risking your policy.
Let's say you declare you'll only be using the car for 8,000 miles per year for pleasure purposes, but then you change jobs, and suddenly you're commuting, and you're doing 15,000 miles each year, but you didn't update it. If you need to claim, your policy won't cover you for any damage and will likely be cancelled.
This applies to cars with modifications or that are over a certain age or exceed normal market value, i.e. classic or vintage cars. These will likely fall outside the terms for most policies, ruling out their suitability instantly.
