Save money on your car insurance today with these easy tips.

Car insurance is a legal requirement in the UK – if you want to drive, you need insurance. And what you really want is insurance that gives you all the protection you need, at a cost that fits your budget.

At mustard.co.uk, we don’t believe you should sacrifice cover for cost, so we’ve rounded up some top tips that could help you save money on your car insurance. Cheap car insurance shouldn’t mean rubbish car insurance!

Pay upfront

Monthly instalments might help you spread the cost of your insurance policy but they also add interest. For the cheapest cover, pay up front.

If you’re confident in your ability to repay you could also pay with a credit card that offers a period of 0% interest, giving you the best of both worlds.

Build your no-claims bonus

A no-claims bonus could help reduce your premium. If you don’t make a claim on your policy, you’ll build up a no-claims bonus over the years, provided you’re continuously insured. For every year your no-claims bonus increases you could earn a greater discount.

Choose a car in a low insurance group

Picking your car carefully is important, especially if you’re a young driver. Expensive, powerful cars attract higher premiums – but sometimes, so do small, cheap cars, as they’re often bought by younger drivers who typically make more claims. A slightly older car may be more expensive to insure than a new one, too, as it will have fewer safety aids.

The best thing to do is to get a few quotes on a selection of cars before you make your purchase.

 Keep your car secure

Protecting your car from theft may minimise your insurance risk. For example, parking somewhere safe – on a driveway or in a garage if you have one – and if it’s an older car, consider fitting additional security features like an alarm or tracker.

Raise your excess

An insurance excess is the amount you need to pay upfront for a claim to go ahead. There are two types – compulsory excess, set by your insurer, and a voluntary excess which you decide when you take out your policy.

Increasing your voluntary excess could lower your overall premium.

Shop around

You should shop around each year, comparing quotes from different insurers to make sure you’re still on the best deal for you. Of course, you can do that right here on mustard.co.uk.

Avoid modifications

With the exception of modifications that improve your car’s security, mods generally make your car unique, more expensive to repair and more attractive to thieves. Therefore, you can expect modifications to lead to an increase in your insurance quote.

And remember – you must disclose modifications to your insurer or risk invalidating your cover.

Consider the cover you need

Insurers may try and sell additional products with their policy, from breakdown cover to a guaranteed hire car to windscreen cover. Consider the cover you really need as paying for additional cover you won’t use may increase the cost of your insurance unnecessarily.

It also might be cheaper to buy directly or through a different source like your credit card or bank than through your insurer. Shop around.

Drive fewer miles

Generally, the fewer miles you drive, the less likely you are to be involved in an accident and make a claim. This reduced risk could be reflected in lower premiums. Try to be accurate, though – if you say you only drive 5,000 miles a year but really drive 15,000, this could invalidate your cover.

Consider a telematics policy

A telematics or ‘black box’ policy is when an insurance company fits a small device to your car to monitor the way you drive and record information about your speed, acceleration, braking and cornering. Insurers will use that information to calculate your premium.

Black box insurance is great for young drivers as it bases premiums more on how you drive than on industry statistics, and it’s often the only affordable way for a 17-year-old to get car insurance.

However, it’s not limited to young drivers and regardless of age could help you save.

Take an advanced driving course

Some insurers offer discounts if you have advanced driving skills. If they do, they’ll usually have a list of accredited schemes that will entitle you to money off your premium if you pass.

Courses typically focus on improving your road handling and observation skills as well as how to drive in poor weather conditions. Even without the drop in premiums they can be a useful way for newly minted drivers to gain more confidence on the road, which is the best way to prevent accidents in the first place.

Add a named driver to your policy

If you’re a high-risk driver, simply having a lower-risk driver added onto your policy as an additional driver can bring your premiums down.

For many younger drivers, this means adding a parent on, but you might add a family member with a clean licence if you have lots of points on yours, for example.

Remember that they should be added as a named driver only, however. If you make a safer driver the main driver but proceed to drive the car yourself for the majority of the time, that’s called ‘fronting’ and it can lead to your policy being cancelled.