Trim Your Car Insurance Cost
When the time comes to buy a new or used car, either as your first car or as a replacement for your current one, the choice can be difficult. With a huge range of cars available to motorists, deciding whether you should buy a large family car, small people carrier or an estate car can be a daunting task.
When you spent time discussing with your insurance advisor regarding the computation of the cost of your car insurance, you become aware of the fact that your car plays as much of an important role as your past driving record in deciding your insurance premiums. Insurance companies are wary of settling claims, and there exists a category of cars that is classified as invitation to trouble! You may be a world-class expert driver, but if you are driving a highly risky car, lower premium car insurance is as difficult to obtain, as it is to procure the front row tickets of a popular concert.
You need to conduct your own research to find out the cars that command lesser rate of insurance premiums. The first and foremost action that you must undertake is to list down all your requirements from a car. There exists plenty of information and helpful resources on the Internet that will assist you to shortlist cars that are less costly to insure, however such analysis overlooks the fact that there is no one conclusion that suits all. For example it is not legally or otherwise possible to accommodate five kids inside a Toyota Prius. So you need to take into account your family first, when buying a car.
Similar to an insurance agent, you can take reference from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), to determine how much risky the model and make of your car is compared to other cars in the same category. The HLDI has statistical data covering almost every make and model available in the car market, and the institute can provide you with decisive information regarding whether the car that you intend to buy has losses that are valued to be lower than, equal to or higher than the average losses for that particular category of vehicles. The most significant point of this analysis is that lesser losses and expenditure on account of accidents and/or theft always translates into less costlier car insurance.
Irrespective of the car you are thinking of buying, be aware that advanced safety features always count high in the process of reducing the rate of car insurance premiums. Safety devices like airbags and anti-lock brakes reduce the physical injuries suffered by the car occupants, and the physical damages suffered by the car in the case of an accident occurrence, which eventually lowers your comprehensive and liability insurance costs to a great extent. The important point to note here is that, lesser the claim amount the insurance company will have to settle in case of a car accident, lesser is the premium amount when going in for a car insurance!
Anti-theft gadgets like alarms, electronic keys, steering wheel locks and navigation systems are features that prevent your car from being stolen. And if your insurance company feels satisfied on that aspect the insurance costs can reduce too. In any case, your car being stolen is the last thing that you and your insurer would like to see.
With the need to save money increasing daily, many motorists need to look into whether they are prepared to pay for a new car, or settle for a used car. And of course there’s the question of arranging a car loan and finding good car insurance.
Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator for Carinsurancesa.co.za, a leading South African Car Insurance portal.
