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Click here for cheap quotes now!Which company has the cheapest car insurance?
Many people think that the heavily advertised companies provide the best quotes to all motorists. This simply isn't true, in fact the opposite is often the case! Heavy advertising costs money and that money has to be paid by somebody. The result can be higher premiums to subsidise the advertising bill.
There are some companies that are cheaper than others for many motorists but it is a mistake to think that they offer the lowest quotations for everyone. Most of them have their own particular niche that they specialise in. As an example; if you have a good long no claims, and no convictions record you may find a certain insurers can offer very reasonable prices indeed. However if you are young motorist, or have already had convictions or had to make claims in the recent past you may find that these companies offer prices that are so high as to put you off completely!
Conversely there are companies that specialise in proving cover for more risky drivers because the premiums that they can charge are much higher; but often lower than those charged by companies that prefer to deal just with low risk drivers.
Do insurers that specialise in insuring women offer the best quotes to females?
Not necessarily. Sometimes specialising in quotes for women is just a marketing gimmick. There is far more to consider when working out a premium. Factors that affect it strongly are the sort of car you drive, the area you live in, the job you do, and what your driving record and experience is. The fact that you may be female is only one single factor amongst many others.
If you really want to have the extra benefits that these companies offer to women, such as handbag cover or child seat insurance then by all means go to one of these companies but you may well find that just comparing quotes on a good price comparison site might result in a much better premium overall. In any case most insurers will already cover handbags and child seats anyway if you take out a comprehensive policy.
Should I get a black box policy?
Blackbox, or Telematic, policies can be cheaper for people who insurers would normally consider to be fairly high risk, such as young drivers or those who live in postcodes where accidents are common. It is of course unfair to group everyone together so that good drivers are penalised just because they happen to be, say, under the age of 21 but this is the way things have traditionally been done. The advantage of a telematics policy is that premiums can be calculated for individuals rather than groups because the driving habits of that individual can be monitored very closely.
These methods are not always perfect however. There are been complaints from many drivers that a telematics system has unfairly labelled them as bad drivers. Some have even had their insurance cancelled as a result and since this has to be declared to future insurers it has cost them a great deal of money in increased premiums in the future. Before taking out a Telematics policy you should search online for reviews of the company that you propose to buy it from, before committing yourself.
Having said that a huge benefit of Telematic policies is that accident rates of people who have them have fallen. Drivers tend to be a lot more careful if they know that every infraction they commit will be reported to their insurers, who may well then either increase their premiums or refused to cover them at all, and this is a great incentive to avoid breaking speed limits, accelerating too hard or hitting the brakes much too late!
Do all price comparison sites offer the same policies?
No, they all have different agreements with different insurers. Some of them run special promotions for particular insurers and since they all get a commission on enquiries or sales, which can vary from one comparison site to another, it is even possible to have two or more price comparison sites offering identical policies from the same insurance company but for different premiums! This is a good reason why you should use more than one price comparison site when you are shopping around for quotes; they will all offer you different deals with different prices.