How do I save money on insurance?
Where insurance savings actually come from — shopping at renewal, adjusting excess, and removing cover you already have twice.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 1 hr
- Read
- 2 min
Short answer
Never auto-renew. Compare a month before the renewal date, then go back to your existing insurer with the best quote. Also check for cover you are paying for twice — bank accounts and credit cards often include travel or breakdown cover.
Insurance pricing rewards new customers and penalises loyalty, so the single largest saving is shopping around at every renewal. The second largest is discovering you hold the same cover twice through a bank account or card.
What you'll need
- Current policy documents
- Renewal notice
- Bank account benefit details (optional)
Step by step
- Diarise every renewal date with a reminder a month before.Quotes are typically cheapest around three to four weeks before renewal, and it gives time to actually compare.
- Compare across more than one channel.Comparison sites do not include every insurer. Check one or two direct insurers who do not appear on them.
- Then go back to your current insurer with the best quote.Retention teams frequently match or beat it. This costs one phone call and often works.
- Check whether you already have the cover elsewhere.Packaged bank accounts and some credit cards include travel, breakdown, mobile or gadget cover. Paying twice is extremely common.
- Adjust the excess deliberately.A higher voluntary excess lowers the premium, but only raise it to an amount you could pay tomorrow without difficulty.
- Pay annually rather than monthly if you can.Monthly payment is credit and carries interest, often at a significant rate. Annual payment is a genuine saving.
- Check the cover level is right rather than just cheap.Underinsuring a home or setting a contents limit too low means a claim is reduced. The cheapest policy that does not pay out is not a saving.
- Be accurate about the details.Inaccurate information can void a policy entirely. Correct job titles, mileage and occupancy matter, and 'optimising' them is a false economy.
Tips
- Adding an experienced named driver to a car policy sometimes lowers it. Adding someone who does not genuinely drive the car is fraud, so keep the distinction clear.
- Multi-policy discounts are real but not automatically the cheapest. Compare bundled against separate policies rather than assuming.
- Cancelling a policy mid-term usually carries a fee, so the renewal date is the right moment to act.
Common mistakes
- Letting a policy auto-renew — Renewal quotes are frequently well above what the same insurer charges a new customer for identical cover.
- Choosing on price alone — Excess levels, exclusions and cover limits vary enormously. A cheap policy with a large excess may cost more when claimed on.
- Not declaring something because it raises the price — It can void the policy entirely, meaning no payout at all when you need it.
Questions people ask
When is the best time to buy insurance?
Around three to four weeks before the renewal date. Quotes tend to rise as the start date gets closer, and it gives you time to compare properly.
Should I increase my insurance excess to save money?
It lowers the premium, but only raise it to an amount you could genuinely pay at short notice. An excess you cannot afford makes the policy useless when you need it.