Car insurance online

The Internet is probably the most powerful and useful innovation in history and it can be used for everything from communication to entertainment. When it comes to shopping, the web is often where you can find the most choice and the most savings. This is perhaps most true when it comes to buying car insurance online. With so much choice, though, and the amount of terminology and criteria associated with car insurance, the process can quickly become confusing. Here are a few things to consider when shopping for car insurance online.

Decide what policy you need

Despite there being just three main types of policy offered by UK providers – fully comprehensive, third party fire and theft and third party only – there are plenty of combinations of these policies available. You need to determine what it is you want from your policy or you could end up paying too much or being caught out when you need to make a claim.

First of all, decide which drivers need to be insured on your car and how they should be insured. If you have teenagers in your family who have perhaps just recently passed their test then they need to be included as named drivers on your policy. However, as teenagers, particularly male teenagers, present the highest risk group for insurance companies, you should be aware of the fact that should a named motorist on your policy need to make a claim, this can affect the cost of your renewal as well as the no claims discount you’re entitled to. If you have a substantial discount to protect or the new driver will only need the car for a short period of time, consider getting them their own short-term car insurance policy so as not to put yourself at risk, too.

Then you can decide what sort of policy you need – fully comprehensive is obviously the one most drivers would like as this can provide for everything, but if the car to be insured isn’t particularly valuable or new, paying relatively high premiums can be false economy as it could work out cheaper to replace the vehicle yourself if you need to. Similarly, third party insurance might be the cheapest but could leave you with hefty bills to pay.

By buying car insurance online, you will be offered a plethora of optional extras; these can include everything from windscreen replacement, breakdown cover and the ability to drive overseas. Consider whether or not you will need these at all before deciding to buy them.

Finding the best deal

Every major insurance provider now has a significant presence online, but by going to each and every one of them and inputting your details, the process can quickly become tedious. Instead, go to a car insurance comparison website and input your requirements just once – this will reduce your options down to just a few that can meet your requirements.

Don’t just use the Internet to buy your car insurance online though; once you have filtered your options down to just a few, use one of the many review websites online to see what other customers’ experiences have been and make an informed decision as possible.