Protecting your new wheels: considering insurance

Outside of the mortgage used to buy your home, purchasing a car is likely to rank pretty high up the list most expensive purchases for the average person. This being the case, it makes sense to take all reasonable steps to protect your new purchase. Here we look at some of the measures you can take to protect your vehicle, from clearing out the garage so that it can actually be used to house a car, to finding adequate car insurance.


Car insurance is a legal requirement for the drivers of almost all vehicles in the U.K, as is the case in much of the rest of the world. The legal minimum is third party, fire and theft cover, but this kind of insurance is less than adequate for a vehicle with any significant value. Insurance is now provided by a wide range of suppliers, from banks like Santander as well as dedicated insurers, and this competition means that you will find a huge range of deals out there. The competiveness of these deals will vary widely, but even amongst the best buys the price of this insurance is in a large part determined by the other measures you take to protect your vehicle.


Parking the vehicle off the road will automatically reduce the cost of insurance, as this lowers the risk of accidental or malicious damage. As mentioned, making this off-road parking space a garage rather than a driveway will further protect your wheels, and this fact will be recognised by car insurance companies.


Several security enhancements that you can make to the vehicle itself will also have the effect of lowering insurance premiums. Installing an insurer approved car alarm is one such measure, as is fitting an engine immobiliser. However, beyond these security enhancements, further modifications are best avoided if you want to keep the insurance affordable.


Performance modifications to your car, such as having the engine ‘chipped’, will of course make your ride faster. However, such measures are seen as creating a significant increase in the risk posed to the vehicle from collision and accident, and increased risk means inflated insurance premiums. Higher powered cars have been shown statistically to be involved in higher speed, and therefore more serious crashes. When you consider that around three quarters of car insurance claim payouts are for repairs, the subsequent increase in premiums generated by performance modifications seems more reasonable.


Perhaps slightly less understandable is the fact that cosmetic modifications to a car or van also increase insurance costs. Tinting windows and even fitting alloy wheels will increase the premium, and so if you are thinking of taking such measures it is worth checking out the insurance consequences first if you don’t want a nasty surprise. This brings us on to the next point, which is to keep your insurer informed of any modifications made, as non-disclosure can render your insurance policy worthless if you are unlucky enough to have to claim.

28-Mar-2011
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