When you buy a car, even if you pay cash for the car, one of the largest expenses you will have is the insurance. Yes, if you have a “lemon” of a car, repairs and maintenance can also be a huge expense, but the monthly insurance premium does not go away. If you want to drive your car on UK roadways and motorways, you are required by law to have insurance.
Drive without insurance, and yabba dabba doo, you will be fined and your car impounded.
The Biggest Mistake or Trick We Do To Lower Our Car Insurance
I am not including this little magic act in the 8 mistakes or ways we could have an insurance claim denied because it is not really a mistake, but an overt act, and we knowingly do this, and that is using someone else’s address for our car insurance.
Insurers use post codes to rate car insurance policies and the policy’s premium.
Some post codes have higher rates of thefts, and car accidents, other post codes may have lower rates of thefts and accidents.
Insurers want to know where a car is parked at night for insurance reasons, and to rate the policy. By using a different address than your own, you may be able to lower your insurance costs, but technically this is fraud. Should you need to place a claim later on, that claim could be denied, leaving you well out of pocket.
So what are the 8 mistakes we as drives can make that could invalidate our car insurance and have a claim denied?
8 Mistakes to Invalidate Your Car Insurance
- Wearing the wrong footwear: If you drive wearing flip flops, or something like high heels, these can be considered not proper footwear to be driving in, and make driving and reaction times if in an accident higher.
- Unlocked cars: If you fail to lock your car, and it is stolen of vandalised, a claim could be denied. Most cars these days have electronic locks, so locking a car is as easy as pushing a button, and hearing the chirp, chirp.
- Car maintenance, MOT, and tax disc: These need to be kept current. Driving without a current tax disc, and MOT is illegal in the UK. Should you have an accident due to your car not being properly maintained, a claim could be denied.
- Hey buddy, take my car: Lending your car to friends or family is not a wise idea. Your insurance probably does not cover them, and even if they say “my insurance covers me for all cars”, it may not. Most insurance policies do not cover all cars, just the one the driver lists on the policy.
- Hanging items from the rear-view mirror: Items such as fuzzy dice on the rear-view mirror obstruct your vision, and can be considered a hazard.
- Underestimating your annual mileage: If you drive to work each day and it is 10 miles round trip, for an average year, that alone is 2,500 miles for working 50 weeks out of the year. Then you have other trips and driving. If you underestimate your mileage to save money, a claim could be denied.
- Not updating any changes: Changes in your details, getting married, changing jobs, all need to be updated with your insurer. It may seem like a little thing, but your details need to be updated.
- Driving with pets: Driving with pets in the car is not a bad thing, unless they are allowed to roam free. Pets in cars need to be secured. There have been many an accident due to the fact a dog or cat was roaming free in a car.
As you can see, some of these mistakes are innocent enough, but still enough to have an insurance claim denied.