A Few Ways To Save Money On Your Student Car insurance Policy
Last Modified 16th of February 2021
By the time you start uni you are generally 18 or older and chances are good that you have a driving license and probably a car too and if you have been driving for a year already you are probably well and truly dependant on your new found mobility. But student life is expensive, managing your finances will be a new challenge and student maintenance loans barely cover rent and beer money never mind expensive fuel and insurance costs – in fact many students begrudgingly leave their cars at home and return to a life of walking and getting the bus.
Why So Expensive Then?
Unfortunately car insurance is expensive whether you’re a student or married with kids, thanks to the rise of no-win no-fee solicitors, whiplash claims, a bad economy, new gender non-discrimination legislation and a whole raft of other factors. But it has to be said, students are certainly amongst the most expensive people to insure. Statistically, most students, most young people and most inexperienced drivers are more likely to crash (and they often cause more expensive damage when they do too), so if you are a young student with relatively little experience you are a statistical nightmare for the insurance companies – even if you consider yourself a very safe driver.
A Few Ways To Save Money
Unfortunately the law demands that you be insured at least third party if you want to drive, so you are going to have to live with the expense. But here are a few cost saving measures you might use to save yourself money. Temporary Car Insurance A decent portion of students don’t drive and many universities actively discourage taking your car (presumably because of the space it would take up if everyone took a car), as a result almost all universities are very well served by buses and public transport and getting by without is actually pretty easy. So why not consider leaving your car at home and just getting temporary student car insurance to cover you in the holidays when you go home and will probably be travelling around more. The saving could be substantial and you’ll avoid insuring a car that you never use. Pay As You Go Insurance Again, since you will probably find yourself not needing your car during term time you could get a ‘black box’ fitted. This device will track your mileage and you will only pay a relatively small premium and an additional fee for whatever mileage you do. This means that you will pay less when you don’t use your car and more when you do. You also get the benefit that your car is covered for fire and theft even in months where you barely use it. One potential downside for students though is that night time mileage often costs more, which makes midnight trips to Tesco a bit more expensive! Be A Named Driver Of course if you find that you only really need a car during holidays then it might make most sense just to sell your car for now and become a named driver on your mum’s car insurance. Chances are it’ll be pretty cheap (she might even pay for you!) and it’ll mean you have a vehicle if you need it, but without the costs of owning and running one. Of course that all depends on how much your mum uses her car! Get A Cheaper Car I’m sticking with the theme here that you won’t use your car a lot at uni, especially when you’re living on campus. So another option to consider is selling your car and getting something cheaper. It’s only a way of getting from A to B after all, and the cheap it is the less it will be to insure and tax (generally), plus if it is inexpensive you can get third party only insurance which might be cheaper. Pay Up Front If in spite of everything you can’t bear to leave your car behind when you go away to uni, you will need to do everything you can to save money on those expensive student insurance premiums and one great way to do so is to pay up front. Paying monthly is very convenient, but you will probably find that you are paying £200 or more extra each year as a result. Your student loan comes in a lump sum each term, so you should be able to pay your insurance in a lump sum too and save yourself the interest.
