Is cheap car insurance the answer?
If you look at the buying
behaviour of most people in the UK then, yes, cheap car insurance would indeed
appear to be the answer. You need no more evidence than the widespread
popularity of price comparison sites to convincingly make the case. But
what, exactly, is it the answer to?
If you select the cheapest car insurance via a price comparison
system, then so-doing is certainly the answer to: 'How can I save as
much money as possible on my UK
car insurance cover?' But, finding cheap car insurance in this way
is hardly a quality endorsement, particularly for those policies - and
there are plenty of them - that are tens of pounds less than any of the
other listed car insurance prices.
Looked at from this perspective, it begins, frankly, to look a bit
foolish to simply buy the lowest priced policy without checking to see
why it's so cheap. Clearly, as an insurer, you have to leave things out
to reduce the cost to the consumer.
The consumer that buys cheap car insurance ignorant to what's missing
from his policy has only himself to blame when, in the event of a
claim, he finds that he has to meet much more of the costs himself than
he had anticipated.
Obviously, then, on the basis of the above arguments, the blanket and
unqualified statement that cheap car insurance is the answer cannot be
sustained. That is not to say, of course, that cheap car insurance
is
not desirable. We are simply making the point that selecting cover
simply on the basis of price is unsound and risky.
If people want cheap car insurance, then, what safeguards should they
put in place if they use a price comparison service? Well, quite
clearly, you must take the time to check the policy. You need to know
the inclusions and exclusions of the associated cover.
Often, to get this level of detail, you need to look at the insurers'
own websites but this is no reason to avoid doing this sort of research
before buying a cheap car insurance policy online.
As, on the basis of arguments relating to quality of cover, a case can
be easily made for never getting the lowest priced car insurance as
identified by a price comparison site, it might be more appropriately
said that while cheap
car insurance may well be the answer, it should not be at all costs.
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