Cheap motor insurance - to be avoided or embraced?
With the widespread use of
car insurance price comparison sites in this country, the UK's love
affair with cheap
motor insurance is well-established. Is there a case for
re-education or is this a satisfactory state of affairs?
We will start by looking at reasons why cheap motor insurance is a good
thing then consider why it may not be so good. We'll finish with our
answer to the title question.
So what's good about cheap motor insurance? Well, by definition, it's
inexpensive, and, when identified via a price comparison site, the
chances are you'll be presented with just about the cheapest prices
around.
Many price comparison sites and direct cheap motor insurance
providers make a great play of their ability to save drivers money on
their renewal quotes, often over £100. Thus, the money saved is
reason enough for many to use price comparison sites or budget direct
car insurance products routinely.
What else renders cheap motor insurance attractive? Well, if you are a
young person, someone with a previous driving conviction, someone
without any no claims bonus, or someone living in a high risk area,
then in each of these examples you can expect to pay more for your car
insurance. As a result, it would be usual for such people to work
harder to reduce costs. Comparing quotes to find the cheapest becomes
more worthwhile, as a more pragamtic approach to that cover that may be
considered essential becomes justified.
In addition, looked at from a risk perspective, if you choose very cheap
car insurance
that offers limited cover, you are much more likely to
not need to file a claim on that policy than to need to.
Thus, at the end of the year, albeit with some help from Lady Luck, you
have met your legal requirement to be insured and have saved some money
in the process.
The final point we will visit here in favour of the routine selection
of cheap motor insurance relates to a like-for-like
argument, albeit at the budget end of the spectrum. Thus, when you
select the cheapest quote via a price comparison site, as long as you
pay some attention to the cover associated with the cheapest policies,
you can generally identify a policy that represents your best
combination of cover and price.
What could be wrong with cheap motor insurance then?
Well, who would go into an electronics warehouse and buy the cheapest
TV set based only on price without considering its features and picture
quality? Very few, if any. And yet, this is the approach many in the UK
bring to selecting car insurance. In effect, to continue the analogy,
they are saying that they don't care if the TV only receives one
channel or if the picture is so fuzzy that they can't tell whether
they're watching Mary Poppins or the Cup Final.
Thus, in a nutshell, the reason why the UK's love affair with cheap
motor insurance is flawed is because quality matters. You should always
select on the basis of what you (realistically) would need in an
accident, because, road traffic accidents are extremely common and it's
simply too risky to cross your fingers and hope for the best.
Do consider going direct to any of the below-listed insurers that can
offer quality cover as standard.
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