To think I shouldn’t have increased by this much?

[Heartburn888]

Looking at renewing my car insurance for the 1st of October, in the process of moving address and my insurance has rocketed £180 for the year due to this! I can’t believe it! At my current address the renewal is coming out £180 less so I know it is the area.

Just had a quick scan on google to see if there’s anyway I can get around this increase - but to no avail. Anyone has any magic ideas haha?

I am gob smacked!

So youre moving from a good area to a bad area?

I don't think that's that gobsmacking for car insurance with a change of address, is it? What proportion of your premium is it? For a straightforward renewal with exactly the same cover they wanted to put mine up by £400 one year. I went elsewhere and got it for £300 less than I had been paying (so £700 less than the renewal quote). I don't think £180 is so bad, but moving providers might be an idea anyway.

Well I don’t really have much choice and it is gob smacking to me when things are a bit tight at the minute with moving house, car insurance due and also car tax at £145! Why does it all have to happen at one time hahaha

You could always stop driving and catch the bus 🤪. I have no idea how anyone can afford to drive.

Is there anything you will be doing differently at the new house? Parking on a drive or in a garage for example?

It won't make a huge dent in the price, but both of these have previously lowered my renewals.

Shop around, never just renew with the same company as they always go higher. If you really like the company you are with, use the other quotes to negotiate with them.

Can't you pay your car tax and insurance monthly? It might make it a bit more manageable.

I have no idea how anyone can afford to drive

For a lot of people it's far cheaper than using public transport, plus much quicker.

The only thing you can do is shop around as much as possible - dull but may be worth it. Look on Moneysavingexpert for an explanation of how to do it most effectively.

It's not necessarily whether areas are 'good' or 'bad'. Sometimes the nicest areas have high crime rates for car theft and burglary because they are targetted because thieves know people have nice cars and other expensive property and may be a bit lax on security because they live in a good area.

Or there might be a lot of crashes in your new area if it means you are likely to drive on a particularly dangerous road.

When do you move?

I'd set up your insurance at your current address then just pay the admin fee (normally about £25) to change address when you change your driving license etc over 🤷‍♀️

Areas good high theft or car damage cost more in insurance because of higher claims, that's just how it is I'm afraid. You can look at other company charges instead, or find a garage for parking.

@AmIThough when the op rings to change address, the premium will also change at that time. Plus probably the added bonus of an admin fee too. Sadly no way round it, other than shop around?

Ours went up by a grand

This happened to me - with a £300 difference (only started driving a couple of years ago, so a big jump in already expensive insurance). Was surprised cos I was moving from to a 'naice', 'leafy' suburb, but it's in one of the most expensive car insurance areas in the UK apparently!

Have you used comparison sites to see if you can get a better price?

. I have no idea how anyone can afford to drive.

If I didn't drive, I couldn't get to work. Not everyone lives in an area with good access to buses. They go every 2hrs from here and the last one is at 8pm

@Minnie747 not if the policy has already started - they'll only charge the admin fee (in my experience anyway, and I didn't do it to con them out of an extra £180 )

Yeah this from a comparison site.

I did have a similar experience @AmIThough, I thought I had 5 years no claims but actually had 4 and I was terrified that my insurance was going to up loads but it was only an extra £20 per month.

I am going to start paying my car tax on monthly dd as well it spread the cost a bit so thanks for that suggestion.

'Only' an extra £20 pm is £240 per year. That's loads.

Try to avoid paying for car insurance monthly, because they usually charge it at a really high interest rate. Car tax costs more too when paid monthly, but it's not a huge amount extra.

If you have a credit card, it's usually cheaper to put insurance on that, especially if you can balance transfer it to an interest free one, or even just use it to spread the cost over a few months, but not a full year.

I have no idea how anyone can afford to drive

Because they have enough money to do so.

(I knew that Masters in Economics would come in handy one day)

@Lifecraft

I got a £135 refund on my car Ins when I moved house 🙈

Our insurance company actually had to give us a refund when we moved.

Is there anything you can change? My renewal quote had a big increase and I asked if they could reduce it at all. I reduced the annual mileage and saved £70.

When I use confused.com & go compare the difference is about £80 with the same insurer.

So Halifax would be £200 on go compare & for the same cover with Halifax but on confused.com its £280.

Strange but true.

Can you add a named driver @Heartburn888 , as this can often bring down the cost.