To share my newly discovered knowledge of how to save money on your car insurance?

[apostrophewoman]

I know this isn’t an AIBU, but I’ve been driving for 38 years and only discovered this from the Martin Lewis website email I had yesterday.

Theres a link on Martin Lewis to fill your details in on Money Supermarket and it points out sections where you can make changes to reduce your quote.

For instance, my job isn’t on the list but I’ve always chosen ‘Admin’ which covers it. By choosing a different job title, while still remaining appropriate to your job, you can save all sorts of different percentages - the drop down list will tell you.

Im also feeling a bit stupid that I’ve always put in my mileage per year as my full mileage, but again, it will tell that work commute mileage doesn’t count, and in many cases your figure should also not include shopping or visiting family and friends!

So I’ve legitimately halved my mileage and changed my job description and saved about forty quid on my quotes - maybe not life changing but it’s my forty quid!

So this is not unreasonable but hopefully helpful!

Well done.

Please can you post the link to the Martin Lewis article?

thank you OP
Also going through TopCashBack!

Where exactly does it say that your milage shouldn't include commuting, or indeed shopping?

The link talks you through it and it’s also in the drop down boxes for the insurance companies, the ‘more information’ bit.

I am not sure where you, or maybe Martin Lewis, got the idea that you don't need to declare commuting, shopping or visiting friends as part of your mileage. You need to declare the total mileage a vehicle is going to cover, regardless of where you go and who's driving it (if you have named / other drivers on the policy). For many people ignoring the things you've mentioned would mean they were declaring zero miles 😂 What you don't need to declare, if you don't have that cover, is business mileage - some employers cover this for their staff. But, not all...

If you go onto his page, you can link through there under car insurance.

Maybe have a look at the info yourself before you post? I never knew this either. It goes through the Money Supermarket system for quoting and flags up sections of note.

The best tip IMO is to look for quotes when the insurance isn't due for a while.

Cheap Car Insurance Quotes – Expert Tips from Martin Lewis

YABU for not giving the link and being snitty about it, @apostrophewoman .

I’m on the app so it won’t link, and where exactly have I been snitty FFS?

I'm confused...why wouldn't commuting, plus all the other journeys count as mileage?.
You've either done the miles or you haven't, surely?

Any tips on getting learner drivers/newly-qualified drivers cheaper insurance. That’s the killer premium atm!

I think the onus is one you to provide a link to support the somewhat unusual statement you have made, not for me to go digging Since if true, for many years on one of my cars I would have declared zero milage - which is clearly not how insurers look at risk :)

It’s labelled as ‘personal mileage’ rather than commute.

Yes, me too. Those things listed are all I do, so my mileage would be zero.

This is a screenshot from Compare the Market.

Im also feeling a bit stupid that I’ve always put in my mileage per year as my full mileage, but again, it will tell that work commute mileage doesn’t count, and in many cases your figure should also not include shopping or visiting family and friends

Like others, I would be wary of this advice.

We have a car with an agreed maximum mileage policy. It means all the miles that go on the clock.

Well yes, many insurers charge extra to insure you for commuting, rather than, to use their terminology 'social, domestic and pleasure' ie shopping, visiting family and friends, cinema etc, but this is to make them look cheaper in comparison tables until you realise that premium doesn't cover you for driving to work unless you pay extra.

But they're going to want to know about all the miles you use your car for somewhere, however they classify them. You don't get to disregard the majority of the times you use your car because every weekday you drive to work, dropping DC off on the way, and picking up groceries on the way home so it's all 'commuting' rather than personal mileage.

I looked at Aviva’s webpage about mileage, and Collingwoods. Both suggest using MOT certificates or odometer readings to estimate mileage. These would obviously be total mileages. I think the OP must give a link to her information since it seems not to apply to all insurers.

. misread. But you'd need to put it in the total mileage and check that the insurer you choose agrees with CTMs definitions.

And me really, but it specifically asks for personal mileage and says this is after your mileage for
commuting and other activities. I’ve posted a screenshot but it might take a while to appear.

my dd reduced her quotes by hundreds of pounds by having me and dh as named drivers on her policy.

The forst named driver must be dd, but by including us as second named drivers her quotes went from 1, 200 to 800.

Agree to a black box, and anything else that will bring it down. The first year is the worst, it improves significantly year on year afterwrads.

Also, when thinking about a car, get the most basic car, and get a secondhand car (all cheaper) Trying to put them on our car insurance would have cost 3,000 (we drive an ancient vauxhall zafira, but quotes look at engine size etc)
For that money it was cheaper to buy and car and insure it!

and sadly for my ds, dd's quotes are half of his because boys pay more.

And this what Confused.com advises…

How can I work out my annual mileage?
To work out your annual mileage you'll need to estimate how many miles you drive in a typical week. This includes your commute, social trips, and any errands.
Once you've got a rough idea, you can multiply your weekly mileage by 52 to get your yearly estimate. It's a good idea to add on some extra miles for any extra trips you might make.

No it doesn’t, it says AFTER commuting

I think you've misunderstood what it's saying. It uses after to mean when you get in your car and drive after doing those things, eg driving home after shopping, driving home after seeing friends etc, then there's a comma and then 'commuting'. It's saying that those ARE what's included