Fast Car Magazine | Top 6 ways to save money on insurance

1. Pass Plus – young drivers seem to be bearing the brunt of the increases.  But taking a Pass Plus test after passing the standard test can cut premiums significantly.  For example, Flux gives a discount of up to 30% for Pass Plus drivers.  Pass Plus costs vary, depending on the area, but right now, many councils are helping with the cost.  Check out www.passplus.org.uk for more information. 

2. Advanced driving courses – drivers of all ages can get a discount on insurance for passing an advanced driving course, such as those run by the Institute of Advanced Motoring (IAM), the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA) and Ride Drive.  For example, Flux will normally give at least 25% discount on insurance for drivers who take (and pass) the national Ride Drive advanced driving course, which costs from around £200. 

3. Join a club – members of car owners' clubs can get discounts of up to 15% on car insurance via their club.  There's an owners' club for just about every car marque imaginable, from a Trabant to a Micra to a Ferrari.  Flux offers special deals via thousands of different car and motorcycle owners' clubs. 

4. Up the excess – the excess is the amount of any claim that the policyholder pays before the insurance company starts to contribute.  Typically the excess will be £100 to £250 – but it's possible to get much higher excesses, which will reduce the cost of the insurance.  For example, a 20 year old driver with a VW Golf who is paying £2,500 for fully comprehensive insurance with £150 excess could cut the cost to £1,900 if the excess is increased to £1,500. 

5. Limited mileage – these schemes give a discount based on the number of miles the policy holder doesn't drive.  The less miles the driver does, the bigger the discount.  Typically owners of kit cars and classics will use these schemes – they may only drive the car 500 miles a year.  But these days brokers like Flux can offer limited mileage schemes for as much as 10,000 miles per year.  Many drivers only do a few thousand miles per year, especially if most of their driving is in town, and they will be able to take advantage.  Typically a limit of 5,000 miles will give a discount of around 20%

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