A huge number of people spend large chunks of trying to find cheaper car insurance. What the majority of people don’t figure out however is that your postcode can have a major impact on your insurance premiums. Whether you’re after yearly cover or a one day insurance package, where you live will inevitably have an impact on the price of your policy.
Insurers will often use your postcode to help determine your risk level, and therefore how much to charge for your cover. If you live in what they have classed a ‘high risk’ postcode, you could find you end up paying a high insurance premium.
Most people don’t realise just how much of an impact where you live has on your premium, and you might well be shocked to find out how much of a difference your postcode is having. You may want to experiment and find out for yourself. Go and find a site now which will allow you to come away with an instant car insurance quote, inputting the same details twice, changing only your postcode. You’ll find the price of the policy goes up considerably when you’re trying to insure a car in London.
Prices will go up like this because of higher a higher likelihood of crime in certain areas. People living in those areas are far more likely to make a claim on their insurance, hence the increased rate. Manchester, London, Oldham, Hull and Doncaster are amongst the highest risk areas in the country, and are likely to see the highest insurance premiums.
If you happen to live in one of these ‘high risk’ areas, it might be worth seeing if you can keep your car parked at someone else’s address in order to lower your insurance premium. Admittedly this won’t be feasible for everyone, but some people may be able to do this. If you can keep your car at an address in a lower risk area, your provider should drop the price of your premium.
If you’re planning on spending a short amount of time (a week, fortnight, etc) in a higher risk area and you will be taking your car, it might work out better to take out a temporary car insurance policy from a different insurer. You may think this is an extra long term expense, but if you do need to claim on your policy you’ll find that having a seperate short-term policy will mean your usual policies’ no-claim bonus will remain unaffected.