Should I compare car insurance or go direct?

Price comparison sites are popular. There is no other way to compare car insurance from so many providers and car owners routinely save money when they use these systems to find their cover in the UK.

It is important to use a car insurance comparison service that is not only powerful, checking well over a hundred companies, but which also provides policy information in order that consumers can aim to match their needs to specific policies. Gocompare is one of the more popular price comparison sites in the UK and it provides this level of power and the ability to identify those policies that meet your must-have requirements.

If you are not sure which policy features you need to include, this excellent policy features checklist with explanatory notes will help you. Use of their checklist allows you to draw up your own list of must-have cover.

So, to use a comparison site safely, you need to know exactly what you need from your cover, use a powerful quote system that helps you to match specific car insurance policies to your needs, and, you must be willing to pay enough to obtain this level of cover even where it is considerably more than the cheapest quote presented.

There are those that use a price comparison site to save as much money as possible. Some pay scanty regard to the associated cover and may not have worked out in advance what they need to get from their policy. These car owners are at risk of getting a very 'no frills' polciy that can have a high excess and very limited cover. Such cover may be attractively cheap but if a claim is needed, the policyholder needs to pay out much more himself. As a result, in most cases, such cover is better avoided.

When used correctly, as outlined above, price comparison sites can be a good way to match your needs to a specific car insurance policy but it is easy to make a poor choice of cover too, something you can expect if you are over-focused on saving money.

Price comparison sites are especially useful for those drivers expecting costly cover - drivers that are treated as high risk by car insurance companies. These include young drivers as well as those that have had recent claims and those living in an expensive to insure postcode.

Some major car insurance companies do not work with price comparison sites. If you want a Direct Line car insurance quote, for example, you need to get it direct from them. Many do just that as Direct Line maintains a major market share in the UK.

Why would anyone want to go direct to a major brand, though, when they can so easily compare car insurance using a price comparison site? Well, low risk drivers - and they are the majority of motorists - have no need to pick their cover from among the most 'no frills' policies when, by paying just a bit more, they can get cover that can be relied upon in an accident, something that cannot be easily said of the most 'no frills' policies.

This means that the over-25 year old driver, with a clean license and no recent claims is likely to find the 'standard' cover offered by major brands attractive as it is exactly the kind of cover that leaves no major gaps and tends to serve drivers well if it is needed.

If the last point is accepted, then there is a strong case for going direct to a major car insurance company on the basis of the quality of the cover provided. But what about the cost? Won't you pay too much if you do not compare motor quotes from lots of providers?

Actually, when you buy from a major brand, because they command a large share of the UK car insurance market, this market dominance is only possible if they offer competitive pricing; so even if you do not compare similar policies from other providers, there is no need to assume that pricing, for what you get, will be excessive.

As we outlined in the above section, avoidance of the cheapest car insurance policies is generally prudent; so there is no major financial reason to avoid going direct to buy car insurance online if you select from top brands as, for instance, are conveniently listed in the car-insurance-uk-supermarket cheap car insurance section.

Other advantages of going direct (compared to using a car insurance comparison site) include the shorter quote form; the ready availability of full policy details; accurate pricing; the lack of a need to look over lots of unsuitable policies; the lower risk of choosing unsuitable cover; and the reassurance of going to a trusted major brand.

Most policies do not include legal expenses cover although some do. It can be easily added for the cost of around £20 and it typically provides up to £100,000 of cover for uninsured losses following a road traffic accident. These losses include recovering your excess, meeting the cost of credit car hire and any legal fees incurred in pursuing a personal injury claim.

Because changes to the law in the UK will change how lawyers are remunerated in 'no win, no fee' cases, the need for legal expenses cover is greater than before. As a result of these Jackson Report recommendations that will lead to any legal success fees being drawn from the damages award rather than from the defending car insurance company, the motorist now needs to take out this 'before the event' insurance cover to avoid needing to pay legal costs himself.

Because increasing the excess reduces the cost of an accident for insurers, it is widely believed that if the excess is increased then this will result in a lower premium.

Indeed, in most cases, the premium is reduced but it is rarely by much and in some cases, it actually increases the premium. This is because drivers that raise their excess are more likely to claim.

In some cases, the price comparison site will add a 'voluntary' excess to reduce the cost of some of the policies shown, so it is important to check out the size of the excess for every policy presented to avoid a later shock if you do need to claim.

Because the young driver is treated as high risk by car insurance providers, the premium is high, routinely £3,000-£6,000 or even more. Paying monthly can increase the cost further by up to 10%.

There are various approaches the young driver can take to reduce his premium. These include buying a low car insurance group car; adding an over 25 as a second driver (but not as primary driver, a process known as 'fronting'); capping the annual mileage; improving in-car and out-of-car security; accepting relatively 'no frills' cover; avoiding customization of the vehicle; and shopping around via a price comparison site or a specialist young driver broker or, for the safe driver, using pay as you drive telematics to reduce the premium, all available at the car-insurance-uk-supermarket..