Why do Car Insurance premiums increase?
Renewing your Car Insurance is far from exciting, but it’s important that you make sure you have the right level of cover in place, should anything go wrong.
There are a number of reasons why the cost of your Car Insurance might go up when it comes to renewal time. We’ve answered some of your most-asked questions to help you insure with confidence when renewing your Car Insurance.
Why has my Car Insurance gone up?
Your Car Insurance price is based on a series of ‘risk factors’, which can include anything from where you live, to how many miles you drive each year. If any of these risk factors have changed, your price might go up. External factors, such as fraud, can also have an impact.
Also, bear in mind that different insurers may offer different prices because they take different risk factors into account.
When it comes to renewal time, Swinton does the hard work for you by searching for a suitable quote from our panel of carefully-selected insurers, which includes well-known names such as AXA and Aviva. Plus, all the insurers we work with are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, giving you extra peace of mind.
Does my Car Insurance increase at every renewal?
At Swinton, your renewal price is based on the cover level you had the previous year, so remember to tell us if there have been any changes to your circumstances – any differences may mean there’s a change to the cost of your Car Insurance premium.
We like to keep things simple by offering you three levels of Car Insurance: Essentials, Classic and Premier. When you’re looking to renew, make sure you carefully check your documents to see if the cover level still suits your needs and gives you all the features and benefits you want.
Will an accident cause my Car Insurance to go up?
If you’re unlucky enough to be caught up in a car accident, you may find that your Car Insurance premium goes up, even if the accident wasn’t your fault. If the accident was your fault, be prepared, as an at-fault claim can have a big impact on the cost of your cover.
Even if you’ve never actually been in a car accident yourself, you may find that a rise in other drivers getting into accidents can have a detrimental effect on Car Insurance premiums overall.
How much will points on my licence increase my Car Insurance by?
Having any sort of driving conviction, whether it’s for speeding or drink-driving, can result in the cost of your Car Insurance increasing, often quite significantly. The more serious the offence, the more likely you are to be paying more for your renewal for years to come.
Your Car Insurance premium may well come down if you end up taking a rehabilitation or awareness course, however this isn’t always the case. The best course of action is to be the best driver you can be, and avoid any mishaps.
Economic and market factors can make a difference
Even if all of your personal circumstances have stayed the same and you haven’t made a claim, the cost of your Car Insurance renewal might still go up, due to economic and market factors that are out of your control.
These additional factors include:
- Insurance Premium Tax (IPT): This is an additional tax that the Government adds to all insurance policies, which went up to 12% in 2017.
- Serious injury compensation (known as the Ogden Rate): This calculates how much compensation is paid out in the event of serious accidents. It has recently changed, so that insurer costs, and consequently insurance prices, have gone up.
Plus, the number of fraudulent claims and uninsured drivers on the road can push up everyone’s prices.