Tips to Slash Car Insurance Costs For New Year

January is the month in which many of us are motivated to get our finances in order. If you're one of those people then use these five tips as a simple checklist to ensure you've taken every step you can to drive your car insurance costs down.

- Tip one: Check your policy - Ensure you're not paying for policy options you don't really want or need. For example are there named drivers on your policy that no longer use the car? Are you paying for business use of the car when you only use it for commuting and domestic use?

- Tip two: Declare your security steps - Have you added a car alarm or immobiliser to your vehicle to reduce the chance of theft? Do you park in a garage overnight rather than on the street and do you use a well-lit secured parking area during the day? If so, then make sure your car insurance provider has been informed as discounts may be available.

- Tip three: Provide accurate personal details - If you've changed your job, address, or any other personal circumstances then make sure your car insurance provider has been informed. It could be that your new job is deemed less of a risk than your previous employment - perhaps because you drive fewer miles - or that your new address is in an area with lower crime. Getting married too could save you money on your car insurance as you will be deemed a more responsible driver. So if your circumstances have changed, let your car insurance provider know.

- Tip four: Assess your excess - The higher your voluntary excess is, the lower your premiums will be. So think about what you could comfortably afford in the event of an accident and adjust your policy accordingly.

- Tip five: Analyse the market - Make sure you compare car insurance policies from other providers whenever your renewal date is close.

Most car insurance companies offer their best deals to new customers so consider taking advantage of these deals by switching.

Cheap Car Insurance For Imported Cars

Many of us choose to import cars because retail prices nationally are so high. However, the money saved on buying a car from overseas can quickly be negated by high car insurance costs unless you are careful.

Imported cars such as the Toyota Estima, Eunos Roadster and Mitsubishi Pajero are often deemed more of a risk to insurers because the car insurance companies are not necessarily familiar with the vehicles in question. Their parts may be more difficult to find, repair costs may be higher and they may not be well-suited to UK roads. All of this mounts up to more risk for the insurer and higher premiums for the consumer.

High car insurance costs particularly apply to grey imports. These are vehicles that have not been built to European standard and are not EU approved. As such it's normally worth finding a car insurance quote before you buy the vehicle outright as costs can be derisory. Parallel imports - vehicles with right-hand drive that are bought outside the UK - carry less risk as they are normally built to UK standards and finding car insurance cover should be more straightforward.

So how can you find cheap car insurance for grey imports and parallel imports?

The first step is to ensure you're getting a thorough overview of the market. Several mainstream insurers offer specialist imported car coverage so use a comparison website to compare deals. Also shop around on the web for specialist insurers that may offer unique policy options that are better suited to your vehicle type.

Make sure the modifications to the vehicle are limited. If you simply want a cheaper car from overseas then pick a right-hand drive car with no additional changes - the more modifications that are made, the higher your premiums are likely to be.

Ask a prospective car insurance provider about discounts too. Security is often seen as a crucial feature for imported cars and you may enjoy cheap car insurance if you can fit a Thatcham security device or other approved alarm or tracker system to the vehicle.

Income Protection Insurance Can Ease Financial Stress

Losing your income can cause a great deal of financial stress. Accidents can happen at anytime and depending on the type of accident you could find yourself having to take several weeks or even months off from work. While your employer might pay sick pay in many cases this is nothing compared to the income you are used to bringing in. The same would apply to if you came down with an illness that kept you from earning your own living or if you lost your job entirely due to redundancy. Income protection insurance could ease your financial stress by providing you with a replacement income.

The replacement income you received from your policy would provide you with the sum you insured against when taking out the cover. Providers will ask you how much of your income you want to protect, up to a certain amount each month. The premium charged will reflect this along with your age when applying. Standalone providers offer the cheapest premiums and you need to shop around and compare quotes as they do differ greatly. You also need to get as much information as possible regarding the policy you are considering taking out. The terms and conditions will state any exclusions that need to be met along with when the cover would begin and end.

All income protection insurance policies will only payout for so long once they have started. Your policy could begin after you have been unemployed or incapacitated for just 30 days. However some policies will state that you have to wait as long as 90 days before being able to claim. The terms and conditions also vary with how long; some policies will pay out each month for 12 months while with others you might get a payment each month for 24 months.

An income protection policy would provide you with the income to ensure that you would be able to carry on with the commitment of your mortgage. You have to ensure that you are able to maintain your mortgage because if not you could be looking at having it repossessed by the lender. You would only have to miss one repayment and you would be breaking the contract you signed with your lender. If you cannot come to an agreement to catch up on what you owe, then your lender will have to start legal proceedings. The income provided by income protection would mean that you would have the money in the bank when it was needed and not have to fear about getting into arrears.

Of course you would also be able to pay your other outgoings with your income protection insurance which could include loan repayments. Being able to maintain the commitments of your loan would mean that at the very least you would get a mark on your credit rating. This could make getting a loan in the future extremely hard and might even mean that you have to take on a bad credit loan which comes with higher interest rates. You would be able to relax and concentrate on getting well or going out and finding work again knowing that at least your financial commitments are taken care of.

Consider Unemployment Insurance to Provide an Income

Unemployment insurance can be a very valuable asset to have in your corner if you should find yourself without an income to fall back on each month. If you lost your income you would perhaps have to juggle around with the little money you had coming in. You might even have to risk missing a couple of payments and then you could really be struggling to catch up.

Unemployment can happen for many reasons, redundancy is a common occurrence and if you have payments to make each month such as mortgage, loan or credit card then how would you manage if you were out of work for many weeks or months. Jobs can be hard to come by and they can be even harder when looking for one that meets your salary and expertise. You would not want to be worried about your bills while you were out looking for work as this could impede your search. Unemployment insurance would allow you peace of mind during your search for work so you could concentrate. There are different forms of insurance to choose from to guard against unemployment depending on your circumstances; you can get cover for a loan, mortgage or your income.

If you are worried about where to find the money to continue paying your mortgage then you need to think about mortgage payment protection. A policy can be taken out just for unemployment or you can choose to pay more to cover accident, sickness and unemployment together. The premium for a policy would be based on the amount of your income that you want to protect each month and how much of your monthly mortgage repayment you wish to protect. Once you had cover behind you if you become unemployed you would have to wait for so many days before being able to claim. Some providers ask you wait for around 30 days while with others it can be as much as the 90th day. Upon commencement of the policy you would then have an income each month that was tax-fee for a certain length of time before the policy would end. Some providers offer a policy that would run for 12 months. Others could offer protection for 24 months.

For those who worry about loan payments each month or credit card repayments then loan payment protection could provide them with the money needed to be able to continue meeting their outgoings. A policy could be taken out to cover the amount that you pay for your repayments each month and this would be the sum you would get. If you wanted to protect up to so much of your own income each month then income payment protection taken as unemployment insurance would allow you a replacement income. You are able to use this to pay your mortgage, loan, credit card and other essential outgoings each month. You would also be able to pay bills that come into the home on a regular basis such as the grocery bill, heating, lighting, water and council tax bills.