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In most instances there are five main categories that individuals fall under when purchasing car insurance. Car Insurance Online has tested and found the best rates for each of these categories. They are as follows:

Cutting the cost of car insurance
Tired of rocketing insurance bills? Relief could be on the way at last. What’s on this page Scroll down for: - 12 top tips to reduce your premiums - Top ten factors affecting your premium - How to compare insurance quotes Premiums set to drop for internet shoppers Car owners bracing themselves for hefty increases in their insurance premiums could be in for a pleasant surprise: the industry is about to embark on an Internet-inspired price war. And that means premiums will tumble. Over the past couple of years premiums have shot up at a record rate with the market average for a comprehensive insurance premium rocketing from £507.49 at the start of 2000 to £629.04 by April 2001. But after averaging a quarterly increase of 5 per cent for the past three years, latest figures from the AA’s British Insurance Premium Index should reveal rises are slowing. The AA’s Becky Hadley said: ‘I believe the latest figures will show a quarterly increase of about one per cent and the last time we saw an increase that low was in April 1996. The Internet is having a huge affect. It is allowing insurers to return to profitability and pass that onto their customers in the form of lower premiums.’ Currently, 40 per cent of the AA’s quotes are given out on-line, tying up the time of a mere one per cent of its staff. And Paul Cheall, managing director of Internet insurance company its4me added: ‘Buying insurance on-line makes a lot of sense because it’s so convenient for the customer. As well as that, drivers can choose exactly what kind of cover they want and there’s none of the frantic sales pressure associated with a typical call centre. Customers key in all their own data and the admin savings allows insurers like us to cut premiums.’ But the message from the industry is: premiums are coming down but don’t expect a dramatic slump in prices. Suzanne Moore from the Association of British Insurers revealed: ‘Car insurance is a very delicate market. As soon as insurers show profits, they tend to bring prices of premiums down. ‘The massive decreases we saw in the late Eighties were down to telephone insurers coming in and redefining the market. We are starting to see the same firms go onto the Internet and that will cause prices to drop.’ But there are other factors to take into account. For the past few years insurance companies have been running at a loss, paying out on average £1.20 for every £1 they collect in premiums. That has come about largely because while there are fewer road accidents and there’s less car crime, there’s been an increase in the number of American-style companies encouraging people to pursue personal injury claims. In turn this has led the cost of individual claims to rocket from an average £1,082 in 1993 to £1,580 in 1999. Then there is insurance fraud. Whether it’s people dumping their cars in reservoirs and claiming they’ve been stolen, or simply having a bit of extra work done that wasn’t the result of an accident but nonetheless charging the insurance company, it costs the industry hundreds of millions of pounds a year. As well as this, one in 20 drivers don’t bother with insurance at all, according to AA figures. Smashes that they’re involved in cost the industry £215m a year. Market Analyst Datamonitor found nearly 18 per cent of drivers have switched insurance over the past couple of years. And the AA revealed that by shopping around, drivers can save £230 on comprehensive cover, a saving of 36.6 per cent. Here Carview partners its4me and the AA give you their advice to save money. 12 top tips to reduce your premiums 1 Get older: insurers offer up to 20 per cent discount for over 50s 2 Keep the number of drivers on your policy to a minimum and young drivers off it. You can save money by restricting cover to just one or two drivers, rather than going for an ‘any driver’ policy 3 Opt for a larger excess. Typically this would be £100 (£50 for windscreen damage), but if you are willing to take a higher excess, say £250, you should see a healthy reduction in premium 4 Get a garage and use it. Even off-street parking can lead to reductions 5 Fit security: alarms, immobilisers and tracking devices can cut between 10 and 20 per cent off premiums and you’ll continue to see savings in subsequent years, as you won't be making a claim for theft. But it’s worth checking the discount you may be offered as systems can be expensive and it could take several years to get payback on the outlay 6 Move out of town 7 Drive a smaller, more basic car - GTI badges and go-faster stripes bump up premiums 8 Low risk occupations help 9 Go for a low mileage policy but be aware exceeding your selected mileage can mean high penalties 10 Some insurers will offer a discount up to 10 per cent if you pass an advanced driving course like Pass Plus, the scheme for younger drivers 11 Most companies charge a fee of around 10 per cent for the convenience of paying by instalments. Pay in one go if you can. 12 You typically pay an extra five per cent on your premium to protect your no claims bonus. In the long term it can be money well spent. Top ten factors affecting your premium 1 Cover type (comprehensive, third-party, etc) 2 Age of propose 3 Type of vehicle 4 Garaging address 5 No claims bonus 6 Driving history e.g. accidents, convictions, licence held 7 Additional driver details (especially those under 25) 8 Age of vehicle 9 Class of use 10 Occupation Comparing insurance premiums Quotes from different insurance companies can vary considerably: why? 1 The insurer doesn’t want your business. For example, it might specialise in ‘safe’ risks and therefore won’t offer cover to the under-25s 2 When you have your quotes, check you are comparing like for like: Is the cover the same - comprehensive vs third party fire and theft? Would you get a courtesy car if yours was being repaired after an accident? Are you covered to take your car abroad - or will you have to pay more? Are items in your car covered - and what is the limit? Are you covered for commuting - amazingly, some policies exclude this, although it accounts for at least 50 per cent of most motorists’ miles