There are so many extras that can be added to a car insurance policy – from windscreen cover to protection for your keys – so work out in advance which are most important to you.
Here is a list of questions you want to get answers to before taking out your car insurance:
- What is the total policy excess? (This will be the voluntary and compulsory excesses added together.)
- Does the policy include legal expenses and breakdown cover?
- Is the full car insurance extended to driving in Europe? How long for?
- Does it cost extra to extend the cover to Europe? How much?
- Is the breakdown cover also extended to Europe?
- Does the policy include a courtesy car? (Not all comprehensive policies include courtesy cars by default.) For how many days am I entitled to a courtesy car?
- Can I use my own chosen repairer or must I use an insurer-approved garage? If I use my own one, do I still get a courtesy car?
- How many windscreen claims can I make in a year? What is the windscreen excess? (The windscreen excess is typically different to the excess for other damage.)
- How many windscreen claims can I make before it affects my no-claims bonus? (You should expect the answer to be that your no-claims bonus will never be reduced, regardless of how many windscreen claims you make.)
- Is the no-claims bonus protected? How many more claims can I make this year before it's no longer protected?
- How much does it cost to make changes during the middle of the policy (for example when you move house or buy a new car)?
- Does the policy include loss-of-keys cover?
- Do I have the driving-other-cars extension?
- You won't necessarily get all of the above benefits in any one policy, but you can make sure the features that are important to you are included.
Most insurers have a variety of policies and sometimes they vary their terms and conditions based on a customer’s circumstances, so read the details carefully. To set about getting the policy features you want and to compare insurers, see car-insurance deals on Confused.com.
