Insurance

How to check if a car is insured

white car in foreground with blurred house in background

It’s illegal to drive without car insurance in the UK, so if you’re ever wondering “is my car insured?” it’s crucial to check. If your car isn’t insured, the penalties can be pretty expensive.

Police have seized over 2 million uninsured vehicles since 2005 and uninsured drivers cost over £2 billion to the UK economy. If you don’t check your car insurance, the police will.

Here’s all the important info you need to know.

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Is pay-as-you-go insurance the right cover for you?

pay as you go insurance
Low mileage drivers should look at pay-as-you-go insurance (Picture iStock/Kameleon007)

You might well use pay-as-you-go for your mobile phone. It does after all seem fair enough to only pay for what you use. So what about pay-as-you-go car insurance? It’s becoming increasingly popular with drivers and according to comparison site Compare the Market, a fifth of car owners could save money by insuring in this way.

How does pay-as-you-go insurance work?

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Insurance groups: what are they, who sets them and which is your car in?

insurance groups
How cars behave in crashes is fundamental to which insurance group they are in (Picture iStock/monkeybusinessimages)

If you’re thinking of changing your car, how much you pay for insurance may be important to you. To help with this, all cars sit in insurance groups. Knowing about a car’s grouping will enable you to do an accurate, back-to-back comparison with other models you might be interested in.

Read on to find out what an insurance group is and how to find out what group a car is in.

What is an insurance group?

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Car insurance premiums: why you’re paying more than ever for cover

Car insurance rises to record high average cost

Drivers of all ages are paying record amounts in car insurance premiums. And the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has warned there is no end in sight for the high cost of cover.

The reason for these spiralling prices is a cocktail of external factors. Here we look at why the cost of cover is going up, show where premiums are spent, and point the way to how drivers can save money on their motor insurance.

What’s the average price of UK car insurance?

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How to check that off-site airport valet parking is safe, secure and insured

How to check that off-site airport valet parking is safe, secure and insured

For many drivers, the easiest way to travel to the airport for a holiday is to take the car. It’s often cheaper than taking a taxi. And with family and luggage to carry, it can be less stressful than the train or coach.

Thanks to the boom in valet parking, driving lets you pull up conveniently outside departures. You can then unload and hand over the car for safe keeping at an on- or off-site location.

But with the summer holidays fast approaching, how do you tell if an airport valet parking operator is safe, secure and properly insured? Here’s what to look for.

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Check how many miles you drive each year to avoid invalid insurance

How to check how many miles you drive each year - and avoid invalidating your car insurance

If you’re unsure how many miles you drive each year, you’re not alone. More than a quarter of drivers could be guessing how far they drive and it may cost them dear, according to a survey.

The findings mean millions of drivers could be paying too much for their car insurance or, more worryingly, may be at risk of invalidating their policy.

The survey of 2,000 drivers highlighted how 27 per cent of Britain’s motorists ‘guesstimate’ how far they drive each year. It was conducted by uSwitch.

Why is it important to submit an accurate annual mileage to insurers?

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Cheaper car insurance: how to cut costs

How to cut the cost of car insurance

Buyers are urged to buy only EuroNCAP five-star cars such as the Volvo XC90

Drivers can’t do anything about lowering the cost of fuel, but they can drive more economically to save money. And so it is with car insurance: by law, we must all be insured, but there are proactive steps drivers can take to reduce the cost of cover significantly. That is good news, because insuring the car is estimated to make up around 15 per cent of an average driver’s yearly running costs, according to CAP Automotive, the vehicle valuation experts. Here are a dozen top tips to follow which can help reduce your insurance premium.

Limit your mileage

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