How to get cheaper car insurance in London

London is a great city, it’s a bustling hub of entertainment, shopping, culture and nightlife. It is also unfortunately the UK’s most expensive city for car insurance. The average London motorist can expect to pay £1369.61 on their car insurance policy as of January 2024. This figure increases further for those aged between 18 and 24. Young drivers can expect to pay an eye-watering £2,811.38 on average for their car insurance. So why do Londoners pay more for their car insurance? Is there a way to get cheap car insurance in London? In this article, we’ll dive into how you can save on your premiums as a London motorist by doing a simple car insurance comparison along with some other handy and effective tips.

Why is car insurance more expensive in London?

The city with the highest average earnings in the UK is the capital London. The nation’s financial centre and a major global finance hub, London attracts talent from far and wide to live and work. Whilst Londoners earn the most on average compared to other cities in the UK, it would appear they also spend the most of what they earn. According to recruitment site CV-Library, Londoners were actually the poorest in terms of disposable income despite earning the highest average salaries of £2,410.86 per month. This was due to the very high cost of living in London which offset a lot of the advantages of the higher paid salaries experienced by Londoners.

With services, products and other cost of living expenses considerably higher on average in London than elsewhere in the UK, saving on your car insurance becomes even more important for London-based motorists. Surisingly however, it is not directly due to the higher associated costs of living in London that result in more expensive premiums for London drivers. It is largely down to the rise associated with driving and parking in the city itself.

London had a population of over 8.7 million in 2021 making it the most populated city in the UK. This significantly increases the instances of traffic accidents, parking damages, theft and of course claims. Since insurers take the areas that a policyholder typically drives into account – living in a city can be a reason why your premiums are higher than someone living in the countryside. This is a trend reflected in other built-up areas in the UK as generally speaking, the greater the population and congestion of an area, the higher the risk to insurers of a claim being made. The increased average premium cost for London-based drivers is not necessarily because car insurance companies based and or operating in London are charging more for their services, rather they are raising their premiums to reflect the risks of driving in a large urban area.

Here is a breakdown of the average car insurance policy cost by region in the UK:

How to get cheaper car insurance in London

Getting cheaper car insurance as a London driver isn’t impossible. Whilst you will in all likelihood be charged a higher premium due to the fact that you will be driving and parking your car within the London area, there are still some things you can do to get the cheapest coverage possible.

1. Compare car insurance – This may seem simple but many Londoners forget to do this. Whilst allowing your existing policy to auto-renew may no longer mean that you are missing out on deals which your provider may have offered new customers as was the case in the past, it still is not the best practice for finding cheap car insurance. By comparing car insurance quotes through a comparison site you can significantly increase your chances of finding cheaper car insurance.
2. Park securely – If you have access to a garage, using this to park your car at night instead of on a public road can help to reduce your total premium cost. London has a large population and unfortunately this does mean more chances for your car to get stolen. Securing your car in a garage at night can help reduce your risk to insurers and so lower your premiums.
3. Opt for comprehensive coverage – It may sound counterintuitive but there are cases in which a comprehensive car insurance policy may actually be cheaper than a third-party-only policy. This is due to more risky drivers opting for third-party insurance by default under the assumption that it will save them money on their premiums. This can cause the price of third-party coverage to rise as insurers adjust their prices to match the risk of policyholders. That’s why you should always compare all levels of coverage when seeking out an insurance policy.
4. Consider black box insurance – A black box or telematics device essentially collects data on your driving to pass on to your insurer. Your insurer will then use this information to adjust your level of risk and this can be a good way for young responsible drivers without much of a driving history to evaluate to be offered a fairer price for their coverage. Our data shows that drivers aged between 18-24 could on average save £75 per year by having a black box insurance policy.

If you are ready to start comparing car insurance policies then Quotezone is here to help – We can help you compare over 110 UK-based insurance companies. Over 97% of reviewers recommend Quotezone for comparing insurance quotes. Save up to £504 on your car insurance premiums with Quotezone.co.uk

Get cheap car insurance here

This article is intended as generic information only and is not intended to apply to anybody’s specific circumstances, demands or needs. The views expressed are not intended to provide any financial service or to give any recommendation or advice. Products and services are only mentioned for illustrative rather than promotional purposes.

References

*https://www.cv-library.co.uk/recruitment-insight/revealed-richest-poorest-cities-uk/

**https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/londons-population

***Reference – Data from Quotezone.co.uk, this data uses a random sample of over 100,000 UK car insurance policies from January 2023 – January 2024.