Getting insurance quotes

Insurance markets change all the time and you can save quite a lot of money by shopping around for the best quote. Certain types of insurance, like home, car, health and general liability insurance, have to be renewed every year. Your insurance company must send you a renewal notice at least 20 days before your renewal date, giving you the chance to shop around for the best policy. Remember, the policy offering the lowest premium may not always be the best value for money.

If you are buying long-term insurance policies, such as life insurance, you should consider your needs carefully and shop around for insurance that suits you and gives you long-term value.

Shopping around

The two main ways to buy insurance are directly from an insurance company or through a broker. The premium for an identical policy with the same company may be different, depending on whether you buy it directly from the company or through a broker. Brokers may have special deals or may be able to provide a quotation from a specialist insurer in Ireland or Europe.

You can get quotations online or by telephone but you may get special rates if you buy insurance online as the costs to arrange it can be lower.

When you are shopping around for insurance, don’t forget to bargain. If you get a good quote from one company it is often work checking if your existing insurer is prepared to match it or do better, in order to keep your business.

Remember when you get a quote from a firm, this is usually only valid for a certain amount of time, so make sure to ask the insurer.

Take note of exactly how much extra you are paying if you decide to pay your insurance by instalments. By law, you must be told the cost of credit and the APR. The APR allows you to compare the cost of paying by instalments with different providers.

If you are part of a group insurance scheme, through your job or other associations, you may be able to get better value than as an individual.