I posted a while back on the Insurance forum, but it's relevant here so it's below:
With most mainstream insurance companies these days it's just a flowchart system on their website, once you work out the cheapest options (that do apply to you) then it can come down quite a lot.
My insurance history is:
Age - Car - Engine Size - Position on policy and policy type - Price paid
17 - Toyota Aygo - 1.0 - named driver FC - £700
18 - Toyota Aygo - 1.0 - policy holder with 2 crashes (of which 1 I was seen at fault) FC - £1400
19 - Toyota Aygo - 1.0 - policy holder FC - £900
20 - Ford Focus - 2.0 - policy holder FC - £1400
21 - Ford Focus ST - 2.5 turbo - policy holder FC - £670
22 - Ford Focus ST - 2.5 turbo - policy holder FC - £518
New car
22 - Audi S3 saloon 2.0 turbo - policy holder - £518
Best ways to lower insurance premiums that I've found:
2 named drivers over 25 with no crashes or convictions - That doesn't mean that the individual needs to be a family member or even live in the same house as you. I have my mum and my uncle on mine (dad wrote off the family car 2 years ago).
Access to another vehicle - Insurance companies won't know whether you have access to another vehicle, you might use one for work. Personally, I drive MoD vehicles as part of my voluntary work.
Car kept overnight on street outside home - Parking on the drive is more expensive because if thieves break into your home and take your car keys they immediately know which car is yours as it's on the drive. I now park my car outside on the road.
Pass plus or IAM - If you have done pass plus or advanced motoring then add that on under your license.
Amend your voluntary excess - my voluntary excess is set to £500 with compulsory of £200 (might be £250 can't remember). It's not every day you crash your car so if you can afford it (which with an Audi one might assume you could being a premium brand and all) then perhaps consider raising your voluntary excess.
Choose a good insurance company for young drivers - I've found that the best insurance companies for young people are Elephant and Admiral. I know they're the same company, but they have different prices. Elephant are better for paying the whole year at once. Admiral are better at paying monthly. Also Elephant and Admiral don't want 5 years history for crashes, only 3; very useful when you're 20/21 and crashed when you were 17.
Use the price comparison websites - Once you have your price from the insurance company put the exact same details into the price comparison websites. Everyone will get different prices, however having spent about what must be at 20-30 hours looking at insurance prices in my spare time in the past few months I've found that compare the market is the best comparison website.
Negotiate on the phone - Once you have your new quote from your online price comparison website call the insurance company up with the reference number. They will match your current quote to the one you did online. Once they've done that ask what else they can do. Be polite and cheerful, not to the point where you're clearly brown nosing or almost asking them on a date, but it's a lot easier for someone in a customer service role to help a polite and happy person than a dull/unenthusiastic/boring/potentially rude person.
I changed my car from a Ford Focus ST to an Audi S3 a few weeks ago and after talking to the lady on the phone for about 20 minutes she said that she could match the price, which was about £150 difference in favour of the Ford.
Get a quote a few months before your policy renews- This one saved me £550 at my last renewal. When insurance companies send your renewal through they'll do their best to get as much money from you as they can. Last year my insurance was £670, the renewal came through at £1100, which is obviously wrong. Get a quote way before your renewal comes through. Insurance prices fluctuate a lot. Even though there are reports of insurance premiums coming down that doesn't mean that yours necessarily will. Get a quote about a month/2 months before you renew your policy and if the quote is cheaper than the renewal quote and the quote at the time of renewal then most insurance companies will honour the quote which was done a month/2 months before.
Let me know if this was useful for you.
