Five good ways and one less advisible way to reduce insurance costs:
- Grow up. Older drivers are seen as being less of a risk, and usually get cheaper insurance. This is especially so after you turn 40, but less so after 70.
- Get a much cheaper car. Smaller, older, less powerful, less desirable, less stealable cars cost less to insure. Driving a 12-year-old small hatchback with a 900cc 3-cylinder engine might not be cool or fun, but it should be cheaper.
- Have yourself added as a named driver on another vehicle in your household which you might occasionally be allowed to drive. This will cost the owner/policyholder a pretty penny, but it's worth it for a close family member. After 10 years as a named, insured driver, with no claims whatsoever, your own insurance should become much cheaper. (It's then worth paying a slightly increased premium to ‘protect' the “no claims" discount.)
- Some insurers may give a discount for younger drivers if you allow them to fit a “black box" to monitor your driving, with the discount increasing as you prove yourself ‘acceptable' by their standards. If you can drive around with a bowl of loose eggs on the dashboard, and never break any, this might be appropriate. (I've only driven one such vehicle: Driving over a jointed bridge deck was enough to trip its ‘aggressive driving' alarm.)
- Join the owners' club for your vehicle marque, and insure through their members' affiliate insurance. You might have extra hoops to jump through, like arranging a special valuation by club officials, and agreeing to a reduced annual mileage.
- A further option, which I do NOT recommend, is to only insure the vehicle for “Third party, fire, & theft". Downside is that if you crash, you will get absolutely nothing toward your own costs - including the value of the vehicle, loss of income, etc.
