Make car insurance cheaper by changing one word

It's always good to be able to save a bit of money on your car insurance. Most people are well aware of the usual ways to do this, such as using the Internet to compare prices. However, not many people know that you could make your car insurance quote up to 33% cheaper, simply by changing one word on the form. This handy tip comes as a result of research recently conducted by confused.com. The research showed that if a 32-year-old married male who lives in Glasgow and drives a Fiat Brava described his occupation as "newspaper reporter", he would have to pay £376.22. However, if he changed his occupation description to a "journalist", his premium would decrease by nearly £100, to £282.45. There are numerous other examples of this, including the same man paying £459 if listing his occupation as a "barrister", compared to £376.22 when describing himself as a "lawyer". This results in a saving of 22%.

The logic behind this seemingly bizarre trend is simple. All motor insurance companies keep some kind of record of claims history in relation to the various job titles. If there are a multitude of claims associated with a particular job title, the motorist who chooses that job description will have to pay much higher premiums. Presumably therefore, insurers have had significantly more claims from "barristers" than "lawyers" and thus view that group as more at risk on the road. This is one of the reasons why websites such as confused.com enjoy so much success, as it is so important to shop around for car insurance. Different insurers will have differing claims experience from their rivals and thus will view certain occupations as being more or less at risk than other insurers.

Bearing all this in mind however, it is also important not to be too imaginative when describing your occupation in order to obtain a cheaper quote! If you end up lying about the nature of your job, this could invalidate a policy and could prevent a claims payout. This could have further consequences beyond leaving you considerably poorer. You may be listed as fraudulent on a central database, which can have dire effects, including affecting your credit eligibility as well as ultimately increasing insurance premiums.

Many people of course, simply cannot see why their choice of job should affect their insurance premium to such a large extent. After all, if you change career from journalist to publisher, will your driving habits really change? It all seems to boil down to risk-taking. In a similar way, life insurance companies have always quoted higher premiums for smokers, not just because they are likely to suffer health problems, but also because if they are willing to gamble their health for a nicotine kick, they are more likely to take risks in other aspects of their life. Thus, a stuntman, no matter how good a driver, is in all likelihood, going to be a risk-taker, both professionally and behind the wheel.

So, next time you're looking for car insurance, take the time to try out a few job descriptions - it could save your hard earned cash.

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