The cheapest cars to insure

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Ferrari vs. Ford

The most significant way you can reduce the cost of your car insurance is to make sure that your car is cheap to insure. Most of us have an idea that a Ferrari is going to be much more expensive to insure than a Ford but what about all the other cars in-between and what are the cheapest cars to insure?

Insurers classifications

When insurers decide how much your car should cost to insure it's not just a guessing game. All cars are placed in categories numbered 1-50. The cheaper your car is to insure, the lower the category number, simple as that. It's worth remembering that while these categories are defined by the Association of British Insurers, they can be changed by individual insurers themselves. But don't worry, you won't suddenly find your 1.1 litre run around is classed alongside a sports car.

So, what car should I be buying?

With hundreds of cars on the market, it would be almost impossible to print an exhaustive list of all the cheap cars to insure that you could buy. But, here is an example of how some cars are categorised:

Cheap

Fiat Punto
Ford Fiesta
Volkswagen Polo
Peugeot 106
Renault Clio

Mid-range

Peugeot 307
Vauxhall Astra
Toyota Corolla
Land Rover Freelander
Audi A3

If you know even just a little about each of these cars it's not hard to see the features that get them put in their categories. But, for more information, read on.

Cheap cars to insure

A rule of thumb is that if your car was cheap to buy in the first place then it's usually quite cheap to insure. But buying price isn't the only way insurers decide how to classify a car.

Insurance companies are most interested in how much a car is going to cost in repairs if the owner makes a claim. Nearly three quarters of the money insurers pay out goes on repairs - the cheaper and simpler your car is to repair, the more likely it is that your premium will be low.

Also, insurers are interested in how secure your car is. If you have an alarm, immobiliser or tracker then you will find your premium is lower. Even if your car is not of a high value, it is worth considering having these fitted. The newer your car is, the more likely it is to have these devices fitted.

One other thing to consider is that your sports car may look fantastic but you will have to be prepared for a high insurance cost. Insurers will penalise cars with greater acceleration and top speeds because they are statistically involved in more accidents.

Fast tracking your insurance

Whatever car you want to insure, uSwitch can help you. Our comparison service is free and impartial and we search a huge range of car insurance providers to help you find cheap car insurance.