At Tesco Compare we give you access to some of the best UK deals for all your insurance and personal finance needs. However, there are other ways we can help too. Here we take a look at car insurance and show you how to drive the cost of your cover down by using just a little know how!

1. How are you paying for your car insurance?
If you are paying for your motor insurance via monthly direct debit, you could be charged a small fee on top of the annual premium for the convenience of making payments this way. Look for insurers who do not penalise you for paying by this method or, if you have the annual premium sat in your bank account, make a one off payment for your car insurance.

2. Increase your excess
Your policy ‘excess’ is the amount that you would have to pay out in the event of a claim on your insurance, whether an accident is your fault or not. Most insurers will have a standard excess that you have to agree to pay, but you can increase the excess voluntarily and get a small discount on the cost of your insurance. Of course, you should bear in mind that if you do elect to pay an increased excess, you will have to find this money yourself if a claim is made.

3. Make your vehicle secure
By upping the security on your car (such as fitting an immobiliser or tracking device), you can often get discounted premiums as your car is at less risk of being stolen. Do check with an insurer before you buy any security to see what alarm systems are approved and how much discount you would get.

4. Drive safely
Things like speeding and other driving related offences (such as using a mobile phone without a hands free device while driving) can cause your car insurance premiums to soar. You may also find that some providers will even refuse to insure you if you have a history of bad driving. So stick to the speed limits, drive carefully and don’t break the law!

5. Modified vehicles
By modifying your car in anyway, such as adding a spoiler or new seats, you could end up paying more for your cover. Resist the urge to ‘soup up’ your vehicle and keep modifications to a minimum if you don’t want to pay over the odds for your car insurance.

6. Have named drivers only
By restricting the amount of people who drive your car, you will get cheaper premiums.

7. Shop around
Yes, it’s that old chestnut! But it’s true, by shopping around for your car insurance and comparing policies on a like for like basis, you can often make quite substantial savings on the cost of the cover. Using the Tesco Compare car insurance service for example, is free and easy. It only takes a few minutes to provide a long list of motor insurance policies that you can then browse to find the best deal for you.