Speciality car insurance

A lot of us think that the kind of car insurance we buy is going to be the same as everybody else’s. But, many insurance companies create speciality car insurance policies, often with extra benefits for the policyholder. These specialist areas range from policies for female drivers to policies for classic car owners.

Insurance providers calculate policies using all the information you give them, to decide on the kind of risk you present to them as a company. This can mean looking at anything from your gender to how many driving convictions you have. But, not every insurer uses the same criteria to decide how much your policy should cost – which is why there are often large differences between the quotes you get for policies.

Some insurers provide insurance policies for specific groups, as this can often be just as beneficial for them as catering for all drivers. For example, some companies specialise in car insurance just for women, stating women’s policies will be cheaper through them, because statistically women make smaller claims than men.

Companies also specialise in insurance for:

• young drivers
• drivers with no claims bonuses
• drivers without any no claims bonus
• drivers with multiple convictions

Often it is your car that needs extra care and attention included in an insurance policy. People with classic cars or 4x4s, for example, are usually better off looking for a policy that is specific to their kind of car. Someone with a Ford Fiesta 1.1 isn’t going to have special needs for their car, or find their policy with an ordinary company is sky high – but a driver with an Aston Martin may find this is the case.

In a similar way to the insurance companies that offer car insurance just for young drivers, these specialist companies benefit from specialising in certain types of car. Drivers of speciality cars such as:

• high performance cars
• imported cars
• cars used for commercial purposes
• off road vehicles

will have specific needs for their cars that other insurers cannot confidently cater for. Their cars may need rare parts when they break down, or need cover for situations that standard cars wouldn’t get into.