How To Get Cheap Car Insurance For College Students
If you're a college student, chances are you can drive, or you want to drive. After you get a car, you might be wondering how to get cheap car insurance for college students. That's awesome and all, but you may have heard from literally everyone who drives that insurance is super expensive and it can be hard to get for students.
While this is slightly true, there are actually ways to get a good deal on your car insurance. Here's some tips you need to know, plus the best deals for car insurance around Ireland:
1. Firstly, look around
Your parents will probably try and get you to sign up to their insurance company because they think it's the cheapest. They could be right, but they are doing you a disservice in a way because there's a lot of companies out there. Do some research and look around.
2. Don't get a car with modifications
It may already be too late but if you haven't got a car yet, do not purchase one with mods, even if they look really cool. These are expensive to insure and drive up the price by hundreds.
3. Get a car alarm
If your car doesn't have an alarm and/or immobiliser, your insurance company may charge you extra. It's worthwhile to get one installed because it is a fraction of the price of the additional insurance premium.
4. Which insurance should you get?
Younger drivers often opt for the cheapest insurance possible but do you know what you're getting? Basically,
- Third party covers costs incurred to the other driver's car and any hospital costs, but does not cover you or your car.
- Third party fire and theft covers the above as well as your car if it is involved in a fire or robbery.
- Comprehensive should fully cover you, your car, the other driver and their car, and any hospital costs. But with all that said, each policy is different so be sure to read over the fine print for any exclusions.
5. Get on your parent’s policy
If you have some nice parents, they may be able to put you on their policy for an additional fee. This may not work though if you have older, more experienced driver siblings or your parents have had a claim recently.
Insurance deals for students
A lot of insurance agencies offer students discounts on insurance. Here's some of the best:
The StudentFirst Policy gives you interest FREE monthly instalments, a 20% upfront discount and another 1.25% discount every 3 months if you are claims free
They also claim to help you save €400 off your car insurance, plus offer 12 driving lessons for €369, 50% off if you're put on your parent's policy, and €400 off your learner permit.
theAA.ie offer you the option to pay by monthly installments, allowing you to balance your budget.
AIB has a Drivesave program that requires you to record your journeys using the Drivesave smartphone app. This app records details of the vehicle's geographic position, travelling speed, acceleration and braking severity which can then be monitored.
This means they can base your premium on your driving ability - customers can receive a substantial up-front discount on their motor premium and get additional ‘cash-back’ discounts throughout the year for good driving.
All drivers under the age of 25 with either a full or provisional licence/ learner permit qualify for this scheme.
Other benefits:
- Spread your payments over 12 months at no additional cost to the premium
- No Claims Discount of 75% if you’ve been claims free for 5 years or more – The highest no claims discount in Ireland*
- Uninsured driver cover – If your car is damaged by an uninsured driver we will cover the cost of repair over and above any excess.
- Replacement locks cover up to €750
- Cover for your personal belongings up to €500
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If you’re a full time student in an Irish university, you can receive a 10% discount on your car insurance policy.
Other benefits:
- Windscreen protection included for young drivers
- Free courtesy car
- 24-hour breakdown assistance including home start
- Legal expenses
- Personal accident & medical expenses
- No loss of no claims bonus for fire or theft claims
- Named driver experience taken into account