Sports Car Insurance

"I'd like to get a sports car but isn't the insurance really horrendous?"

No, it doesn’t need to be so long as you speak to the right people. Insuring sports cars has always been a niche market, so it more often than not pays to do your homework and contact the specialist companies rather than the general insurers. If you have a classic sports car in mind, there are a specialist companies for these vehicles too.

How can I reduce the premium for my sports car?

Many marques have owners clubs that have successfully negotiated discounted rates with car insurance companies. In addition, some car insurance companies give discounts to customers simply for being a member of an owners club.

If you have an everyday car, it should be possible to reduce your sports car premium by limiting the annual mileage.

I only take my sports car out in the summer, should I cancel my insurance during the winter when it’s garaged?

No, as you wouldn’t then be covered for theft or fire. Contact your insurance company, they should be able to scale back your premium if you only intend driving your sports car for six months of the year.

Any other ways I could cut the cost of sports car insurance?

Limit who is allowed to drive to named drivers over 25. You may also be able to obtain a further discount by upgrading the car’s security. The majority of insurers want Thatcham Category 1 or Category 2 security devices fitted. Sometimes they may also request installing an approved vehicle tracking device as well.  

If I need to uprate my sports car security will I still be covered by insurance meantime?

No, very few, if any, car insurance companies would be willing to extend theft cover until the necessary security measures had been installed and they had received confirmation from the installer. Once the certificate is received the theft cover is backdated to the installation date shown.

Where can I find a Thatcham approved security alarm installer?

Your insurance company should be able to provide you with full details of installers in your area.

I’ve taken a big hit in depreciation with my sports car, why hasn’t my premium gone down too?

The market value of your sports car may have reduced dramatically, but the parts and labour costs involved in repairing it have remained the same. Another reason why your premium isn’t reflecting the depreciation is because sports car insurance premiums are closely tied to the level of costs in settling claims. Sports cars and other high performance vehicles are always going to be more expensive to repair than conventional cars so will consequently incur heavier insurance premiums.