Not only do sports cars tend to cost rather a lot to buy, but they are also, as a general rule, more expensive to insure than, say, a small family hatchback.
But while you won’t be able escape paying more than other motorists when insuring your sports car, we’ll help you make sure that you’re not paying totally over the odds.
In This Guide:
- Why is it more expensive to insure a sports car?
- Younger drivers and sports cars
- How to get low-cost insurance for sports cars
Why is it more expensive to insure a sports car?
There are three basic reasons why sports cars tend to cost more to insure than other cars.
Firstly, the higher performance engines contained in sports cars mean that the likelihood of them being involved in an accident of some kind is increased.
Secondly, flashy sports cars are far more attractive to thieves and vandals, increasing the risk of theft or criminal damage.
And finally, sports cars tend to be built up of specific and often hard or expensive to source parts, bumping up the costs of any repairs that have to be made.
All of these things add up to equal inflated premiums on the policies offered by insurance providers.
Younger drivers and sports cars
Just as sports cars tend to be more expensive to insure than other cars, young drivers also tend to pay a lot more for their insurance than older and potentially more experienced drivers. This is because statistically, they are more likely to be involved in an accident than older drivers. Not only this, but the severity of potential accidents is also increased (statistically speaking).
So, a younger person driving a new, high powered sports car can expect to pay particularly high premiums.
For this reason, some insurers will put an age limit (say, 25) on those who want to insure sports cars. Given that what defines a sports car is somewhat disputable, you’ll need to check with your provider as to what regulations they have in place if you’re a 20 year old wanting to take out cover for your new sports car.
How to get low-cost insurance for sports cars
First things first, if you’re set on keeping your premiums low, you’ll want to resist the temptations to add any modifications to your high performance vehicle that make it more powerful or attractive.
That being said, if you want to modify your car in any way that improves security, by adding immobilisers for example, you’ll actually see your premiums fall.
One good thing about insuring sports cars is that, similarly to classic cars, those who drive them often don’t do so particularly often. Perhaps you have one car you use during the week for day-to-day tasks, but you only take out your flash sports car for a driver every weekend, or take it out with the top down on warm summer’s days. This reduced mileage will be reflected by reduced premiums, you should just make sure, if you’ve agreed a mileage limit with your insurer, that you actually stick to it. If you don’t, you might find your policy invalidated.
Another crossover with sports cars and classic cars is that you will often find car clubs associated with each brand or model. By joining one of these, you can often find discounts on insurance by up to 15% will be offered to you – making membership invaluable financially as well as socially.
If you want to guarantee the best deals available, the best thing you can do is to shop around and compare car insurance quotes online using a comparison service.