Can my age reduce my car insurance costs?

Usually, yes. This is because statistically, young people are most likely to be in road accidents or to cause damage with their cars. Younger drivers and new drivers also have fewer years of driving experience. Insurers will be more likely to hand out more expensive insurance if they don't know what kind of a driver you'll be.

The other reason why insurance is more expensive for younger people and newer drivers is that they haven't had the time to build up their no-claims discounts (also a called no-claims bonus). For more on this, see below, and for full help on bagging cheap cover if you're less experienced, see our Young drivers' insurance guide.

What is a no-claims bonus?

A no-claims bonus is an add-on to car insurance where you get a discount on your premium for each year that you don't claim. So for example, if you go your first year without claiming, your insurance company could offer a 30% discount for the second year, and a further 10% for the third year.

This doesn't mean that you shouldn't switch provider after the end of your first year, though, as you can take your no-claims bonus with you to use with the next insurer. So you absolutely should check if prices are cheaper elsewhere when it comes to renewal time – to do this, use our Car Insurance Compare+ tool. 

See your no-claims discount as a reward for responsible driving, or more cynically, as an acknowledgement that you're a profitable customer for your insurance providers because you haven't claimed.

If there's an incident and you do have to claim, you'll lose part or all of your discount, plus your premium will almost certainly go up alongside that.

At what age do car insurance costs tend to drop?

Younger drivers usually pay the most for car insurance, but as we say above, once you start to build up a no-claims discount after a few years' driving, your costs should start to drop.

Typically you stop being classed as a 'young driver' at around age 25 by most insurers, which should start to be reflected in the price of your insurance.

Though some of the impacts on price of being a younger or older driver are simply unavoidable for many, there are some ways you can reduce the burden.

For younger drivers, other than simply becoming more experienced and earning a higher no-claims discount, you could try some of the following MoneySaving tips:

• Telematics. If you're confident you drive well, telematics insurance might save you money. They install a tracking device in your car called a black box, and base your insurance premium on how safely you drive.
  
  
• Adding a second driver. Adding a more experienced driver to your policy could lower the price. It should be someone you know who might realistically drive the insured car, and can help to reduce the level of risk a provider perceives you to be.
  
  
• Getting a quote 23 days ahead. There is a perfect time to get your policy – we checked millions of quotes and worked out that getting your insurance around 23 days before the policy's start date will typically get you the cheapest price possible.
  
  
• Multicar. If your household or immediate family has multiple cars, you could save by getting multicar insurance. It's not always straightforward though, and could end up being more expensive – so for how to weigh up the decision, see our Multicar insurance guide.
  
  
• Third-party cover's not always cheapest. You might think that comprehensive cover is always the most expensive, but it doesn't quite work that way... check the different levels of cover to see which is the cheapest for your circumstances.

Many of the points above hold true for older people too, though for even more tips on cutting cover costs, see our main Cheap car insurance guide.

Will car insurance be more expensive if I have medical conditions?

Unfortunately, the answer is: maybe. If you develop any medical conditions at any time in your life as a driver, you need to inform the DVLA and your insurer. This could be anything that might affect your ability to drive, such as damage to your eyesight, dementia, epilepsy, chronic neurological conditions, dementia and so on.

Medical conditions don't necessarily mean you WILL have to stop driving and it's always essential that you're upfront about them. It may mean that your insurance premium could rise or that you might have to find a more specialised insurer. Yet if the condition is serious enough, there is a chance that the DVLA could take away your licence.