Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

As car insurance costs rocket by 20%...

12 speedy ways to slow the accelerating cost of motoring 

Including save £100s on car and breakdown cover, free EV charging, find cheaper fuel & more

The petrol pumps are one of the few places where the cost of living squeeze is starting to abate (for now, at least) - fuel prices have fallen back to where they were in January 2022. Yet the cost of motoring is still, well, motoring - car insurance has soared a record 21% over the past 12 months, yet another bill growing by double digits this year.

There are, of course, big benefits to driving less - for your health and for the environment - but many of us simply have no choice other than to drive. So use our 50+ motoring MoneySaving tips to cut your costs. Here are some of the most important...

1. Find cheaper fuel with a tap of your phone. Using handy website/app PetrolPrices.com, you can find the cheapest forecourt near you in seconds - just punch in your postcode and how far you're willing to travel. For example, we found petrol prices in Hungerford ranging from 149.9p a litre to 171.9p a litre on Tue - a £10ish difference on a full tank.

2. NEVER auto-renew your car insurance - instead use our Compare+ tool and get 100s of quotes in minutes. Major insurers are reporting 20%+ hikes to car insurance, with inflation causing a spike in the cost of labour and parts. So check if you can save with our revolutionary Car Insurance Compare+ tool. Here's how it works:

- You fill in one questionnaire. We've borrowed MoneySupermarket's, so if you've used it before, your answers can be auto-filled. Then...
- Get MSE cost-cutting tips as you answer. Such as our 'best time to buy car insurance' analysis, which can tell you if waiting to get quotes is likely to give you cheaper prices.
- See your cheapest insurers from the comparison as a benchmark. But of course, we want you to beat them...
- Personalised tips to try for an even bigger saving. These include whether you should look to add an additional driver or pay annually, not monthly - and some have one-click checks, so you can easily find out if they work for you.
- See whether other sites can help slice down your costs even more. We assess if Direct Line (which isn't on comparisons) is likely to be cheaper for you, and give you our latest comparison site order of others to try, as MoneySupermarket may not be your cheapest.

Since we launched it a year ago, we've been inundated with success stories, including this from Simon last week: "My insurer's renewal increased from £369 to £506. I used your tool and was blown away with the results - despite adding extra cover, it still came in at £356. Thank you so much for what the whole absolutely brilliant MSE team do to help save the nation money."

- Not at renewal? Still check if you can switch and save - see cancel your car insurance for pros and cons.
- More than one car? See if Multicar insurance can be cheaper.

3. Time for your MOT? Do easy DIY checks and find 'hidden' cheap tests to save. An annual MOT is a legal requirement (if your car's 3+ years old) - yet a third fail because of avoidable issues. So:

- Do DIY checks to help you pass. Broken lights and bald tyres are the most common, fixable fails. Do a 5-min scan with our 9 pre-MOT checks.
- Find the right test centre. If your car's in good nick, just go for the cheapest test. If only a few, minor fails are likely, 'hidden' council MOT centres can work. But they won't do fixes, so for bigger fails, you'll want a garage that can do repairs. See how to find the right test centre.

4. Braking burns money, accelerating pumps it out, so do less of both (within reason). By thinking ahead and being aware of your road position, you can accelerate more gradually and brake less suddenly, which can have a big impact on how much fuel you use. See our seven ways to reduce gas guzzling.

Ready to join the electric revolution? There are more than 700,000 electric vehicles now on the roads, and with new petrol and diesel cars set to be banned from 2030, more and more are considering going electric. So if you're thinking of getting an electric vehicle (EV) for the first time, or you're already driving one, we've got some help... 5. Learn your EV from your PHEV. There's plenty to get your head around - whether you go fully electric or have a mixture of electric/petrol, how far you can drive it and how easy it is to charge. And while the upfront costs can be higher than petrol and diesel cars, EVs are usually much cheaper to run. Get the basics in Electric vehicles. 6. Already got an EV? See if you can save with an EV tariff. A handful of energy suppliers - the likes of British Gas, Octopus and Ovo - offer special tariffs for charging EVs at home. You typically get a few hours of cheap rates (10p to 12p/kWh), usually overnight, so used correctly you could save £100s/yr. See EV tariffs for full info. 7. Find out where you can charge FOR FREE. If you need to charge when out and about, there are 1,000s of 'free charging' places across supermarkets and other stores - though they're getting harder to find. They're not the fastest, but a buzz of leccy for free needn't be sniffed at, especially with today's prices. See find free electric vehicle charging for how to do it.

8. Full breakdown cover for £57/yr (includes home start & onward travel). AutoAid* has been one of our top picks for years. It covers you, plus your spouse (or live-in partner in some cases) in any car you or they drive. Newbies pay £56.64/yr, or £71.54/yr if your car's over 15 years old, after an automatic £7 cashback through our links. For comparison, an equivalent AA policy is £280/yr bought direct.

If basic cover will do, see how to get RAC or AA cover from £48/yr. More help, deals and tips in Cheap breakdown cover.

9. Are you bottom heavy? Take that junk out of your trunk. Don't worry, we're not critiquing your caboose. This is about a few simple things you can do to make your motor more fuel-efficient, such as making sure you don't have a boot full of stuff you don't need, using cruise control at the right times and checking your tyre pressure. It can all make a difference - see our six fuel-efficiency car checks.

10. Pranged by a pothole? You could claim £100s towards damage. In last month's Budget, the Government pledged an additional £200 million towards fixing potholes. That won't help you if your car's just been crocked by one - but using our Pothole claims guide to see if you're owed money might.

11. Is your driving licence out of date? Driving without a valid one could cost you large. Most photocard driving licences expire after 10 years - see how to check if your licence is valid. If you get behind the wheel with an out-of-date licence, you could be fined up to £1,000. Avoid the risk and see how to renew (plus what your rights are while your application's in the works).

12. And lastly... could you say sayonara to your car? The average journey distance for British drivers is less than nine miles, according to Government stats, so think before your grab your keys - could you walk, cycle or go by public transport instead?

It's not an option for everyone (it's only really for those in cities), but if you don't drive frequently, it may work out cheaper for you to get the occasional taxi or join a car club when needed.

For other ways to cut out the car and save, see 19 ways to cut the cost of train travel and MoneySaving tips for cyclists (and if you're really keen, how Martin averaged 24,000+ steps in 2022).

PS from Martin: Hi folks, I'm off work this week & some of next, so I'm leaving this email in the overly capable hands of the MSE team. I want to wish all celebrating a Good Easter or a Pesach Sameach. Otherwise just happiness, whatever you're celebrating or not.