Cheap Car insurance in Spain- the pitfalls.

Finding cheap car insurance in Spain, whether for an English or Spanish plated car, is easy – but beware - it comes at a price!

Yes – it could cost you dearly.

The costs.

Insurance in Spain is a very competitive business as it is a huge marketplace and many car insurance companies, their Brokers and Insurance Agents, try to attract your business solely based on the price. This is perfectly understandable, as car owners are looking for the lowest car insurance premium possible to save money.

Shopping around.

So the first thing you do is shop around, or hope that the insurance broker or agent you deal with can provide you with the best premium for the vehicle.

The benefits.

Great! You find an Insurance Agent that has provided a cheap quote for your vehicle. You would be advised to shop around. If you do, you may find a cheaper quote, again, saving you more money. So why is it that the price varies for the same vehicle quote? Quite simply – the cover is different.

What are the differences in car insurance?

In Spain, insurance agents can reduce the price of your initial quote by quoting the basic minimum legal requirements, by increasing your first excess (the amount you have to pay if you are going to make a claim on your policy) or by reducing the actual insurance cover offered.

First Excess changes.

It is important to ask your insurance agent what your excess is on the policy. Under normal circumstances, paying the first €300 excess is considered acceptable, but if you were to increase your first excess to €600 or €900 then your insurance premium can be reduced quite considerably. Therefore a quote from two different Insurance agents for the same car can then have a different premium even if they are quoting the same insurance company or provider.

Passenger cover.

This is where you can end up with a very expensive lawsuit or medical bills if the passengers in your vehicle are not covered properly.

This is an option that insurance agents can use to further reduce the quote price of your car insurance quote.

Insuring the driver only will reduce the premium because the insurer is not providing any cover, of any type, for any of the passengers in the vehicle. This means that the only person insured in that vehicle for medical treatment and assistance is the driver.

Imagine the nightmare scenario whereby you have been involved in an accident and you have your family or friends in the car and they are badly injured and need emergency medical care – they will NOT be covered by your car insurance policy. This can leave you with expensive medical bills and lead to all sorts of legal bills and lawsuits, particularly if someone is seriously injured or even killed.

The extra costs to cover your family and/or passengers in a vehicle is just a few Euros and in an attempt to give you the cheapest quote to get your business, the agent has removed this cover and probably not bothered telling you what is not covered and you probably don’t know the right questions to ask. 

If you have opted for the cheapest car insurance quote in the marketplace, it is the cheapest for a reason, so you should check your car insurance policy and/or call your car insurance agent now (or call us on 965275727 for free impartial advice) and ask if ALL the passengers in your vehicle are covered.  If not, pay the extra few Euros and get the passengers covered added to the policy.

1.    Windscreen and glass cover.

2.    Medical assistance for any passengers.

3.    No car hire or replacement vehicle in the event of an accident.

4.    A high Excess charge in the event of a claim.

5.    No breakdown recovery or emergency and accident cover.*

*Breakdown recovery and accident cover is compulsory under Spanish law. However, vehicle breakdown and recovery insurance is available as a separate, individual policy and therefore some brokers will not automatically include it in your car insurance quote until you go back to take out the policy and then they should advise you that you are required to have breakdown recovery insurance by law – and then they will ADD the cost of it to your policy premium. The breakdown recovery premiums are usually about €120 as an individual policy.

At www.insuranceinspain.com we make it a point of advising all of our car insurance clients what is not covered. All our quotes usually include breakdown recovery, windscreen and glass cover, cover for all passengers, replacement vehicle or car hire and the recommended standard excess. – We can remove this cover to reduce your car insurance premium and you will be made fully aware of what you are NOT being covered for.

Having said that, our car insurance premiums are extremely competitive in Spain, even for British registered vehicles. By including all of the above in our policies and being so competitive on price, our competitors need to cut the quality of their cover to match our prices.

Take our car insurance in Spain advice, it’s free.

If you need a proper quote for any form of car insurance in Spain then please visit our website on www.insuranceinspain.com or call us on 0034 965275727 and we will be more than happy to provide you with professional advise and make sure you and your passengers are safe.

 

 All rights reserved.  Updated MAY 2020    See more insurance related blogs