Make it your policy to save on insurance

In public, the insurers blame the usual issues - mainly the cost of personal injury claims. But in private, they admit many Britons are paying too much by over-insuring and adding extras to policies that they don't need. Here - in many cases on condition of anonymity - they reveal how Britons can cut the cost of insurance.

ALL POLICIES
There are three crucial steps before buying. One, never accept a renewal price. Two, visit several comparison sites, including moneysupermarket.com, gocompare.com and confused.com, to price new deals. Doing so triggers an average saving of £370. Three, use a cashback site - quidco.com is a top choice - to secure up to £150 off the cost of a policy.

If possible, buy cover in full rather than monthly payments, which end up costing far more. Rising prices mean that it is a good idea to secure a cheaper price well before renewal time: quotes from Churchill, Barclays, Aviva and Direct Line remain valid for three months.

HOME
Don't assume you need extras like legal expense cover. One major insurer admits: "It can be useful if you need legal advice, say after a dispute with neighbour, but it's not used very often." Play around with excesses - you might get more cover for no extra fee. "Different companies have different cut off levels for insurance," says Ian Crowder, of AA insurance. "You may find that a £200 and £250 excess cost the same amount, so go for the lower one. Insurers use ranges to calculate prices, so playing around with your quote will ensure the most value for money."

But make sure you're not under-insured: with many homeowners extending properties, remember that adding a room in the loft or garage increases the value of your home for building cover and probably for the contents too. And make sure you stick to the rules: insurers are sticklers for them.

One admits that a frequent get-out for payouts is when high-value goods such as paintings and coin collections aren't named in policies. Insurers usually have a limit of the amount of valuables they will accept of about a third of the total value. If a Persian rug costs almost the same as the rest of a home's contents put together, go to a high net worth insurer or specialist broker.

CAR
A speedy route to major savings is by adding a friend or relative who is a low-risk driver to your policy. One reader tells of saving more than £200 by adding his dad - a sixtysomething with Institute of Advanced Motorists membership who drove another vehicle - to his policy.

Moneysupermarket says drivers are saving more by cutting mileage thanks to car pooling.

Nowadays, fully comprehensive car insurance is cheaper than third-party-only cover. Look at customer service ratings too. "Policyholders need clear, simple information about how to make a claim, precise details of telephone numbers and email addresses, and instant access to a claims handler throughout the process," says Jeffrey Roberts of insurer Equity Red Star.

TRAVEL
"Almost 90% of all our travel insurance claims come from medical expenses and cancellation," says Greg Lawson of insurer Columbus. "Make sure those are covered. For medical expenses, most claims are under £500,000 so if you're looking to save money that could be enough. But more cover is required for some countries, most famously the US where healthcare is very expensive.

"Our other top countries for total claims are Spain, France, Turkey, Greece and Egypt. In non-European countries, the cost of medical expenses has accelerated."

Check if your policy includes financial failure cover, particularly if you're flying with Cheap Airlines R Us. But don't over-insure for a cancelled trip. Most cancellation cover is per person, so if your family trip cost £1000, you'll only need £200 cover each. "Personal liability or legal expenses cover also very rarely get claimed on," Lawson adds. "Most people don't have a legal expenses cover when they're in the UK, so many won't need it overseas."

Make sure baggage cover is enough to pay out for gadgets. The average single-article limit is £300 - not enough to buy an iPad. Don't double-insure: if valuables are covered abroad by home insurance, there's no need to re-buy.