If you’ve invested weeks, months and even years into creating a stunning, one-of-a-kind kit car, you’ll need to protect it with proper insurance.
Keeping your kit car insurance costs down is easier than you think. There’s a lot of talk about how expensive kit policies are, but as these vehicles are usually driven less than everyday cars (for example, just in the summer), and sometimes aren’t used on the road at all, premiums can be lower than expected.
While the cost of your policy will depend on your kit car, its modifications and what you use it for, there are several things you can do to keep those costs down.
In this article, we’ll explore exactly how you can lower your car insurance and enjoy your kit without eye-watering premiums.
How can I reduce the costs of my kit car insurance?
You can reduce your kit car insurance by: joining an owners club, ramping up your vehicle security, storing your car safely and not organising more cover than you need.
You can also reduce insurance costs by getting limited mileage discounts, putting your kit on a multi-vehicle policy and getting a no-claims bonus.
Let’s dive right in, and look at how you can reduce the costs of your kit car insurance.
7 steps to reduce the cost of your kit car insurance
Join an owners club
Joining an owner’s club is a great way to lower your premiums. Many insurers will have specialist reductions if you’re a member of a kit car club, which can sometimes save you as much as 15% on your insurance.
Not to mention, you have to pretty passionate about your car to spend hours tinkering away at it in a dusty garage. Joining a club is also a great way to meet like-minded people, who share your interest.
Often, these aren’t just clubs, but true communities, filled with car-enthusiasts who have a wealth of knowledge of building cars up from scratch.
The UK has the biggest number of kit car clubs anywhere in the world, so whether you’re creating a factory-issued kit, or nailing together parts which aren’t entirely identifiable, you’re bound to find the club for you.
Ramp up your security
The more risk your kit car has of being broken into or stolen, the higher your insurance will be.
When you’re putting together your vehicle and you need to install security modifications separately, make sure these are Thatcham approved devices (Thatcham is an independent institution that rates car security).
Installing a Thatcham category 1 alarm (which is an immobiliser and alarm combined in one), is your best bet. If you can’t get one of these, you’ll need to install a Thatcham category 2 immobiliser, with a separate alarm.
You can also add a removable steering wheel and a cut off switch to your kit as well. While these won’t necessarily bring your insurance down, they are effective anti-theft devices which give you extra peace of mind when it comes to protecting your beloved project.
Store your kit car somewhere safe
Locking away your kit car somewhere secure when it’s not in use, can also help reduce your premiums.
If your insurance company knows that your kit car is less likely to be stolen or damaged because it’s safely stored, you are seen as less of a risk to insure.
Keeping your kit car somewhere safe doesn’t just help you in terms of insurance. As these vehicles take a long time to build, and often sit in half-finished states in garages, waiting for specialist parts from around the world, they are vulnerable to being stolen or having their parts stripped.
Locking away your pride and joy in an extra secure space saves you the thousands you might otherwise have to pay for replacements, if all or part of your kit was stolen.
Only organise the cover you need
As you’ve built your car yourself, you will need a specialist policy to cover modifications. However, the policy you get should always reflect what you actually use your kit car for.
The best way to avoid paying for unnecessary insurance, is to enlist the free support of a broker who understands kit cars.
Insurance brokers are experts in the industry, with a wealth of knowledge dealing with non-standard cars.
They can look closely at your vehicle and how you use it (for example, whether it’s just going to take pride of place in your garage, or you’ll regularly use it to tear up the track on race days), and help you tailor the cheapest, most efficient policy.
Get limited mileage discounts
Often, owners won’t use their kit cars regularly, and only take them out in the summer when the British weather deigns to show some sun.
If you’re not planning on driving your kit car very much (maybe just showing it off at the odd exhibition), make sure you tell your insurer. The fewer miles you drive, the cheaper your premiums will be, as you’re less at risk of accidents.
Just make sure you’re always honest about the number of miles you do drive, as your insurer can reduce cover as soon as you exceed your mileage, or give you an increased excess as a penalty for going over your miles.
Put your kit on a multi-car policy
If you own another car, see whether you can get a multi-car policy, and put your kit car down as a second car. This can lower the cost of your insurance significantly.
Alternatively, if you’re using a specialist insurer for your kit car, you can put your other, standard cars down as additional vehicles, which can give you a discount. As specialist insurers won’t usually cover standard vehicles, putting your kit car down as your first car means you can get the specialist cover you need, and a discount for your extra, standard cars.
No claims bonus
If you’ve been driving your insured kit car for a certain amount of time and haven’t made a claim, your insurance company may give you what is called a ‘no claims bonus’.
This is a discount on the cost of your car insurance, as a reward for not costing your insurer money through a claim.
However, not all insurers will offer a no claims bonus for kit cars, so make sure you check what their policy on this is. They may offer similar reward schemes for kit cars.
Now that we’ve gone through how you can keep the costs of your kit car insurance down, we hope you’ve found this a useful read. Kit cars are unique, exciting projects that deserve the right amount of protection, so make sure you consult an insurance broker who can support you to find the right cover for the cheapest price.