Are you the proud first-time holder of an insurethebox young driver car insurance policy? Welcome and congratulations!
So that you can make the most of our telematics technology and lower your annual premium, we advise driving carefully, considerately and taking good care of your car.
We won’t be checking up on whether you’ve washed it recently or anything like that – but the better you look after your vehicle the less likely you are to suffer a traffic accident and lose your No Claim Bonus or suffer injury.
You should take particular care of your car’s tyres.
Tyre pressure
The Highway Code states that tyres “must be correctly inflated to the vehicle manufacturer’s specifications for the load being carried”.
This means that you shouldn’t have under inflated tyres, which are uneconomical because the rubber will wear down faster and your fuel efficiency will be reduced. Furthermore, your vehicle handling and braking will be affected.
If you are loading your car’s roof rack up with lots of heavy suitcases, you might have to increase the tyre pressure (see the manufacturer’s specifications). This will counteract the extra strain that the additional weight will put on your car’s tyres.
However, make sure to readjust the pressure after you have finished carrying the heavy load!
Remember to check your tyre pressure once a week at least. You should only check your tyre pressure when the tyres are cold, since pressure increases when they are warm and this could give you an incorrect reading.
Tyre tread depth
The number to remember here is 1.6. The treads on all of your car’s tyres should be at least 1.6mm deep across at least three-quarters of the tyre and round the whole of the tyre.
You can check this by taking a 20 pence piece and putting it between the treads. If you can see the outer band of the coin, this means that the tread is less than 3mm and your tyre could be illegal. At this point you can go and find a calibrated tread depth gauge to measure the exact depth, or go to a qualified tyre specialist (likely to be found at a garage).
If you’re not careful you could be fined £2,500 and be given three penalty points for each illegal tyre – not something you want to happen as a new motorist (or a more experienced driver for that matter).
For more information about looking after your tyres, and other general vehicle maintenance, go to the Directgov website.
Young driver car insurance for the tyre-savvy
If you take good care of your vehicle’s tyres and perform general maintenance to keep your car running nicely – taking it to a garage when needed – you could save money on your annual premium with an insurethebox young driver car insurance policy.
If you’re reading this thinking, ‘I already have an insurethebox policy’, tell your friends about us and you could help them save a bundle.
To get a quote with us simply click the get a quote button on any page of our website.