Car Ownership Costs UK 2017: An Expensive Year Reviewed

Buying your dream car would be difficult as the year 2017 announces many new laws that would take up your overall motoring cost to sky high levels. Apart from paying for a cool vehicle, you would also be spending on the increased Vehicle Excise Duty, the latest model of child car seats, increased car insurance costs as well as fines for using mobile phones, speed driving etc. Naturally you can avoid the fines and the increased car insurance costs can be managed by finding a cheaper car insurance provider.

How will motoring cost increase in 2017?

Well, driving a car will be expensive this year as the new government and the Department of Transport has issued new laws for drivers. Some of the rules are as follows:

Keep the mobile away or pay the fine: Well, we are very attached to our handheld devices but, this is not permitted while you are driving. According to the new mobile phone laws, if you are caught using your mobile devices then you will be hit with double the fine you used to pay until last year. Yes, you heard it right; the fine for using mobile phones has increased to six license points and £200. Moreover, new drivers caught making this blunder would lose their license as six points is the criteria for disqualification. This would also have a solid effect on car insurance for young drivers, woman and college going youth.

You should also be careful with your sat nav as you can no longer touch it once you start driving. The law insists that you should set it before starting the car and stop or park the car at a safe location if you want to reset it. You can use a car hands free device but the police can still check it to ensure that you are alert while driving.

Child car seats revamped: You may need to buy a new child car seat for your kiddo as some of the old models are banned this year. In addition, the backless booster seats are considered low on protection if the vehicle faces collision. As per the new road safety rules, the back booster seats should be used only for kids with a height of more than 125 cm and 22+ kg weight. In case, your child falls below this criterion of height and weight, you need to spend some money on buying a new child car seat. Children above 12 years and 135 cm height should wear a seatbelt. By obliging to the rules, parents can easily cut down car insurance costs by a big margin.

Higher advisory rates for people using company cars: The HMRC publishes revised rates every quarter precisely in February, May, August and November every year. The latest Advisory fuel rates (or AFRs) for companies have increased from the 1 March 2017 and so, even if you are using a company car this can prove to be a costly affair for you.

Increase in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED): Road tax has been revised and would cost you more than last year from the 1 April 2017. Based on your vehicle’s carbon emission rate, you would be subjected to a high or moderate tax amount. Divided into bands from A to M, the tax can go from £20 to £2000 a year and if you have a vehicle that costs above £40,000 then get ready to pay £310 per year plus the standard rate for a period of five years. You make like: New Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) explained in detail

Increase in Insurance Premium Tax: Vehicle owners are dreaded by the 12% hike in the Insurance Premium Tax to be levied from June this year. This would inflate the car insurance cost and puncture your pocket by a big margin. To deal with this, you need to go find cheap car insurance quotes online in order to get some of the cheapest car insurance deals in the UK. Otherwise, you should be ready to pay much more for your car insurance cover.

It is advisable to find the best car insurance comparison provider so that you can leverage good discounts along with cheaper car insurance premiums. FreePriceCompare is a ready help for all those looking out for free car insurance price comparison services in the UK.

Pay huge fines for speeding: Get ready for another shock, from April 24^th of this year as the penalties for speeding vehicles have become 150% of their weekly income. The existing levels are 100% but anyone who is found crossing the speed limits after 24^th April would pay according to the bands – Band A means you pay 50% of your weekly income, Band B means 100% and Band C means 150%. Even the motorists’ licenses would be disqualified for severe offence and cases would be resolved in the court leading to an increase in overall motoring cost.

Owing to the above mentioned reasons, buying and maintaining a car would be an expensive affair from 2017. However, you can make good savings by choosing cheaper car insurance deals. This can be achieved by maintaining smooth driving habits as well as switching through a car insurance comparison site that suggest suppliers offering lower premiums.

FreePriceCompare is a leading car insurance price comparison website that offers competitive car insurance deals and you can leverage its services by clicking on https://freepricecompare.com/insurance/car-insurance/. The company offers free comparison and switching service and the friendly team can be contacted by calling on 02034757476.

Written by

Kevin Patterson