Green car insurance

Green car insurance policies

Some eco-conscious insurers have implemented greener processes, like going paperless on policy documents. Others offer tailored, green car insurance policies to their customers.

Green car insurance can also mean policies that cover electric or hybrid vehicles. Cleaner cars are usually rewarded with cheaper insurance premiums and reduced road tax.

Environmentally friendly trends in car insurance

Eco-friendly car insurance policies offset your car’s carbon emissions by planting trees and investing in projects that reduce deforestation.

Green policies will repair your car with recycled parts and try to avoid writing off vehicles to minimise waste.

All other aspects of the policy will be the same as with standard car insurance.

Green insurers often donate to humanitarian works too, such as those that provide safe drinking water or accessible education, or animal welfare charities.

More common than dedicated green car insurance companies is an industry-wide effort to use less paper, drain fewer light bulbs and heat smaller call centres.

Some insurers will be greener than others, but it’s now common to have electronic policy documents. These are either emailed to the customer or made available on a website.

If a motorist is stopped by the police and asked for their certificate of insurance, an electronic version is now acceptable – the law was changed back in 2010.

As well as saving insurers money, using less paper also saves our forests. The more trees we have, the more toxic gases are absorbed, which means there’s less damage done to our planet.

Helping the environment with your regular car

If you can’t get an eco-car, there are still things you can do to cut your fuel consumption and reduce emissions:

• Accelerate gently
• Stick to the speed limit
• Have your car serviced regularly
• Don’t let your engine idle
• Slow down early to avoid stopping completely when queuing
• Cut your mileage
• Don’t use air con when you can open your windows
• Only use the car heater if necessary

Some of these could help lower your insurance costs too - reinforce them with a telematics policy that monitors your driving, and bases your premium on how well you drive.

Anticipating the road conditions, having a smaller car, car sharing, converting to two wheels and removing extra weight and bulk, such as a roof rack, will also help to make your journeys more efficient.

There are alternatives to electric and hybrids, like renewable fuel vehicles. Pair these with a green insurance policy to help lower your carbon footprint.