Here are five relevant tips for UK auto insurance shoppers. Good luck in your auto insurance comparison shopping!

1. Go comprehensive; it's cheaper

Norwich Union recently stated that it's going to increase its car insurance prices by as much as 40% for younger drivers (see Car Insurance Costs Set To Jump). However, there's a neat little trick which might work wonders on the cost of your cover. If you usually get third party, fire and theft, ask Norwich Union for a quote on comprehensive insurance. The whacky reason for this? Sometimes it's cheaper!

You see, insurance prices are based purely on statistics. That's why insurers can get away with prejudicial pricing. After all, in what other industry can you say you're going to charge men more than women for the same product?

Statistics often show that people who drive cheap old cars (particularly young drivers) don't seem to care much about crashing them, so they have more accidents. It's the damage to other cars and, particularly, the injuries caused to others that cost the insurers so much money. On the other hand, if you have comprehensive insurance you're statistically less likely to be in an expensive accident. That's why some insurers (Norwich Union being the most notorious within the industry) sometimes end up quoting cheaper comprehensive cover than third party, fire and theft!