Car insurance prices have risen by over 40% in the past 12 months, with the average driver now paying £791 per year. This is bad news for all motorists, but disabled drivers have been hit particularly hard by these rises due to the fact that many require alterations to be made to their vehicle which, in the eyes of insurers, affects the perceived likelihood of them having an accident and making a claim.

There has therefore been an increase in the number of disabled motorists looking for cheap car insurance through moneysupermarket.com, who have formulated a five step plan to help disabled drivers combat this spiralling expense.

1. Choose the right car and tell the insurer everything
The car you drive is the factor which will have the single biggest influence on insurance premiums other than your own personal statistics (i.e. age, gender etc). This is therefore the most important element of the insurance calculation over which you have an influence.

Each car is assigned to an insurance group, numbered between one and twenty with cars in insurance group one the cheapest to insure. You should therefore look on the internet for insurance group ratings for any vehicles that is in your consideration set before making a purchase.

Additionally, as a disabled motorist you will likely need alterations to be made to your vehicle. You should inform motorists about any changes made which result in your car deviating from its original specifications as this will have an impact on insurance premiums. Failure to notify your insurance firm about any alterations will render the insurance policy void and will legally entitle the insurer to refuse to pay out in the event of a claim being made.

2. Shop around and Haggle
Logically, you stand a better chance of getting the cheapest deal available to you if you shop around and compare prices with as many different insurers as possible. The easiest and quickest way of doing this is through price comparison websites, which will compare deals available through hundreds of different insurers within seconds.

However, remember that price comparison websites do not feature every available insurance firm and it is therefore worth comparing prices on the websites of some high profile insurers which are omitted. Aviva and Direct Line are two companies which are commonly omitted from price comparison website searches.

If you’re dealing with a renewal, price comparison websites can still be useful. More often than not the renewal price offer will be made in the knowledge that you will likely be too lazy to shop around to find a better deal. Don’t fall into this stereotype and remember to utilise price comparison websites to find better deals. You will then be in a position to phone your current insurer and tell them about the cheaper deals you have been offered elsewhere. There is a good chance that they will make you a better offer, but if they don’t you will have alternatives.

3. Watch your mileage
The more miles you’re complete each year, the more likely it is that you will have an accident and make a claim from your insurance company. The insurers recognise this and will therefore offer cheaper premiums to motorists who have a smaller mileage allocation on their policy.

You should therefore take advantage of this by setting the smallest mileage allocation you can, hence ensuring that you are not paying for miles which you are not going to use. However, don’t set an allocation that you know you will exceed as this will give the insurer another opportunity to refuse to pay out in the event of a claim being made.

4. Safety and security
Cars which are parked on the road are more likely to be stolen or vandalised than a car which is parked on a privately owned driveway or in a locked garage. Insurers utilise this fact by offering cheaper insurance policies to motorists whose cars are parked in more secure locations both in the day and at night.

You can also reduce the perceived likelihood of claims being made by fitting your car with approved immobilisers and alarms. This may cost slightly more initially, but you will make savings in the longer term.

5. Cheapest isn't always the best
In the age of the price comparison website it is easy to forget that the cheapest deal isn’t always the best value for money. Some insurers are now omitting vital elements from their policies such as legal protection or free breakdown cover offers, both of which used to be offered as standard through many insurers. This is allowing them to offer motorists cheaper deals than their competitors.

A large number of motorists are falling into this trap because they are not reading all the details on the policy before agreeing to it. Make sure that you are not one of these motorists.