Back to insurance cost, Martin Lewis (in the UK) reckons that best time to get a quote is around 23 days before your insurance is due to lapse. The nearer you get to lapse date, the higher the quotes get on the assumption you will be more desperate to buy.
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+Our analysis of over 70 million quotes from the four biggest comparison sites – Compare The Market, Confused.com, Gocompare and MoneySupermarket – showed a policy costs an average of £1,198 a year on renewal day. But 23 days earlier the average is just £694 a year, a MASSIVE £504 difference.
In general, the closer to your renewal date you get quotes, the more of a risk you're deemed to be (we've heard that it can show insurers you're a bit disorganised). But getting quotes too early, for example, 28+ days out, can also push the average price up – likely as fewer insurers will provide quotes that early.
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Job title can affect a lot, but that doesn't help if your title is retired!