4x4 Car Insurance

4x4's are particularly popular amongst growing families. Not only are they very versatile, able to take to both the road and the country track with equal confidence, but are very safe vehicles to be inside as well. As a large and heavy car they are likely to come out best in most accidents involving other vehicles; but this factor itself is one of the reasons why insuring one can costs a bit more than for a smaller family car.

Like all vehicles you can shop around to find cheaper car insurance but nevertheless you're likely to find that very cheap insurance for a 4x4 simply doesn't exist. If you are offered ridiculously low terms you should be very suspicious of the company offering it, and make sure that they are genuine before parting with any money.

As large solid vehicles they do an excellent job of protecting occupants, but unfortunately they can do a lot of damage to other vehicles, or other property, in the event of an accident and any person struck by one runs the risk of severe injury. Car insurance is designed to pay the costs of all of these hazards, and these cost can be substantially higher than average.

Another risk factor that insurers are concerned about is the use that many of them are put to. They often use the towing caravans or other vehicles, which introduces another level of risk of accidents, and they can be taken off road which is a much more hazardous environment than a properly metalled road! The risk of accidental damage to bodywork in particular is substantially higher than average.

One major hazard that they run, however, is theft. all cars are of course subjected to this particular risk but in the case of 4x4's it isn't just the local joyrider who wants a cheap lift home, or opportunist thieves who steal one on a whim, but professionals look out for these cars and plan their theft carefully. Once they are stolen there is a ready market for them abroad; after all they are very expensive vehicles, capable of driving over many different types of terrain, which make them a popular target for the more lawless parts of the world.

Once a 4x4 has been stolen it is often sealed up as quickly as possible into a shipping container. This means any tracking device on it is immediately nullified; satellites cannot see through a steel container! It is then taken down to the docks, loaded onto a ship and shipped away to a ready market far away.

This means that, instead of the car turning up (albeit much the worse for wear) several days later, which is the rate of most stolen cars, the rate of recovery of 4x4's is very low so once one has been taken away it is usually a total loss to the insurance company.

All of these factors mean that ensuring a 4x4 can be very expensive but there are ways in which you could minimise the risk of your car being stolen, and therefore potentially reduce your insurance liability, in the following ways:

1) fit a very strong, and highly visible, steering wheel lock. These are easy to get hold of and not terribly expensive to buy. They will deter all but the most professional thieves.

2) bear in mind that if you have keyless entry this provides an enormous opportunity the thieves who are technically proficient at the use of one or more of the many hacking devices which are on the market. Do not trust the fact that you have locked the car; be aware that there is hardly a single 4x4 on the market with a door lock cannot be opened by someone with the right technology.

3) make sure you store your car keys, when at home, as far away as possible from your front door, preferably in a metal case. This can help prevent people using your keyless system to steal your car.

4) if at all possible keep it overnight in a locked garage, or investigate the possibility of having lockable security posts in your driveway to prevent it from being taken away easily.

Your 4x4 has been an expensive buy but it will be a huge asset to you and will help keep you and your family safe whilst out on the road. By having adequate insurance, and taking some simple extra precautions yourself, you can help reduce the possibility that someone else could enjoy these benefits instead of you!