Green Car Insurance Kind to the Environment But not Your Pocket

When London’s congestion charge was first introduced in February 2003, it was done so with numerous goals in mind including reducing the volume of traffic, boosting road safety and reducing harmful emissions.

However, as we approach the fifth anniversary of its implementation, one environmental website is claiming that Transport for London’s latest proposals could backfire on the environment.

The proposal is that cars with emissions of 120g/km and below will be exempt from congestion charging. However, a report from AEA suggests that this could increase the number of cars in the congestion zone, resulting in more cars moving slowly and therefore an increase in emissions.

As a consequence, the environmental website has suggested an alternative proposal with a stricter 110g/km target and a staggered charging system.

Whichever proposal gets the go-ahead, it’s yet more incentive for drivers to ‘go green’.

Already green cars fit into lower tax bands, meaning lower annual payments. However, that’s just the beginning with savings to be made on car insurance too.

Many insurers will offer cheap car insurance to green car drivers who are seen as more likely to reduce their car journeys and therefore are less prone to accidents.

If you’re more interested in the environment than saving cash then there are now a number of ‘green car insurance’ policies, which offer to offset carbon emissions by contributing as much as 10% of your premiums to green projects.

However, it is questionable as to whether these green policies are truly the best option for the environment.

You could be better off shopping around for a traditional car insurance policy. By finding cheap car insurance and saving as much money as you can, you can then put the cash you save towards the green project of your choice and effectively cut out the ‘middle man’.