Keep your pride and joy protected.

If you have a high-performance car, it’s because you really love cars and want to drive the very best. However, these cars often come at a premium price when you insure them, so here’s our guide to high performance car insurance.

Who insures high performance cars?

If you drive a Lamborghini, Porsche, Ferrari and other such high-performance cars, getting insurance can be a costly business. Several providers offer car insurance for performance cars. This includes specialists like Chubb, Keith Michaels, Adrian Flux, Performance Direct and traditional insurers like Swinton, Admiral, Churchill and others.

What is considered a performance car?

Before you decide whether or not to get performance car insurance, it’s worth being sure that your car qualifies. A performance car is normally one that offers great speed and power, usually has tight and responsive steering, the ability to hug curves and corners and almost always have seats that are designed to keep you firmly in place while you’re enjoying the benefits of the above.

Some other factors that are taken into consideration by insurers include the car being a two-seater and being lower to the ground and lighter in weight than an average car. Coupes, roadsters and GTIs are usually classed as performance cars.

Are sports cars expensive to insure?

Sports cars are generally insured in the same way as any other car, but are usually much more expensive. This is for the fairly obvious reason that they go much faster, which makes them more likely to be involved in an accident. They’re also more attractive and valuable than a regular car, which makes them more likely to be stolen.

Another issue that affects the insurance costs is that replacement parts for high performance sports cars are usually more expensive and difficult to source, increasing the costs for even small repair jobs. The age of the driver also plays a big part in the affordability of performance car insurance, particularly if they are under 25 and considered high risk.

So, it’s clear that your Lamborghini insurance or McLaren insurance costs will be much higher than if you were driving a Ford Fiesta but there are ways that you can reduce them. Having a limited mileage policy - if it applies to your usage - is one such way to bring down your premium, as would offering to pay a voluntary excess.

Security is another key consideration, so if you were looking to get Porsche insurance, being able to prove that you have taken all measures to deter thieves and vandals - like getting an immobiliser fitted, or keeping it in a secure location - is also a way to lower the costs of getting insured.

Equally, expensive modifications - like new alloy wheels, etc - to your performance car that increase the value of it will have a similar impact on the costs of insurance. Needless to say, getting speeding tickets will also have a negative effect on your premiums, which is another reason to drive your performance car responsibly.