Personal finance comparison site, finder.com, analysed 13,500 insurance quotes, finding that Brits pay £628 per year on average for their car insurance. However, the colour of your car can also affect the amount you pay.

The study looked at a range of quotes for the 12 most popular vehicle colours in the UK, keeping all variables the same other than colour. The findings showed that those with a red car tend to pay the most, at an average of £690 per year. This is 10% more than the national average.

This is closely followed by the less-common colour choices of brown (£686) and yellow (£655).

The cheapest colour in the study was grey, setting drivers back £613 per year. Two other colours would see you pay less than the national average, with Silver costing an average of £622 and beige coming in at £625.

Black is the most common colour choice for cars in the UK (20% of Brits own a black car*), so it is no surprise that the average cost for this colour is closest to the national average – just £3 higher at £231.

Danny Butler, car insurance specialist at the insurance comparison site, finder.com, gives advice on how to ensure you’re paying the lowest prices possible on your vehicle: “With car insurance, the price you pay can vary greatly depending on your age, where you choose to live and your driving experience. Unfortunately, many of these factors are outside of your control so it’s important to try and reduce costs in other areas (particularly if you are a young driver). The car you choose to drive plays a big role in car insurance costs and the cheaper vehicles are usually less powerful, have no modifications, have good safety/security features and are easy and cheap to repair.

Surprisingly, the colour of your car can also impact the cost of your insurance, with the more popular colours such as grey or silver generating the cheapest insurance quotes as opposed to less popular ones such as green or red. One of the reasons behind this is that some of the least popular colours are often harder to source and would cost more to repair at a garage if the vehicle was damaged. Getting different types of paint such as “metallic” are also more expensive. For example, a vehicle in metallic green would cost more to repair for a back bumper scrape than the same vehicle that is in factory white – which would inflate the cost of insurance.

As a starting point, I’d be looking for an economical vehicle in a popular colour version with no modifications. For additional savings, I’d look at increasing the excess slightly (if this is an option for you) to lessen the risk for the insurance company and decrease your premiums.

Lastly, make sure that you shop around and compare several quotes from a range of different providers and look at different policy dates. The price changes are often substantial and a slight change in policy date could make a big difference to your bottom line.”

To see the research in full visit: https://www.finder.com/uk/car-insurance-price-index