Car Insurance Guide

If you want to go directly to another section of our guide to car insurance, you can click on one of the links below:

What you need before applying for car insurance

Regardless of where you want a car insurance quote from, make sure you have the following information to hand before you apply:

• Car make and model


• Registration number (sometimes giving the registration number helps pre-fill in an online application form in terms of the make and model of the car)


• Full post code


• Number of years of no-claims discount and with whom


• Where the car is normally kept - street, garage, etc. By the way, don’t be tempted to say your car is garaged if it isn’t. In the event of a theft outside your home your claim could be declined.


• Details of other drivers - name, date of birth, licence type, residency in UK and occupation


• What the car will be used for – social, domestic and pleasure; or business


• Estimated annual mileage


• Type of cover - comprehensive, third party fire and theft, or third party only


• Full details of claims or convictions in the last three years. This will be on your driving licence.

Liability and legal requirements

The law requires that any vehicles three years old and over have a valid MOT certificate. You are unable to tax a vehicle without an MOT and certificate of insurance and driving a car without these is an offence.

The Road Traffic Act states that all motorists must be insured against their liability for injuring other people (including passengers) and for damage to other people`s property.

It is also vital to keep your car insurance company up-to-date including vehicle modifications and fixed penalties.

This is known as “utmost good faith” and means you are obliged to disclose any detail which may be of importance to the insurers - whether or not it is requested. Not doing so may affect any claim you make.

TIP: Many parents add their children to their motor insurance policies in order to cut bills. There is nothing wrong with this. But if the car is actually owned by the child and he/she is the registered keeper, an insurer may see this as “fronting”.

This is where the child is a named driver when in fact he/she is the main user of the vehicle. In such cases, an insurer may reject a claim. Always make sure you tell the insurer who the main driver is.