COMPREHENSIVE CAR INSURANCE

No, comprehensive and fully comprehensive car insurance work in exactly the same way even though they are sometimes referred to by these different names. Insurers often say ‘fully’ comprehensive to show that you’re getting a full level of cover.

While there are ways you can reduce the cost of your car insurance, unfortunately there are some factors insurers consider that you won’t have much control over:

• Your age: You’ll generally pay more for car insurance if you’re a young driver, owing to a lack of experience on the road that makes you a higher claim risk

• Your driving history: If you’re got a history of accidents, claims or convictions, this also gives you a higher risk profile – so your insurance costs will likely be higher than average

• Your location: Some areas in the UK are more prone to car theft or vandalism, or have a higher rate of road accidents – the increased risk means higher premiums for those who live or work in these areas 

• Your occupation: Some jobs also carry different risks to others, whether it’s because of equipment, location or commuting, so insurers also take this into account when setting premiums

• Annual mileage: The more you drive, the more of a risk you are to insurers of getting into an accident therefore, the higher mileage can mean higher premium costs

Your fully comprehensive car insurance policy won’t automatically cover you to drive other cars unless you’ve added them to your policy as an extra car with multi-car insurance – useful for households or individuals with two or more vehicles.

If you want to drive another car you don’t own, you could also ask the owner to add you to their existing policy as a named driver – this will likely increase their premiums, however.

Likewise fully comprehensive car insurance policies also won’t automatically cover other people to drive your car – they’ll have to be added to your policy as a named driver, or take out their own cover.

Fully comprehensive cover isn’t a legal requirement – but having car insurance is. You will need to have third-party cover as a minimum to drive on UK roads, which is the lowest level of cover available.

It depends on the cause. If the engine fails because of general wear and tear – for example, if you have an old car – this won't be covered.

On the other hand, if the engine failure is a direct result of a collision or fire damage, your comprehensive car insurance policy should cover the cost of repairing or replacing the engine.

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