Car Insurance

Drivers in the UK are legally required to have at least third-party car insurance in place, as a result of the continuous insurance enforcement rules brought in as part of the 2006 road safety act. Unless your car is legally registered as off the road with a SORN or in the process of being sold or bought, you may be fined for not insuring the vehicle.

There are some steps you can take as a young driver to help reduce the cost of car insurance.

When you buy a car:

• Pick a car in a lower insurance group, as they’re safer on the road and cheaper to cover
• Drive as few miles as you can, as the less time you’re on the road the less likely you are to be involved in a road accident
• Keep the car safe and secure, as storing vehicles in a locked garage reduces the chances of theft or vandalism occurring

When you compare car insurance quotes:

• Consider a telematics policy and earn a lower premium as you use your car by showing you can drive safely and sensibly
• Add an experienced named driver to your policy, so insurers see you won’t be solely responsible for the vehicle
• Pay annually, because insurers generally charge more for the benefit of spreading the cost of cover over 12 months
• Pay a higher voluntary excess – as long as you can still afford it – as this shows insurers you won’t bother with frivolous claims

While driving courses such as Pass Plus or IAM do improve your driving, they won’t always get you cheaper car insurance premiums. The average driver won’t see any difference in premiums whether or not they have Pass Plus on their licence – but that doesn’t mean it won’t benefit you at all. Younger or inexperienced drivers might be able to save a few quid, but it’s better to shop around and compare options – this way if insurers do offer discounts you’ll be able to take advantage.

As a young or new driver, you might be able to knock a few pounds off your premiums by adding another more experienced driver to your policy – in most cases this will be your parents. This suggests to insurers that you won’t be the only person driving the car, therefore the assumed risk won’t always quite so high.

While this can be a good way to get cheaper cover, people sometimes take advantage of this by declaring the older or more experienced driver as the ‘main driver’ – when in reality it’ll be the young or new driver using the car more frequently. This is known as ‘fronting’ and it’s illegal.

When you take out car insurance as a young driver, be careful about the additional policies you choose – they do bolster your cover, but you’ll generally need to pay more for the extra protection. Depending on your provider, you’ll usually have the choice of:

• Breakdown cover, which gives you access to roadside assistance if your car breaks down
• Windscreen cover, which lets you claim for the cost of replacing a cracked or shattered windscreen
• Legal cover, which will pay out for certain legal costs related to a claim by you or another party
• Driving abroad cover, which insures you for taking your car overseas and driving in the EU
• Courtesy car cover, which provides a replacement vehicle for you to use while yours is in repair
• Multi-car cover, which lets you drive more than one car under a single policy
• Personal accident cover, which pays out in the event that you’re injured or killed in a road accident
• Replacement keys, which covers the cost of replacing a set of keys if they’re lost, damaged or stolen
• Wrong fuel, which pays for repair costs if you accidentally top up the tank with the wrong fuel

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