New car registrations - what does this mean for you?

March is the arrival of new car registrations, with this year transitioning to the 25 plate. That means that the age identifying characters of UK number plates for cars registered between March 2025 and September 2025 will all feature the number 25.

What does this mean for UK drivers?

While the new registrations don’t make a huge difference for casual drivers in the UK, for car enthusiasts, new registrations usually mean a spike in new car sales as people flock to get the newest models. This can have an impact on some car values if you’re planning to sell or buy around these times of year.

The introduction of new registration numbers can mean models with older registration plates go down slightly in value as many people will be wanting the brand new 25 plates. Many people will be trading in their old vehicles for newer models around this time, which can make it more difficult to sell an older vehicle.

On the other hand, if you're in the market for a new car, a surplus of used and old vehicles can mean that more options become available, and it’s worthwhile to keep an eye on vehicle prices around the time of new registrations in case they go down.

It's common knowledge that new cars can depreciate in value by an average of 20-30% in the first year of ownership, so the release of new registrations might be your chance to get a good deal.

If you're looking to buy a new car, you can use our car finance calculator to work out how much it will cost you to take out a loan.

Will new vehicle registrations affect my insurance premiums?

The spike in car sales around the launch of new number plates translates to a spike in car insurance sales and renewals around March and September time. But thankfully, this doesn’t usually have a direct affect on price of car insurance, so you don’t need to worry about your policy shooting up in price if you decide to take out insurance around these times of year.

However, if your car insurance renewal date is in March, you may find a better deal for your car insurance by switching or renewing right now.

When is the best time to renew car insurance?

MoneySuperMarket data from 2024 has shown us that the sweet-spot to renew your car insurance is around 21 days before your policy expires. This could save the average UK driver about 15% on their premium – or £233 – compared to if they renewed the day before their policy's expiration date.

So, if your policy’s expiration date is coming up in March, you might want to start looking at your options now to get the best value for your next policy.

Below is a breakdown of average car insurance quotes on MoneySuperMarket 1 to 30 days before a driver’s policy expires*:

It's important that you keep track of when your car insurance expires, otherwise you run the risk of being uninsured.

Insurers will usually send you an email reminding you of your policy's expiry data, but if you haven't received one you can usually find it in your policy documents or by logging into your provider's website.

And rather than auto-renewing your policy, you're likely to find the best price for your cover by comparing quotes, so give yourself time to shop around and check out your options before a decision needs to be made.

Kara Gammell
Senior Editorial Strategy Lead/Brand Spokesperson

Skip auto-renewal for better deals

Auto-renewing gives you the convenience of not having to worry about being uninsured, but it takes away your opportunity to shop for a better price.

Rather than relying on your insurer to remind you when your policy's about to expire, it pays off to set yourself your own reminder about a month before your renewal date to start comparing prices.

Looking at quotes not only gives you a chance to see what else is out there but also gives you some bargaining power with your current insurer if you want to negotiate your renewal price.

^{*Based on MoneySuperMarket quoted policies for annual car insurance between July 25th 2024 and October 23rd 2024. The average price of car insurance quote 21 days before policy expiration was £1,405.18 and one day before expiration average price of car insurance quotes was £1,635.94}