Getting cheap car insurance starts with shopping around.
In this guide, we explain how to find the best quotes on comparison sites – and the insurers that aren't on them – plus how to tweak your cover, from adding named drivers to changing your excess.
We've got dedicated advice for drivers with large no-claims discounts; younger and newer drivers and those aged over 50.
Once you've got quotes from other providers, challenge your current insurer to do better, using our haggling script.
Read on to find many more ways to save and how to find the most affordable car insurance deals.
Check Which? insurance ratings and compare deals using the service provided by Confused.com
The price you're offered when you renew your car insurance is unlikely to be the cheapest available.
Since January 2022, car and home insurers have been banned from charging their new and existing customers different prices, but you still stand to get the best prices if you regularly shop around.
Different insurers may view your claims history, vehicle and neighbourhood in different ways – or might have temporarily made their product cheaper to attract new customers. Either way, seeing what's on offer from your insurer's rivals gives you the advantage of knowing how competitive your current insurer is.
Comparing car insurance quotes takes minutes and enables you to see if your renewal offer really is the best available. Even if you've got a big no-claims discount, it's usually possible to carry this over to another insurer.
Ready to save? Scroll down for our tips or see our guides on:
Price comparison sites are a good place to start as they allow you to get multiple car insurance quotes quickly.
Once you're on the insurer's website, check the policy details again, just to be sure the insurer has received all the correct information about you and is providing an accurate quote.
The main price comparison sites for insurance are Compare the Market, Confused.com, GoCompare and MoneySuperMarket.
Before visiting comparison sites or contacting insurers, make sure you have the following:
It's also useful to have an idea of what you're currently paying for your car insurance. Your insurer's renewal letter should note what you've paid this year, as well as the renewal quote.
With insurance or comparison sites, loyalty isn't much of a virtue, although some comparison sites do have reward schemes to incentivise repeat car insurance customers.
While you'll find a lot of big-name insurers across all the main sites, their panels of insurers vary and, in some cases, the prices too – which means you should check as many of them as possible for car insurance deals.
While this might sound like a chore, it's effectively the equivalent of running about 50 or more quotes rather than one, to access offers from scores of insurance firms. Compared with the days when it was necessary to contact each insurer individually, it's time well spent.
This is potentially the case if you apply for a deal paid for in monthly instalments, but this would be the same if you'd gone to the insurer directly without using a comparison site.
What you may notice is that a number of insurers will run 'soft' searches on your credit record to verify your identity. You'll see these on your credit report , but soft searches won't be visible to other companies and won't affect your rating.
The car insurance price you're shown on a comparison site is a genuine, live quote from the insurer. However, take into account the following:
When you click through to an insurer's site, you'll be asked to agree to a set of 'assumptions'. This is information assumed to be correct about you that you haven't provided via the comparison site.
Check this carefully. If any of it is inaccurate, your quote could be incorrect.
Also factor in the costs of add-ons and the potential costs of fees – see our comparison of insurers' fees .
Comparison sites are a great aid to your search for cheap car insurance, helping you cover vast amounts of terrain quickly when shopping around. But some insurers don't feature on all comparison sites.
Direct Line insurance is only available directly from it. Direct Line is a strong performer in our analysis of providers, offering a total-loss hire car as standard in its Comprehensive and Comprehensive Plus policies. Churchill and Privilege are part of the Direct Line Group, but both sell policies on comparison sites.
NFU Mutual doesn't sell online at all. For a quote, you'll need to call one of its broker centres. NFU Mutual tends to perform well when we analyse car insurance, offering a lifetime guarantee on repairs and purporting to have a 'no-quibble' approach to claims.
Another type of comparison site is the cashback site. As the name suggests, these sites – such as Quidco and TopCashback – pay you a cash reward when you click through from them to buy goods or financial products.
These are worth checking out while you shop around for deals, but they won't necessarily offer you the best value deals, even with cashback included.
A £600 insurance policy with £75 cashback is far from a bargain if you can get the same cover elsewhere for £400.
Check you're getting a great deal and search for a new car insurance policy using the service provided by Confused.com. Get a quote now
How much you'll pay for car insurance depends on a range of factors, from your age, the type of vehicle you own and where you live, to your marital status and past driving history.
Several organisations track prices within car insurance pricing and regularly publish trends. Differing calculation methods and dates of publication can mean that the average figures don't always align.
| Source | Index/survey | Premium | Premium is average of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Association of British Insurers | Premium Tracker (Q2 2024) | £622 | Premiums paid |
| Confused.com | Car Insurance Price Index (Q2 2024) | £882 | Cheapest prices quoted to customers |
| Compare the Market | Premium Drivers research (May 2024) | £850 | Cheapest quotes available to majority of customers |
| GoCompare | Price index (Q1 2024) | £447 | Premiums paid |
While this range of figures outlines what your 'average' person might pay (or be quoted), in real life there isn't an 'average' car insurance customer.
Insurance is personally priced. This means that according to your personal circumstances, you might find that you pay a lot more or less than the figures cited above.
Factors that could make your insurance more expensive include:
While you may not be able to change insurers' views of you, read on for several ways you can bring down the cost of car insurance.
There are three levels of car insurance:
The cover offered by fully comprehensive policies can still vary hugely, as our car insurance reviews reveal.
Drivers who are typically offered the least competitive prices (such as younger drivers) may be tempted to opt for a lower level of cover to reduce the premium. However, it's worth checking the prices of each level of cover as sometimes, counterintuitively, comprehensive cover costs less than TP or TPF&T.
The reason is insurers don't just price policies according to the level of cover, but also according to how much they're paying out in claims for the drivers buying it.
Where less comprehensive policies are bought overwhelmingly by drivers that tend to claim more, insurers will work this into their pricing, making them more expensive.
Even comprehensive cover won't cover every eventuality. Insurers offer various add-ons, which you may or may not need:
Most comprehensive policies will offer a car while your vehicle is in the garage for repairs.
But the courtesy car may not be available or resemble your own vehicle. And you're unlikely to get one if your car is stolen or written off.
Enhanced courtesy cover can fill these gaps.
This covers the cost of pursuing legal action to reclaim expenses that aren't covered under your main insurance - such as suing for compensation after an accident.
However, your insurer will only pursue claims where it believes you have a reasonable chance of succeeding.
Car insurance pays the costs affected by an accident, but not your car breaking down or refusing to start.
While breakdown cover can be added to your car insurance policy, it could be cheaper to buy from a third party provider - you can find our reviews here.
You may already have breakdown cover from a packaged bank account .
Comprehensive car insurance policies are likely to provide some cover if you're killed or seriously injured in an accident.
However, dedicated accident cover may cover more situations to a higher claims limit, including daily expenses while at hospital.
An alternative to personal accident cover could be life insurance .
It may not be worth claiming on your main insurance policy for a lost key, especially if you have a large excess or no claims discount.
Key cover solves this problem and may also cover replacing the lock and 24-hour assistance.
Find out more: car insurance add-ons and fees explained .
If you go several years without making a car insurance claim, you could receive a no-claims discount (NCD) of more than 60%.
However, a big NCD doesn't mean you're getting the best price on your insurance:
When you seek quotes from new insurers, you'll be asked how many years of NCDs you have. You may be asked to back this up with evidence.
Bear in mind that different insurers have different NCD policies and may set different maximums for the number of claims-free years recognised in your NCD.
It's counter-intuitive, but sometimes not claiming on your insurance and paying for repairs out of your pocket could save you money over the longer term.
This is because claiming could incur an excess, reduce your NCD and lead to an increase in your premium.
Our guide to claiming on your car insurance explains the calculation you should undertake when deciding whether to claim.
You should inform your insurer about an incident – whether or not you claim – which could also affect your premium.
If you're aged under 25, learning to drive or you're newly qualified to drive, getting car insurance can be an expensive business.
While learning, you can buy dedicated learner driver car insurance or opt to be a named driver on someone else's policy.
Once qualified, you may find the cheapest quotes are for black box policies . These could reward you for driving more safely than the average driver; other policies may suit drivers with relatively low mileage.
Choosing a cheaper car to insure, adding an older named driver to your policy and adding a higher voluntary excess can reduce your premium – though in the latter case make sure the excess is an amount you could afford to pay yourself if your car was damaged.
Also consider additional courses, such as Pass Plus, which can get you a discount from some insurers.
Although car insurance premiums tend to decrease as you get older, they can begin to rise in your 70s and 80s.
Some insurance providers market themselves at over-50s drivers, but they won't necessarily be the cheapest option.
We recommend continuing to get quotes from all providers to see how the over-50s specialists compare. Some over-50s insurers may offer additional perks, such as extended cover for driving overseas.
If you drive significantly less than the national average mileage (6,600 miles a year, according to the Department for Transport), you may be charged more for insurance than higher-mileage drivers.
Some insurers now offer policies that charge by the mile, tracking your mileage using a telematics device (black box) or linking directly to your car's electronics.
It's worth comparing the quotes you're getting from these providers with quotes from more traditional car insurers.
If you only need access to a car for a short time, consider getting temporary car insurance or a policy with a rolling monthly contract that can be cancelled without incurring significant fees.
It's now much easier to get your electric vehicle (EV) insured, but you may find premiums can be high, with insurers blaming high repair costs.
You also need to consider cover for batteries and for charging cables.
Guaranteed asset protection (Gap) insurance covers the difference between what your new car cost you and what an insurer would pay out if it was stolen or written off.
New cars depreciate very quickly, so your insurer could pay out thousands of pounds less than you might expect.
Gap insurance can be particularly useful for people who buy cars on finance, as they will be in debt for the original cost of the car.
While many people buy Gap insurance from their car dealer, they're unlikely to be getting the cheapest price. You should compare quotes as you would for your main insurance policy.
Owners of classic cars – defined by HMRC as cars more than 15 years old with a value of £15,000 or more – might struggle to get car insurance from mainstream insurers.
It's still worth getting quotes from comparison sites, but also seek quotes from specialist classic car insurers and brokers.
Joining an owners' club may also give you discounts on car insurance policies.
Whether your car has been modified for a disability or to give it a unique look, insurance can become more complicated and more costly.
You'll need to notify your insurer about any modifications, at which point it may increase your premium.
A modified car insurance policy covers your car and any modifications you or a previous owner has made.
Check you're getting a great deal and search for a new car insurance policy using the service provided by Confused.com. Get a quote now
While insurers are banned from charging you more just because you're renewing, they could still come up with other reasons to raise your premium. Haggling is your chance to change their mind.
An insurer might charge you more because it sees your risk, or the risk associated with your neighbourhood, as having increased since your last renewal.
But other insurers might not see you the same way, and you can use their quotes to haggle with your current insurer - after all, finding a new customer to replace you could cost them more than giving you a discount.
Our research suggests it does. We've found that seven in ten car insurance customers who haggle manage to bring down their premium. In our latest survey, the majority of hagglers negotiated at least £40 off an annual premium - whilst one in eight saved over £100.
First thing's first: prepare.
Your renewal offer should also tell you the premium you paid the previous year. Note how much it's changed.
Then do some shopping around. This doesn't have to be too extensive; the objective is to get an impression of what your insurer's rivals will offer for your business, putting your renewal quote into context.
Now you're ready to pick up the phone.
Haggling doesn't come naturally to everyone but, fortunately, it's not a dark art as far as insurance goes, and you don't have to be the most confident or savvy negotiator to do it.
Start with: 'I would like to find out why my renewal price has increased'
Wait for the response. Explain that you have shopped around, and provide details of the cheapest quote you have received.
'[Name of other provider] has quoted me [details of offer]. Are you prepared to better this quote?'
Wait and see what the call handler says. If they don't better this offer, you can push a little harder.
'What's the lowest rate you can quote me to keep me as a customer? If it's not better than this cheaper quote, I'll go elsewhere.'
At this point, the call handler should offer you some sort of incentive to stay. It's up to you whether to accept or switch to a cheaper provider.
Insurers are usually prepared to be flexible, but not all will be willing to improve their offer.
You shouldn't be afraid to walk away if this is the case, especially if you know you can get a better deal elsewhere.
However, if you're keen on staying with the same insurer, you may consider increasing your excess or removing components of your cover to bring the cost down.
If the price looks too good to be true, it probably is. Here are some car insurance scams to watch out for:
Ghost brokers are scammers posing as car insurance brokers and they can be found thriving on social media platforms. A Which? investigation in 2022 found that 36 social media profiles – operating across three websites – that touted cheap insurance and appeared to be run by scammers.
Ghost brokers claim to be able to arrange cheap cover for hard-to-insure customers, but to do this they will secretly manipulate their customers’ details by, for instance, changing addresses, driving histories and adding named drivers.
Victims will sometimes be provided with doctored documents to mask the amendments. The resulting policy looks fine to start with, but it will be found to be worthless if the driver tries to claim. Long after the ghost broker has made off with their fee, the average victim is £1,950 down and may face further consequences for having owned a fraudulent policy.
Insurance scams tend to run more smoothly when the policies are linked to real people, making identity theft a key part of the professional insurance fraudster’s toolkit.
Details such as names, addresses and ages are often sold online, and originate from an array of sources – for instance, data leaks from companies or hacked emails.
Sometimes, insurers are the weak link. A report by security company Pindrop claims that ‘voice fraud’ is rife in insurance. This is where impostors try to convince call handlers they’re genuine customers, usually to obtain information about those customers or access their policies.
‘Crash for cash’ is where car insurance claims result from fake or deliberately staged road accidents – for example, a fraudster inducing an accident by braking suddenly in heavy traffic.
In June 2023, when we surveyed 111 Which? members who reported being victims of insurance fraud, one in seven said that they had been targeted in a crash for cash incident.
Insurance brokers should be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The Financial Services Register
lists details of all of the firms, individuals and other bodies that are currently regulated by the FCA.
You can also check if your policy is listed on the Motor Insurance Databas (DAB)
. This records the policy details of all vehicles insured in the UK – if your vehicle is not listed, your policy isn't legitimate.
If you’ve received suspicious correspondence from an insurer, let the insurer know as soon as possible using contact details you have verified independently. It’s also worth keeping a close eye on your credit report. Yhis will allow you to pick up on any searches by companies you don’t recognise, which could indicate a fraudulent application made in your name.
If you think you’ve been the victim of any type of fraud, contact the police. Take photographs, make sketches and gather documentation or any other details that might be useful to an investigation.
You don't have to simply accept the first quote you get from an insurer, as there are plenty of legal tactics you can use to cut the cost of your car insurance.
Insurers will give you the option to pay for your cover in two ways: as a lump sum or in monthly instalments. While paying monthly might seem like a sensible way of spreading the cost, you may actually be charged hundreds more over the year.
By paying in monthly instalments you are, in effect, taking on a loan from your insurer. Most will charge you interest for it, and rates aren't cheap – over 30% APR.
If paying monthly is your only real option, be sure when shopping around to compare the insurers' monthly, rather than annual, premiums. Or you could consider paying using an 0% purchase credit card.
If get a quote from an insurer, they will run a 'soft' search on your credit record . This is to verify the accuracy of your personal information (such as name and address) and won't impact your credit score or be visible to other companies.
If you then apply for insurance and opt to pay monthly, your insurer may then run a 'hard' credit check.
This information will help it decide whether to actually provide you the credit. Like any other credit application, this will be externally visible in your record and can affect how other lenders treat you.
What's the difference between a 'kitchen worker' and a 'chef', a 'writer' and a 'journalist', or a 'housewife' and a 'homemaker'? In practice, your occupation may be aptly described by any two of these, but the one you choose could make a difference with your insurer.
Insurers look at many factors when calculating the cost of covering you, and how you describe what you do for a living makes a difference.
If you've got a choice of different labels when entering your occupation, check if there's a difference in impact to your premium.
However, remember that you should never lie about your job. This is considered fraud and you could be prosecuted.
You must also tell your insurer if you lose your job; unfortunately this could lead to your premium going up. However, your insurer may be able to defer your payments.
Come your policy's renewal date, it may be tempting to let your insurer do all the work and have your policy automatically continue.
But you're paying for this convenience. Customers who haggle are proven to save on their premiums (more on that below). And if you don't shop around, you could be missing out on far better deals from rival companies.
If you live in a household with more than one car, many insurers will offer savings for insuring them all together.
Some insurers offer policies that will cover more than one car, while others enable you to 'link' multiple policies together to earn a discount.
This is likely to work out cheaper than separately covering several vehicles with the same company. Bear in mind, of course, that the value of a discount is entirely relative to how expensive the insurer was to start with.
If you're considered a high-risk driver, putting a lower-risk driver on the policy as a 'named' driver can bring the overall premium down.
For instance, drivers under 25, who face the steepest premiums, can benefit from having an older and more experienced driver on their policy.
Bear in mind, however, that it's illegal to put someone down as the main driver if this isn't the case. This practice is known as 'fronting', and is a type of insurance fraud that can lead to your policy being invalidated.
Don't be fooled into thinking that insurers only consider boy racer cars as being modified. Even a small modification to your car, such as new alloys, can cause your premiums to rise.
If you're going to make any changes to your car, always discuss them with your insurer first.
Conversely, any modification to your vehicle that increases its safety could save you money. Installing an alarm, tracker or immobiliser, especially if approved by car safety research firm Thatcham, can see your car insurance premiums tumble.
If you're willing to fork out more on your excess (the amount you have to pay in the event of a claim) your insurer will reward you with lower premiums. However, make sure you select your excess carefully.
Setting the bar too high, especially if it starts getting too close to your claims limit, might make claiming on your car insurance either pointless or too expensive.
Car insurance add-ons may be loading £50 or more onto your premium. They're by no means all a waste of cash but think carefully about which you need and which you don't
For instance, you may already have breakdown cover, or not require a hire car if your car is put out of action.
Black box insurance , also known as telematics policies, use GPS devices in your car to track your driving.
If your day-to-day driving passes criteria laid out by the insurer (these can range from not driving at specific times of the day, staying within a certain mileage, to measurements of your safety in cornering and braking), you'll be rewarded with discounts in your premium.
These types of policy are most popular with, and generally aimed at, younger drivers, who face the steepest premiums.
Insurers primarily set your premium based on their experience of drivers that seem statistically similar to you (in terms of age, locality, type of car owned, and so on).
However, there are some ways you can demonstrate that you're a better driver, which might help hedge things further in your favour.
Certificates such as Pass Plus (for younger drivers) or from the Institute of Advanced Motorists can help set you apart and will earn you a discount from some insurers.
More obviously, maintaining a good no-claims bonus and clean driving record will keep your premium low.
The make and model of your car is a major factor in how your car insurance policy will be priced.
Cars are given an advisory risk rating by an organisation called Thatcham Research.
Thatcham works in conjunction with insurance trade body the Association of British Insurers to award ratings on a 1-50 scale, giving an indication as to how expensive it will be to insure.
You can visit the Thatcham website and enter your car's specs to see how high it features.
A more direct route, of course, is to run insurance quotes on a prospective car prior to buying it. Car insurance can be a serious addition to its annual running costs, so factor this in before buying a new car.
If you're still having trouble finding suitable car cover, use the British Insurance Brokers' Association's 'find a broker' service
. Call it on 0370 950 1790 or check biba.org.uk for more.
You can also contact the Which? Money Helpline for advice on finding cover.
Find the right policy for your vehicle using the service provided by Confused.com
Find the right policy for your vehicle using the service provided by Confused.com
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