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Our revolutionary car insurance tool is designed to take the hard work out of finding a cheap price
Fill in one questionnaire and get our unique cost-cutting tips as you answer
See your cheapest insurers from the comparison as a benchmark
Follow our personalised tips to try for a bigger saving
Car insurance is a legal requirement. If you want to know more about how to find the best car insurance for you, our guides can help:
Cheap car insurance for the tips and tricks you’ll need to know
Insurance for young drivers if you’re aged 17-25
Multicar insurance if you've more than one vehicle
Learner driver insurance for when you're starting out
Car insurance prices have continued to fall however, the rate of decline has decreased in recent months with smaller drops each month, according to pricing consultancy Pearson Ham.
Year-on-year, prices are now almost 15% lower year-on-year, but they’re still higher than in 2020 due to past increases driven by inflation, rising car repair costs, and higher payouts for written-off vehicles.
So don’t assume your renewal price is a good deal. It’s still crucial to compare quotes and find the best possible price for your car insurance.
Read our guide on how to get cheap car insurance.
NEVER auto-renew – check if you can get a cheaper policy elsewhere
Use our Compare+ Car Insurance tool to see if you can save
Want to stay with your existing insurer? Haggling can save you £100s
Use our top tips to cut the cost of your car insurance
Always check the policy thoroughly before you apply
Watch Martin's video for more details, or read a transcript.
It can help you get a cheaper car insurance quote – we'll tell you:
The cheapest time to search for quotes
Show you your cheapest quotes from one comparison site
Tell you whether it's likely worth checking elsewhere
Provide personalised tips along the way to help cut your costs further
There are three main types of car insurance cover:
Third party – this is the minimum level of cover needed to drive legally, and only covers damage to someone else or their property.
Third party, fire and theft – as above, but with additional cover in case the car gets stolen or catches ablaze.
Fully comprehensive – the widest level of cover available. You get third-party, fire and theft cover, plus if you have an accident and it was your fault you can claim the cost of repairing your car (as well as any damage you cause to someone else or their property).
Find out more about the types of car insurance.
You'll need to provide a few details to get a car insurance quote:
Your personal details – including your age, your job and (often) details of your driving licence.
Your no-claims discount history – insurers will give you a lower price the longer it's been since you made a claim. Read more on whether you should protect your no-claims discount.
Your car – details of the car’s registration if you know it, or the make and model if not.
Details of how you'll use your car – how many miles you'll do each year, whether you'll use it for business, commuting or leisure, and where you'll keep it.
There are many factors that will impact how much you pay, including:
Your age – 25 and under, or 70 and over, and you’re likely to pay more.
Your job – some work is seen as more risky. Our handy job picker will help you decide if you can reasonably tweak your job title to cut costs.
Your car – insurers will consider all sorts of things, including how powerful and valuable your car is, and whether it’s a theft target.
Your address – urban areas can be more expensive, especially if you keep your car on the street.
Your driving history – which can include any claims and convictions, how much mileage you do and any no-claims bonus you have.
Read more on what can affect your insurance quote.
Martin Lewis: "NEVER auto-renew – always check if you can get cheaper car insurance elsewhere. Our Compare+ Car Insurance tool does this for you, plus gives many other tips on how you can make further savings – for example, it's usually cheapest to renew around 23 days before your renewal date, and (legally) tweaking your job title can save you £100s. If you don't want to switch, always haggle – it does work."
Below we've featured some fantastic success from MSE users who've used these guides to save money on their car insurance. If you've found success using our tools or guides, let us know via email.
"Spent days searching for car insurance for my 17-year-old son who just passed his driving test. Prices were between £3,000 and £20,000. Then went to Martin's page and used the tool. Got insurance for £1,300 for him and me. So much better. Thank you."
"A huge thank you for your Compare+ Car Insurance tool. I used it, following your tip to get quotes 25 days ahead. Direct price £1,046 vs £605 for like-for like cover via MSE. Saved £441. RESULT!"
"My wife and I each have our car insured on a combined policy. This year's policy renewal came in at £974. Using your price comparison, we have renewed our policies separately for a total of £419, less than half this year's renewal. Thank you!"
Some fully comprehensive policies will cover you to drive other vehicles (in addition to your own). But before jumping behind a different set of wheels, check with your insurer that you definitely have this extended cover. You might also be covered to drive hire cars too.
However, it's worth noting that even if your comprehensive cover allows you to drive other vehicles, this is usually only up to the level of third-party coverage – so no theft or fire damage cover is provided.
If you share a car (or someone else regularly uses your car), you can add other drivers to your policy – known as named drivers. Sometimes adding a named driver can even help to lower the cost of your own cover, especially if they are seen as 'responsible'.
A 'no-claims bonus' and 'no-claims discount' are two slightly different terms for the same thing. In essence, for every year that you go without making a claim, your insurer will usually give you a discount at renewal. That's because insurers like less-risky policyholders.
And the more years you go without making a claim, the larger the discount will be. For instance, an insurer may give you a 30-40% discount if you can go without claiming for the first year of your policy, and then give you an extra 10% discount if you're then claim-free in the second year.
You can often also pay to protect any no-claims discount you've built up – read more on how no-claims discounts work.
If you're only after insurance for a less than a day, a week or few months, then a temporary car insurance policy is worth considering. The idea is this will work out cheaper than taking out an annual policy and cancelling it, where you'd usually pay admin fees.
Using temporary car insurance is often a good option to ensure you are covered while borrowing someone else's car, as you don't need to amend the car owner's existing policy, and, if something were to happen, you wouldn't impact their no-claims discount.
Read more on temporary car insurance.
A telematics policy prices your premiums depending on how you drive. A device – known as a 'black box' – is installed in your car to monitor your actions behind the wheel – so the better your driving, the less you pay for cover. Telematics insurance can be one way to help bring down the insurance costs for younger drivers.
If you are confident that you can drive well you can earn £100s back on your cover via a telematics policy. But be warned: driving badly could also see your premiums increase.
Insurers use this information to help them calculate your premium. The less you drive, the cheaper your insurance, so while you always need to give a genuine estimate to avoid committing fraud, it makes it doubly important not to overestimate as you'll also end up overpaying.
The best method is to look at how much you've driven in the past using accurate data, and if your driving habits haven't changed, put the same figures down. If they have, change the figure accordingly. The easiest ways to find out your history is by looking back at old MOT certificates or service documents where your mileage would have been recorded – just compare one year with the next for how far you've driven.
