And remind you to come back at the right time year after year (if you want)
And whether you should check Direct Line. Plus we've links to other comparison sites
Should you add a responsible additional driver?
Can you try comprehensive cover? Many save £100s
Have you tried (legitimately) tweaking your job title? This can cut £100s off costs
Can you save with a multicar policy?
Does searching for car insurance affect my credit score?
Searching doesn't, but taking out a policy might.
When you ask an insurer for a quote - whether directly or through a comparison site - you'll need to enter information such as your address, job, marital status and past claims history. The insurer then checks your credit file to make sure the information you've given is correct and you haven't been telling porkies.
Don't panic, though - this routine check is what's called a 'soft search' and leaves no permanent mark on your credit file. YOU WILL see it, but LENDERS WON'T - so it has no effect whatsoever on your chances of getting credit in future.
While the quote won't leave a mark, if you go on to take out an insurance policy and choose to pay in monthly instalments (as opposed to one lump sum upfront), this involves setting up a credit agreement. Paying monthly is essentially a loan where you pay interest on top and therefore it's seen the same as if you've applied for credit.
And as when applying for any type of credit, you will be credit-checked and a 'hard search' recorded on your credit file. Other lenders searching your file WILL be able to see this, as well as the credit agreement itself. All hard searches have a slight short-term negative impact on your ability to get credit in future, but it's only really a concern if you've a big credit application coming up, such as a mortgage.
Why do comparison sites have different prices?
Comparison sites are technically insurance marketplaces, as they are allowed to negotiate their own prices with insurers - on the condition that the insurer isn't allowed to make prices on comparisons higher than they would be on its own website. And as these negotiations are separate, insurers sometimes quote different prices on different comparison sites.
Plus, comparison sites don't feature exactly the same insurers. So it could be that your cheapest price is from an insurer that only appears on one comparison, rather than them all.
So it's best to use at least two comparisons, and more if you've time, to maximise your chances of getting a cheap quote.
Why is it cheapest to get insurance quotes 26 days ahead of renewal?
Our analysis of over one million quotes from January to April 2024 from MoneySupermarket showed a policy costs an average of £2,277 a year on renewal day. But 26 days earlier the average is just £906 a year, a MASSIVE £1,371 less.
In general, the closer to your renewal date you get quotes, the more of a risk you're deemed to be (we've heard that it can show insurers you're a bit disorganised). But getting quotes too early, for example, 28+ days out, can also push the average price up - likely as fewer insurers will provide quotes that early.
What does MSE Compare+ Car Insurance do with my data?
Well - lots of clever things. But we would say that.
MSE has a policy of only using your data for the purpose you gave it to us for. So we simply use it to give you the answers you need from the tool you've signed up for. (That's unless you specifically say you want us to use it in future, or use it in our other tools so you don't have to form-fill).
In this case, you're filling in a MoneySupermarket question set, so it gets your data. However, as part of our arrangement with MoneySupermarket, it will only use that data for processing your car insurance quotes (unless you are already a MoneySupermarket customer and have given it permission to use the data for other purposes).
To process the quotes it has to pass on the information to third parties...
These are the main ways we use your data within MSE's Compare+ tool, but you can read full information about how your data is used in the MoneySupermarket Privacy Policy.
Does MoneySavingExpert make money out of this?
If a link has an * by it, it is an 'affiliated link' which helps MoneySavingExpert stay free to use, as it is tracked to us. If you go through it, it can sometimes result in a payment or benefit to the site. You shouldn't notice any difference and the link will never negatively affect the product. Plus the editorial line (the things we write) is NEVER impacted by these links.
If it isn't possible to get an affiliate link for a particular insurer or comparison site, it is still included in exactly the same way, just with a non-paying link. For more details, read How this site is financed.
Is insurance the only way I can save on the costs of running my car?
Car insurance can be expensive, though this tool's designed to get you the cheapest quote possible. Yet slashing car insurance costs isn't the only way you can save money on motoring. Our comprehensive guides can help you save:
Plus we've many more Motoring MoneySavers.
What if I'm happy with my existing insurer?
Simple - if you don't want to move, use the results from this tool to haggle with your existing insurer.
Ask your insurer to match the cheapest quote / best deal you get from here. For full help, and tips to maximise your chances of a discount, see Car & home insurance haggling.
Why can't you give me an actual price for the comparison sites and insurers you mention in the Car Compare+ tool?
We can't legally get and publish price data from a comparison site without its permission. We would love to include prices from the main comparison sites and larger insurers in our search but they have to agree to it.
MoneySupermarket.com is part of the same parent group as MoneySavingExpert so it was the easy start point. We did ask other big comparison sites to join, though none took up the option.
Of course, in line with the MSE Editorial Code, we do mention other comparison sites that might be cheaper for you, and give you a general order of which to try them, much as we have done for years in our main car insurance guide.
Why are the comparisons not showing many quotes?
There can be a few reasons for this, including:
If you're struggling to find affordable - or indeed any - cover, try a specialist insurance broker. You can find one through the British Insurance Brokers' Association website.
What is a 'telematics' device?
Telematics is a policy that prices your premiums depending on how you drive. A device - known as a black box - installed in your car monitors your actions behind the wheel so the better your driving, the less you pay for cover. Sometimes insurers will measure your driving via an app on your phone rather than installing a box in your car.
If you are confident that you can drive well, you can earn £100s back on your cover via a telematics policy. Be warned, however, that driving badly could see your premiums increase.
It may not just be about how you drive either. Some insurers could factor in when, or how far, you drive too when working out premiums. In these cases, driving at night often pushes up premiums, as does driving long distances regularly.
If you have quotes that involve a telematics device, always make sure you're aware exactly what you're being measured on.
What's the difference between the voluntary and compulsory excess?
The compulsory excess is set by the insurer, and this is the amount that you will need to contribute in case of a claim. Often this is set at £100 or £250.
The voluntary excess, as the name suggests, is down to you. But be careful when deciding your excess. The larger the voluntary excess you set, the cheaper the premium usually is.
However, if you did need to claim, you'd need to pay the total amount of both excesses before the insurer would start to pick up costs. So if you had a £250 compulsory excess and a £250 voluntary excess, then you'd need to pay the first £500 of any claim. If the claim total exceeded this, the insurer would need to pay for the rest.
How do I know which policy is right for me?
Once you've found a cheap quote that you're happy with, there are a few things to check...
Read transcript: Martin Lewis on how car insurance works
Hello, I'm Martin Lewis and this is your mini briefing on getting car insurance. First thing to understand is if you own a car or you're the registered keeper, you need insurance even if you don't drive it. Those are the rules. They changed ooh five, six, seven, eight years ago. I should have double checked that before I started. But that's how it works now anyway. And so you've got to get yourself insurance. If not, your would need to get yourself a SORN, a Statutory Off Road Notification.
First big rule when it comes to getting car insurance is never auto-renew. Each year your firm will send you through a renewal. They use the fact that you must have car insurance in place if you own a car to say, you know, this is the day it runs out and you legally have to have it in place the next day. Well, stop that. As soon as you get that renewal, or even better, put a note in your diary beforehand. You should be checking if it's possible to get cheaper car insurance elsewhere. If it is, you might want to switch or you might want to go back to your original insurer and say: Hey, my renewal quote with you is 600 quid. I can get an identical policy for 400 quid elsewhere. I'd like to stay with you, please will you cut your price? And that haggling does work.
When it comes to finding the cheapest price. Well, we've got a MoneySavingExpert tool that helps you do it. It's called our Car Insurance Compare+ tool. And all of the tips I'm going to give you are automated and made much easier to do inside of that tool. But let me give you a briefing of the type of things you need to be thinking about when it comes to getting car insurance.
The first one, for most people, the best thing to do is combine comparison sites. Now they're called comparison sites, but in truth, they are actually car insurance marketplaces because they're allowed to give you their own prices for different insurers, as long as that's not more expensive than going direct. So the same insurance company could have a different price on two different comparison sites, plus the fact they don't all search the same car insurers. So we always suggest trying two or three if you're really trying to nail the price down and then add in those firms that aren't on comparison sites, the specific one being Direct Line, there might also be some deals out there too, that could benefit you when it comes to the timing of getting your comparison done. Our research shows that 21 to 28 days beforehand is usually the uber spot. Prices get cheaper as you get down to 28 to 21 days and then afterwards they go up because insurance is all about risk pricing. And the actuarial risk charts say those who leave it later are a higher risk. So insurance price them higher. You could pay getting on for 50% or more, more if you renew on the day your insurance lapses rather than doing it 21 to 28 days beforehand.
Next quick tip is not all car insurance savings are common sense. Some of them are counter logical. I've got three for you. The first is that adding a second driver could reduce rather than increase the price. This is because insurance is all about risk. And so if you add a second driver who is a lower risk, that can bring down your average risk and therefore cut the cost. The classic time this will work is if you've got a younger driver, say, a 23 year old who adds a second driver, likely their parent, who's got a long-term good, clean, sensible driving record. And it can bring down the average risk and bring down the price. It doesn't always work. It's a matter of trial and error.
So is changing your job title. Now never lie. You can only call yourself something that a reasonable person would say is reasonable for your job.
But it may be that a secretary and PA, one may be cheaper than the other. A bar staff or bar worker. One may be cheaper than the other. Small nuances can make a difference. And we've got a tool that helps you through that.
And finally, don't assume that fully comprehensive insurance will be more expensive. You get more cover with it. But again, we go back to those risk charts. That fact that you select fully comprehensive actually for some insurers show that you may well be a lower risk. And the amount it brings the risk down can more than compensate for the fact that they're giving you bigger cover. So if you're looking to get the very cheapest insurance, don't just look at third party. Also get some quotes for fully comp too, just in case you're the one of the people for whom that's cheaper.
My final thoughts. Once you've found your cheapest insurer, you can always go and check whether you can get cashback for it on a cashback website. But do make sure you're not going to pay more for the policy if you do that. And always check through every element of the policy to be sure you're happy with it before you sign up. There are lots of different bits to car insurance policies and you need to check it's right for you. Remember, car insurance is regulated. If you have a problem, even if they're rejecting your claim and you think that's unfair, make a formal complaint. And if they still turn you down, you have a right to go to the free Independent Financial Ombudsman Service, where it will adjudicate whether you're being treated fairly or not. Hope that helps loads more info on the car insurance guide. And in the Car Insurance Compare+ tool.
Policies don't have to cost a fortune