Learner driver insurance

Every driver must have valid insurance for the car they're driving, and that's also the case if you're still learning and practising.

Learner driver insurance – which is also called provisional driver insurance or provisional licence insurance – is therefore designed to provide short-term insurance cover until the day you pass your test, and your green licence turns pink. 

How does learner driver insurance work?

Learner driver insurance policies essentially work the same as standard policies. The difference with learner drivers is that they MUST be supervised by somebody else at all times when doing driving practice. However, they can still get their own car insurance policy, OR be added on to another driver's policy. More info on this below.

You can get learner insurance for multiple vehicles, but you'll need a separate policy for each.

What insurance do I need as a learner driver?

Like all car insurance, provisional insurance gives you the choice of three main levels of cover (see more detail in types of car insurance explained):

• Third party. This third-party insurance covers damage to someone else, their vehicle and/or their property.

• Third party, fire and theft. As above, but also cover if your car is stolen or catches fire.

• Comprehensive or 'fully comp'. On top of third party, fire and theft, with fully comprehensive insurance, you can also claim for the costs of repairing or replacing your own car if you were at fault and caused the accident.

There are also various add-ons you can get, from breakdown to windscreen cover.

This depends. If you're only learning during driving lessons with a professional instructor, you won't need your own learner driver insurance policy, as you'll be covered by their insurance.

However, if you're learning to drive by practising in yours or a family member's/friend's car, you'll need learner insurance cover. Consider these questions before making a decision on which kind to get – either buying your own cover or getting added to the main driver's policy:

• Have your own car? You may want to get your own annual policy and add an experienced older second driver to it if you're driving frequently. If not, temporary learner insurance – by the hour, day, week or month depending on your needs – may be your best bet.
  
  Do note that annual cover can work out cheaper than a longer temporary policy – for instance, you may be better off getting a year-long learner insurance policy instead of a five-month one. Always combine comparison sites to compare policies and find the best deal.

• Using someone else's car? You can either get temporary learner insurance for when you are driving it or get added permanently to the primary driver's policy, depending on how often you plan to use their car.
  
  However, this can have potential drawbacks, such as affecting the car owner's no-claims bonus – more info below.

As you'll now have a full licence (congratulations!), you must inform your insurer before driving your car – any existing learner driver insurance cover won't be valid anymore. You'll have the same insurance options as above, so get your own standalone policy if you'll be the main driver.

Unfortunately, however, as you'll no longer need to be supervised by a qualified driver at all times, you're likely to find your policy jumps up in price in the short term. This is because you've little experience and won't have built up a no-claims bonus. For more information, see our New driver insurance and Young driver insurance guides.

Like most insurance, the price of car insurance for learner drivers is calculated based on how much of a risk the insurer thinks you are – so how likely it reckons you'll be to make a claim (or cause another person to claim off of your policy).

As you're brand new to the roads and won't have any track record of how safe a driver you are, insurers have to look at claims data. And those statistics show that young drivers are more likely to be involved in an accident than older, experienced drivers. That said, you'll still likely pay less than a new driver considering you MUST have another driver with you at all times. This makes you less of a risk in the eyes of insurers.

What affects your learner driver insurance costs?

As well as the factors above that can have an impact on how insurers price a policy, here's a quick overview of other variables that can make a difference (see what affects your quote for detailed information).

• The type of policy you go for. For example, an annual policy will usually cost more than short-term cover, but not always, so do check.
   
  In addition, comprehensive cover can be cheaper. You'd logically assume third-party insurance would be cheapest, as it offers less cover than comprehensive, but it can be viewed by insurers as a more risky option. So always compare prices for each type of policy. 

• The car you drive. A cheap, less powerful car will generally cost less to insure than a flashy one. See Car insurance groups. 

• Other drivers on the policy – adding someone can cut insurance costs. You're a high-risk driver as a learner, so adding someone who is a much lower risk as a second (and/or third) driver can bring down the average risk, meaning you may get a cheaper policy.
  
  Though this again comes down to trial and error. Adding your older sister might lower your quote with one provider but not another. It's also worth checking out multicar insurance if there are several vehicles to insure in your family.

The first rule is to use more than one comparison site, so you can quickly and easily compare hundreds of insurers. The deals and prices can vary between the sites, so although they appear to all do the same job, the results you get can be different. 

To help, our Compare+ tool is designed to give you top MoneySaving tips as you complete the form, and will then show you results from MoneySupermarket (as we're part of the same group).

It'll then suggest getting quotes from other comparison sites such as Compare The Market* and Confused.com*. You can boost this further by also trying Gocompare, Quotezone* and Direct Line.