Car insurance

This depends on the insurer, some quotes expire the same day you get them, and others can last longer.

You can find the expiry date for each quote below the annual or total price, and your previous quotes under the ‘quotes’ section of your Confused.com account.

The most common occasions where you might pay an admin fee are:

• Where you cancel your car insurance policy before the 12 months is up. This is also known as a mid-term cancellation.
• When you change your car insurance policy details – for example, a change of address, or a change of car.

You should check the terms and conditions of your policy for any other fees that might apply.

Most insurers don’t charge a cancellation fee within the first 14 days of your policy start date. But if you want to cancel your policy after that, you're likely to face a cancellation fee.

This is typically charged to cover admin fees and documents. For more information, check out our guide on how to cancel your car insurance policy.

A no-claims bonus (NCB) is the number of years that you haven’t claimed on your car insurance policy. Insurers offer discounts for each year you haven’t claimed. The more years you have, the bigger the discount as you’re less likely to claim in the future.

Each time you make a claim on your car insurance, your insurer might reduce your NCB by a number of years or even take it away completely.

Most insurance companies will only accept your NCB if you’ve earned it as a policyholder of a privately insured car, so if you’ve built up NCB on a company car, this likely won’t count but double check with the company directly.

All you need to do is call your car insurance company and tell them you’ve changed your car. Depending on when you do this, there might be an admin fee. Your insurance costs could also change, depending on the car.

If you're in the browsing stages of buying a new car, it might be worth shopping around for car insurance quotes beforehand.

If you can’t find your exact job title, it could be listed under a similar description instead. For example, if you’re an IT manager, try entering ‘computer’ or ‘manager’ to see if another option fits the bill. Don’t worry if you can’t find your exact job title, you can confirm it with the insurer before you buy the policy

When you get a quote, we’ll estimate the market value of your car based on averages of the make and model, and age. If you want to find out an accurate idea of your car’s value you can use our free car valuation tool.

Typically it’s cheaper to pay for insurance in one go. According to our data, paying monthly via direct debit will on average end up costing you over 15% extra. (based on Confused.com data May 2022 - October 2022) Usually this is because of additional interest charges added to the monthly payment plan.

If you know on average how many miles you drive per week, you can get an estimate by multiplying that figure by 52 to get a yearly figure. You can also check your last MOT if you’ve owned the car a year or more, using your documents or the GOV.UK MOT checker to find the details.

This is sometimes the case, but not always. A high mileage means you’re on the road a lot, which increases the risk of you making a claim. So, keeping your mileage in check is one way to lower your insurance costs.

On the other hand, a low annual mileage – say, 1,000 miles – could indicate that you’re not that experienced behind the wheel. This could also impact your insurance costs. It’s always best to be completely honest with mileage, so try to be as accurate as possible.

No. But it must have a Statutory Off Road Notice (SORN) and it can’t be parked or kept on a public road. The SORN lasts as long as you need it to and comes off as soon as you tax the car, it must then be insured once it’s back on the road.

When you get quotes through our site, you’ll usually see ‘soft searches’ on your credit report. These are nothing to worry about. They’re only visible to you and don’t affect your credit rating. A ‘soft search’ is usually just used to confirm your identity.

The only time you’ll see a ‘hard’ search is if you choose to pay for your car insurance monthly. This is because the insurer will need to check you can cover the payments of the contract; usually 12 months.

You might be able to drive someone else’s car if you have a comprehensive car insurance policy. Check with your insurer to see if your policy has the Driving Other Cars (DOC) feature, as not all policies offer this.

Even if you have it, this only entitles you to third-party cover on someone else’s car. So, if you want to be fully covered, consider a temporary car insurance policy, or get yourself added as a named driver.

Yes, you can add named drivers to your car insurance policy. To add another driver, you’ll need their:

• Age
• Occupation
• Details of any accidents and claims
• Details of any motoring convictions

Depending on the driver, this might raise or lower your car insurance costs.

It's important to remember that the person who does the bulk of the driving should be listed as the main driver. And any named drivers only use the car occasionally.

If you have a standard 12-month car insurance policy in the UK, you're usually covered to drive in some European countries for up to 30 days. Make sure you take your driving licence with you, as well as your insurance documents.

Depending on the country you're visiting, you might need to get an insurance green card and an International Driving Permit. See our guide on driving abroad for more information.

If you decide to renew your car insurance policy with the same insurer, you don’t need to do anything. Unless you decide to change your car insurance provider, your policy should automatically renew. But don’t forget to update any changes to you or your car.

Even if you’re comfortable with your renewal price, it’s still worth shopping around and comparing car insurance quotes. You could save yourself even more money for just a few minutes’ work.

Your job title, the industry you work in and your employment status will affect the price of your quote. This is because insurers use your occupation as a rating factor, and people in certain professions are seen as riskier than others. Our guide on how job titles affect your car insurance explains more.

Yes, you can insure more than one car. Some car insurance companies cater specifically for this and offer a multi-car insurance policy. This lets you add multiple cars under a single policy, which should be easier to manage. You might also get a discount for each car you add to the policy.

As a general rule, your insurance price is likely to go up if you’ve made a claim. Even if the accident wasn’t your fault, a claim usually results in an increased price. If you’ve lost your NCB, you might also lose out on any discounts that may have been applied to your previous policies.

Yes, you should tell your insurer about any accident involving your car, even if you don’t make a claim. When you get a car insurance policy, we ask you about all accidents in the past five years. If you don’t disclose a previous accident, it could void any future claims you make.

Some insurance companies might offer a discount if you’ve taken a Pass Plus course or an advanced driving course. These courses bolster your driving skills, which in theory should reduce your risk of an accident and, in turn, your insurance costs. Check with the insurer whether they offer these discounts.

If you have a pickup and you’re looking for insurance, you need to go to our van insurance page to get a quote. This is because 4x4s are generally classified as cars and pickup trucks aren’t. This is due to pickups having longer wheel base and the fact they often exceed 3.5 tonnes.

Working and driving habits have changed drastically since Covid-19. If your car insurance is up for renewal, it's worth double checking all your details to make sure that they still reflect how you drive. For example, if you're driving less, or aren't commuting as you’re working from home your car insurance costs could be lower.

In an effort to treat customers fairly, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has created rules that stop insurance companies from penalising loyal customers. This is known as price walking.

The rules state that insurers are required to offer customers who renew their policy a price that's not higher than if they were a new customer buying in the same way. The FCA believes this should save customers £4.2 billion over the next decade.

This doesn't mean that your renewal price is going to be less than last year. A range of factors come into how car insurance prices are calculated, but you shouldn't be penalised by sticking with your existing insurer.

But there still might be savings to be had. Even if your price is the same or a bit cheaper than last year, it's always worth shopping around.