First time driver car insurance

Car insurance is a legal requirement for first time drivers whether you’ve passed your test or not. Being caught driving without a valid policy will land you with a fine and points on your licence. So, it’s important to get your first car insurance policy before you hit the road.

When getting your quote, we’ll ask you what level of car insurance cover you want. There are three different levels to choose from:

• Third-party only covers you against damage to other people, cars and property
• Third-party, fire and theft covers everything that third-party does, but also your car if it’s in a fire, or stolen
• Comprehensive is the top level of cover and might sometimes work out cheaper. It includes everything the other levels of cover include but it also covers you against injury and your car and possessions against damage or theft, even if you’re at fault.

Even though comprehensive cover offers the most protection, it can often work out the cheapest. It’s always worth checking the price for each level of cover.

We’ll also ask you how you'll use your car. You have a few options for these classes of use:

• Social lets you drive your car to the shops, visiting friends, or for fun
• Social and commuting covers you for social use as well as to one permanent place of work
• Business use is split into three sub-classes, depending on how many drivers there are and whether you’re carrying other people’s goods.

Given that prices for first time drivers tend to be higher, it’s understandable to look for ways to reduce your costs without compromising on cover. Some things to consider:

• Shop around
• Add additional car security
• Increase your car insurance excess
• Pay upfront
• Limit car modifications
• Be accurate with your annual mileage
• Take an advanced driving course
• Add a named driver

• Shop around by comparing quotes with the 120 providers we use. You’re likely to see a range of prices which can help you find a good deal.
• Adding additional car security like alarms, trackers and immobilisers could help reduce the likelihood of theft. This in turn could help keep your car insurance costs down.
• Increasing your car insurance excess could give you lower prices. But bear in mind that you might need to pay this amount if you make a claim.
• Pay upfront instead of monthly if you can because you could be charged interest of around 15%¹. So, if you can afford to pay upfront, you could save a tidy amount.
• Limit car modifications. Anything that alters your car’s value or performance could hike up your insurance costs. If you’re in doubt, speak to your insurer before tinkering with your car.
• Be accurate with your annual mileage. Underestimating your mileage to get a cheaper price could invalidate your policy. But overestimating could mean you pay more than you need to.
• Taking an advanced driving course like Pass Plus could reduce your risk as a driver.
• Adding a named driver with at least a few years of driving experience could help bring your costs down. But you should be on the policy as the main driver if you spend the bulk of the time at the wheel. Otherwise, you could be committing a kind of fraud called fronting.

For more tips, check out our guide on how to get cheaper car insurance

¹Based on Confused.com data January - September 2021

When you get a quote, we’ll ask you to estimate how many miles you’ll drive in a year.

The average annual mileage in the UK is 6,500² miles per year. To help our table shows different daily miles with estimated annual miles.

Think about your commute, how often you do daily trips to the shops or gym and if you do school runs.

Remember, car insurance is based on risk, so insurers take mileage into account when calculating your price. You’d think a higher annual mileage might cost more than someone who drives fewer miles, but this isn’t always the case.

If you don’t drive often and have a low annual mileage, you could be viewed as being less experienced. It’s important that you’re as accurate as possible, because underestimating your annual mileage could invalidate a future claim.

²Based on Confused.com data January - September 2021