Car Insurance

Every person's individual circumstances are different. Insurance companies need as much information as possible to enable them to determine what the premium should be for the risk for each individual's circumstances.

You must tell us everything that is relevant to your insurance. If you don't then you risk having your policy voided, and being left without cover. We need to know all your details, your driving history (any claims or motoring offences for you and any other drivers who will be using the car), the car details and the location. It is useful to remember that insurance companies and the police are starting to share information about cover, drivers and driving history.

Insurance companies need to take a lot of information in order to calculate a price: things like the make and model of car, postcode, driving history, claim experience, occupation, and type of use. By taking so much information we can personalise the price for your specific circumstances.

This applies only to DVLA reportable conditions that may affect the conditions under which you are granted your driving licence but be aware not all companies quote in this situation.

Insurance companies work with different statistics and use different methods to calculate premiums. Some companies specialise in certain areas or types of car so are prepared to discount more in some areas than others. This adds to the complexity as a like for like quote with a number of different companies can yield a number of very different prices.

Over the last few years insurers have been losing money by writing motor business. There has been pressure in the market to keep rates down due to the fact that so many companies are writing motor insurance but as they have lost so much money they are now putting the rates up so that they can cover claims losses and make money again.

There are a number of ways:

• Your car – The value, type and engine power of your car all make a difference, the smaller the car, generally, the lower the price.
• Security – fit an alarm or tracker system.
• Annual mileage – be as accurate as you can with how many miles you would do in an average year.
• Where the car is parked – If you have a garage its best to use it, it could lower your premium.
• Additional drivers – Only add drivers to your policy that regularly use the car. 'Any driver' policies and policies with more than two named drivers can be expensive and you may not need to have such an open policy. You can often add drivers temporarily to your policy for a small charge.
• Adding a voluntary excess – an excess is the first part of a claim that you pay although you can get it back if the claim is deemed 'not-fault' (that's what Legal Expenses cover is mostly used for and remember your insurance company determines who is at fault – see our FAQ on Fault/non-fault claims). If you increase your voluntary excess then your premium should get lower.

A tracker is an electronic device (normally fitted as an accessory after purchase of the car), which emits a signal enabling law enforcement agencies to locate the car anywhere in the UK if it has been stolen.

An immobiliser is an electronic device that stops the car from being started if it is broken into. Although this won't stop your car from being broken into, it may well stop it from being driven away.

Most newer cars (being those up to 6 years old) come with some sort of alarm and/or immobiliser. Insurers will already have the details of the alarms and immobilisers that are fitted to newer vehicles. This is already built into their rating criteria. If you have an older car you may have fitted a specific alarm. All alarms and immobilisers are categorised and insurers may give discounts depending upon the make and model of alarm or immobiliser.

There may be a reason for the owner and registered keeper to be different individuals. For example, you may use a car that is owned by someone else in which case you would be the registered keeper. Or you may own a car that you allow your children to use and therefore the registered keeper would be one of your children

The main driver is the person who uses the car the most. It is better to be honest here if you are planning on insuring a car for your son or daughter as insurers can invalidate claims on this basis

Guess the nearest month if you can't remember exactly and it's more than 3 years ago.

These need to include any motoring offences in the last 5 years including any pending prosecutions. You will find the details you need on your driving licence.

Guess the nearest month if you can't remember exactly and it's more than 3 years ago.

These need to include any motoring offences in the last 5 years including any pending prosecutions. You will find the details you need on your driving licence.

Guess the nearest month if you can't remember exactly and it's more than 3 years ago.

These need to include any accidents or claims you have made in the last 3 years. You will need to have details of these to hand.

Must always be at least 1. If you are using our site to check out prices for insuring your first car then make sure you have put a 1 in this field. If you have a number of cars in your household remember to include your car plus the others as some sites do a cross-validation of data.

This information is available from your Registration Document (V5). The table below lists the Registration Marks for the last 10 years:

• M 1994 – 1995
• N 1995 – 1996
• P 1996 – 1997
• R 1997 – 1998
• S 1998 – 1999
• T/V 1999 – 2000
• W/X 2000 – 2001
• Y/51 2001 – 2002
• 02/52 2002 – 2003
• 03/53 2003 – 2004
• 04/54 2004 – 2005

The terms fault and non-fault can be confusing. A non-fault claim is simply a claim where the insurer is able to recover all their costs from someone else. If they are not able to recover all their costs, then it is a fault claim even if you didn't cause the claim to happen. For example a theft is typically classed as a fault claim because although you are not to blame for the theft, the insurance company had no third party to claim the costs from so they classify it as a fault claim.

It is important that you have the right use for your car, if you have the wrong use you may find that your insurance company will not pay out on a claim.

• Social, Domestic & Pleasure – this covers you for normal day-to-day driving, such as driving to visit family or friends, or shopping.
• Commuting – this covers you to drive back and forth to a permanent place of work. Please note that travelling to a railway station, where you park your car, is classed as commuting.
• Business Use – this covers you to use the car in connection with your job, driving to different sites, travelling to training courses or prearranged meetings away from your normal place of work.
• Commercial Travelling – This covers the car to be used for such things as door-to-door sales.

No Claims Bonus (or NCB) is the discount that you have earned on a previous insurance policy. Insurers give discounts determined by the number of years that you remain claim-free. A No Claims Bonus must be earned separately for each car that you insure, however a few companies give discounts for second cars and credit for previous claim-free company car driving if you can prove it. In these situations you will only get a couple of quotes on the Internet and your best bet is to use the phone to see if you can get a discount.

Some companies will allow you to protect your No Claims Bonus (NCB). This means that you will be able to have a number of claims over a specific period of time without your NCB being reduced. Please note that just because you protect your NCB this does not mean if you have a claim that you will stop your premium going up. Most companies rate on claim history as a separate factor. Protecting your bonus just protects your bonus discount so if you've had a claim, your protected discount is applied but it's applied against a higher premium.

This is the amount you volunteer to pay in the event of a claim. This applies IN ADDITION to any compulsory excesses you may have to pay because of your age, the type of car you drive or the area you live.