Admiral Insurance Review 2024

Admiral Insurance Review 2024

Good features and affordable rates for most people are a few of the reasons that the Admiral group is the largest UK car insurer.

Good for

  • Competitive rates
  • Great customer ratings
  • Award-winning car and home cover

Bad for

  • Cancellation fees even during the cooling-off period
  • No courtesy car if yours is stolen or written off (unless you buy an add on)

Editor's Rating

4.0/5.0

The guidance on this site is based on our own analysis and is meant to help you identify options and narrow down your choices. We do not advise or tell you which product to buy; undertake your own due diligence before entering into any agreement. Read our full disclosure here.

Wondering how other companies compare to Admiral car insurance? Admiral ranked #1 in the NimbleFins 2024 data study identifying the UK's most popular car insurance companies, with an estimated 13% market share. When comparing Admiral car insurance quotes, it's important to do so early, as NimbleFins car insurance experts found this can save up to 50%. Compare Admiral car insurance quotes with other top cheap car insurance companies by clicking the blue "Get Quotes" button below to see how much you can save—the panel includes Admiral, AXA, Hastings, RAC, and over 100 other brands.

Compare Admiral Car Insurance Quotes

Comparison panel with over 100 UK insurance providers, including Admiral. Save up to £530*.

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In This Review

If you’re looking for an affordable car insurance policy offering good value for money then Admiral might be right for you. Read our review learn about their most common customer complaints and see how prices compare.

ADMIRAL: A popular and highly-rated car and home insurer with competitive rates

Based on Trustpilot customer ratings, Personal Finance awards and our own analysis, Admiral is among NimbleFins' Top Cheap Car Insurance Companies this year. In fact, Admiral won "Best Motor Insurance" award 10 years in a row in the Personal Finance Awards, from 2013 to 2023!

How did they do this? Admiral usually provides low to average rates and fairly good customer service. Generally speaking, the features, discounts and service it offers are comparable to other big UK insurers. However, Admiral stands out for offering online tools to help customers manage their accounts.

And they recently introduced an additional tier of cover to provide comprehensive car insurance at a cheaper price, without as many 'optional' features, of course. (This tier is called 'Essential'.)

The Admiral mobile app has many features and is generally rated well by customers (e.g., earning 4.6 stars out of 5 at the App Store). Using the app, policyholders can view and print their policy documents, request changes (e.g., change of address), make queries and access the Emergency Assistance feature to get help in the event of an accident.

If you insure both your car and home under one MultiCover policy, you can get a discount on your premium. Admiral doesn't say how much you can save with a MultiCover policy. However, one perk of Admiral's multi policies is that each driver builds up their own No Claims Bonus (NCB). So a claim will only affect the NCB of the car involved in the claim and the NCB of any other cars on the policy won’t be affected.

One potential drawback of Admiral is that customers sometimes don't like the impersonal nature of working with such a big company. If you prefer to work in-person or to have your own insurance broker to call, another insurance company may be a better fit. But Admiral still has phone customer service (unlike some other providers that have switched to online-only customer communications).

Admiral Car Insurance

In 2024, Admiral ranked #3 in the NimbleFins Scoring System to identify the best UK car insurance, with particularly strong showings in the popularity and financial categories (Admiral is the largest UK car insurance company).

Admiral

Overall Score: 7.02

Tested With NimbleFins Scoring System

5
Basics
7.5
Dream
4
Flexibility
4.8
Breakup
7.5
Communication
5.5
Support
10
Popularity
9.5
Financial


Admiral is the most popular car insurance company in the UK, having written the highest level of premiums for every year we've tracked this metric. And the company also has the highest Trustscore of the companies we've studied here, at 4.5 out of 5 stars (tied with Allianz). Perhaps these two metrics go hand in hand—when customers are happy and rate a company well, sales will naturally be higher. Especially if the price is right...

Admiral's strong performance in the financial category is due to consistently offering really competitive premiums in our test scenarios.

In the basic category, Admiral doesn't do quite as well (e.g. their lowest Essential tier doesn't cover windscreens, keys, driving others cars, the same cover in the EU, personal belongings, etc.), but we don't mind this too much—this really stripped back policy might suit those who prioritise paying a low premium for comprehensive cover. Their dream score is not as high as LV= and Aviva because you can't get a few niche features at Admiral, such as mis-fueling cover and vandalism no claims protection. But that's unlikely to affect most motorists.

The Admiral Group sells policies through their Admiral, Bell, Diamond, elephant.co.uk and Gladiator brands. Admiral also writes the car insurance for Ford-branded car insurance. Technically speaking, Admiral is the trading name of EUI Limited.

Top tip: One of Admiral's stated corporate goals is to increase customer retention, which is good to know if your policy is up for renewal.

Quick Takeaway: Admiral remains the most popular car insurance company in the UK, with policies that are usually quite quick and easy to arrange online for a good price. Their brands can be found on most price comparison sites, such as our partner QuoteZone.

Like most major insurers Admiral offers the three main levels of car insurance cover available in the UK:

Third party (TPO): The most basic level of cover required by law, covers damage to another car or its inhabitants if you're involved in an accident, but you can't claim for damage to your own car.

Third party, fire and theft (TPFT): Provides third party cover, plus cover for damage to or loss of your car by fire or theft.

Fully comprehensive: The highest level of cover, fully comp includes TPFT and covers the cost of repairing or replacing your vehicle if it’s in an accident or vandalised.

What other features do you get with a Comprehensive Admiral car insurance policy? Below you'll see a table that breaks down what features you will be covered for, depending on the tier of cover you choose (there are 4 tiers, from Admiral Essential to Admiral Platinum):

FeaturesAdmiral PlatinumAdmiral GoldAdmiralAdmiral Essential
Motor Legal Protection
thumbs up
thumbs up
thumbs up add on
thumbs up add on
Roadside Breakdown Cover
thumbs up
thumbs up add on
thumbs up add on
thumbs up add on
Courtesy Car
thumbs up
thumbs up
thumbs up
thumbs up
Uninsured Driver Promise
thumbs up
thumbs up
thumbs up
thumbs up
£5,000 Personal Injury Cover
thumbs up
thumbs up
thumbs up
thumbs up
24hr Emergency Helpline
thumbs up
thumbs up
thumbs up
thumbs up
£500 Replacement Lock Cover
thumbs up
thumbs up
thumbs up
thumbs up
Child Car Seat Cover
thumbs up
thumbs up
thumbs up
thumbs up
Personal Belongings Cover£300*£300*£200*
red x
Windscreen Cover
thumbs up
thumbs up
thumbs up
red x
New Car Replacement
thumbs up
thumbs up
thumbs up
red x
Driving Other Cars (Conditional)
thumbs up
thumbs up
thumbs up
red x
European Cover for up to 90 days
thumbs up
thumbs up
thumbs up
red x
Audio Equipment Cover (Aftermarket)
thumbs up
thumbs up
thumbs up
red x
Onward Travel
thumbs up
thumbs up
red x
red x

Optional extras that can be added onto eligible policies include:

  • Breakdown Cover
  • Personal Injury
  • Hire Vehicle Cover (if yours is written off or stolen)
  • Motor Legal Protection

Admiral Essential is a relatively new plan, targeted specifically at those who are most budget conscious and looking to pay a lower premium. This plan has fewer features, but still includes the core components of cover.

Note: If you're wondering about the different between the courtesy car and the hire vehicle cover, Admiral will provide you with a courtesy car if your vehicle is being repaired by an approved repairer. However, if your vehicle was stolen or totaled you will not be provided with a courtesy car—unless you buy the Hire Vehicle add on.

In addition to mainstream car insurance policies, Admiral also covers vans, electric cars, classic cars, learner drivers, gap cover and car sharing—and they're the first big retail car insurance company to offer courier/delivery driving cover, which we're really happy about.

Admiral car insurance discounts

The discounts that Admiral offers are pretty standard across the motor insurance industry in the UK, with most related to safe driving habits and payments. In addition, some drivers will save money with Admiral depending on where they live and their age.

Multi Car discount: Admiral reported that 10% of customers who shared their best quote saved £255 with an Admiral MultiCar policy.

Pay annually: By paying upfront, you can save on your car insurance premiums. The APR you'd pay for a car finance loan through Admiral Financial Services, and therefore the amount you can save paying all at once depends on details of your application and will vary from person to person.

Driving history discounts: If you've been accident-free you might be able to save on your car insurance with Admiral. For example, in 2019 the average discount ranged from 3% with one year of no claims to 14% with two years of NCD up to 26% at five years and 35% at nine years or more.

Where you live: Those living in "lower-risk" areas can save 50% or more on their car insurance compared to "higher risk" areas. Risk is assessed based on a company's experience of claims related to theft and accidents in a local area, which is used to determine premiums.

Age: Driver age is one of the most significant factors in determining the cost of car insurance. Those in their 50s are likely to pay the least for car insurance with Admiral and other companies.

Admiral car insurance quotes

In our quote comparison test, Admiral car insurance rates were good compared to its competitors. We tested 50 UK postcodes and found that for drivers with a good record, Admiral rates were 14% below average compared to Hastings Essential, Esure and LV=.

Chart comparing Admiral car insurance quotes

Does Admiral do delivery driver insurance?

YES! Admiral does now offer cover for delivery driving. Read more about that in our article Does Admiral do delivery insurance?

How does Admiral compare to the competition?

Read how Admiral car insurance policies compare to other large insurance companies in our car insurance comparison pieces:

Admiral Home Insurance

Admiral buildings and contents home insurance is underwritten by Admiral Insurance (Gibraltar) Limited. However, add-on coverages may be underwritten by other companies—for example their family legal protection is underwritten by AmTrust Europe Limited.

Admiral offers three levels of home buildings and contents cover. They vary in overall coverage limits as well as extra coverages like legal and home emergency. The Admiral Platinum plan is their highest level of cover and includes extra coverages that would cost around £120 to buy separately.

ADMIRAL home insurance: The most basic level of cover with up to £75,000 for Contents and an unlimited amount for buildings. While home emergency, accidental damage and family legal are not included they can be purchased separately. You can't get boiler emergency or trace and access with this tier.

ADMIRAL GOLD home insurance: Their mid-tier plan includes up to £100,000 for contents and an unlimited amount for buildings, plus Boiler Emergency Cover and up to £5,000 Trace and Access Cover for detecting and repairing the source of a water leak.

ADMIRAL PLATINUM home insurance: The highest level of cover, Platinum policies include up to £150,000 for Contents and an unlimited amount for buildings. Additionally, accidental damage, legal and home emergency are all included as standard.

For more information, read our in-depth review of Admiral home insurance.

Home Insurance Optional Extras

Optional extras, most of which are included in Admiral Platinum plans, include the following:

Family Legal: This covers a wide range of legal fees that could affect your family such as property or employment disputes, personal injury and personal identity theft.

Home Emergency: A 24-hour helpline and access to a tradesperson to help in the event of unexpected events like broken boilers, burst pipes or leaking radiators.

Accidental Damage: This cover protects against accidents like a smashed window or wine spilled on the carpet.

Bicycle Cover: Bicycles up to £350 are already covered at home on all Admiral contents cover, but if your pedal cycle is worth over £350 (£5,500 per bike, £11,000 overall) you can top up your cover.

High Value Items: If you have valuables worth over £1,000 (maximum £11,000), you can pay an extra premium to cover these items.

Host Insurance: Traditional home insurance may not cover renting your home on sites like Airbnb, but host insurance can be added to help protect you against damage by a paying guest.

Additional Admiral Coverages

If you have insurance needs beyond motor and home, Admiral might very well offer the cover you need—Admiral stand-alone insurance policies include travel and pet insurance.

Admiral travel insurance

Admiral travel insurance is one of the best, cheap travel insurance providers in the UK. Affordable quotes and good features make it a top brand to consider, and extra coverages like winter sports, cruise, golf and gadget cover are available. However, those with pre-existing conditions might want to consider a specialist travel insurance provider instead.

Admiral pet insurance

Admiral offers three types of pet insurance: 12 Month, Max Benefit and Lifetime. The Lifetime policy is their best pet insurance offering, with up to £10,000 of cover for vet fees that tops up each year when you renew. Admiral pay claims within 5 days on average, and 96% of claims are paid. Admiral stands out for providing updates when a claim is received, assessed and settled via SMS notification. Admiral pet insurance is arranged and administered by the Insurance Factory and underwritten by Zenith insurance plc. People with more than one pet can save 5% with an Admiral multi pet discount.

Beyond insurance, Admiral also provides access to personal loans, home improvement loans and car finance.

Admiral Insurance Complaints and Customer Satisfaction

Admiral Trustpilot

Customers have rated Admiral insurance with 4.5 out of 5 stars according to Trustpilot (this is up a lot—they've been working to improve!). This rating reflects reviews left by close to 70,000 customers and shows an "Excellent" performance. Nearly three quarters of customers have reported an "Excellent" experience and 13% a "bad" experience. Most complaints seem to relate to renewal premiums going up (which is common across the entire market right now) or long telephone wait times to reach customer service (e.g., to cancel an automatic renewal).

Some customers are quite happy with the level of service from Admiral:

"Car broke down on the motorway in the summer and we called our insurers, Admiral. They were straightforward, helpful, and got the AA involved immediately. We were towed to a garage and put up in a nearby hotel for free. (Didn't have to pay and be refunded). Surprisingly easy and positive experience."

"Young drivers take a look! After many searches for insurance due to my age and only driving for nearly a year I managed to get my own policy from Admiral through young drivers search site which was very reasonably priced and cheaper than what we have been paying on my parents insurance for the last year. I can now start earning my own no claims bonus. TY Admiral"

"First time used for insurance of my cars, Admiral did not disappoint producing a competitive quote tailored to suit my needs. Will certainly use them again. Staff went way beyond the normal to meet my requirements, in particular Tracey Evans, always returning calls as promised."

"Easy to use application form, no hidden extras you pick what you want/need make your payment in affordable monthly lumps and that's it your insured right away. Off you go."

"We ended up with very competitive quotes which has saved us money. The rep was very knowledgeable and helpful. Couldn't have been better."

"No cons, just real advice and brilliant customer service."

“I bought Admiral Travel Insurance for myself and my daughter, and unfortunately I had to use it for myself. Admiral Travel Insurance (Sally, Tom & Team) were fantastic, phoned me most days to see how my recovery was, arranged flights and taxi's home. Once my car & home Insurance are up i will certainly be looking at Admiral to move too.”

"My son's car was written off by a driver on drugs and Admiral were brilliant at sorting out towing the car away and storing it then gave a very fair price which he accepted and got money the next day all within two weeks of the accident. Brilliant service"

Here are a few customer reviews of Admiral car insurance from Trustpilot to give you an idea of challenges faced by existing policyholders:

"Everything went OK, but it was not until I logged in that I found I had to down load my documents. To be told to do this would be a little more reassuring and stop having to enter 'panic mode'!"

"Couldn't do all changes at once online."

"I’ve paid for breakdown insurance for years and when I actually broke down I was too close to my home for it to count and now I have to pay £100."

According to Admiral, they'll automatically renew your car insurance so you don't end up driving uninsured because car insurance is a legal requirement. Some customers find this annoying, especially if the renewal comes through at a less competitive price, but you'll need to call in to their renewals department if you do not want to renew. Be sure to do this before the new period of insurance starts so that you don't pay any cancellation charges.

Financial Health

It's important to consider the financial strength of an insurance company to understand their ability to pay out on valid claims. Fitch Ratings recently confirmed the A long-term issuer default rating of Admiral Group PLC and the A+ insurer financial strength ratings of Admiral Insurance (Gibraltar) Ltd. and Admiral Insurance Co. Ltd. Fitch noted the stable outlook, very strong earnings and financial performance, strong capitalization and reserves, and leading position in the UK motor insurance market.

FAQs

You can't cancel your Admiral car insurance online—you'll need to call 0333 222 6715 in the case of a renewal that you don't want. The customer service number for Admiral car insurance is 0333 220 2000, to cancel a policy midterm or before it starts.
If you make a change (e.g., change of address or job) over the phone you'll be charged £26; making this change through the customer portal will cost less—e.g. £5.50 for a change to the vehicle registration otherwise £13.
Breakdown cover is not included on car insurance policies but can be added from around £45.
If you are 25 or over and qualify, you may be able to drive someone else's car on your Admiral insurance. Check your Certificate of Motor Insurance to see whether the cover is listed; if so it is third party only.
In most cases Admiral car insurance will automatically renew so that drivers aren't on the road illegally without cover. If you don't want yours to renew you'll need to call the renewals line at 0333 222 6715. Do this before the new period of insurance starts to avoid paying any cancellation charges.
Yes, Diamond is part of Admiral. Technically, Diamond is a trading name of EUI Limited, which is an Admiral Group plc company.
No, Admiral does not insure motorbikes. For quick motorcycle insurance quotes go to comparison site —click the blue "QuoteZone.
Admiral Insurance customer service and renewal lines are open Mon to Fri: 09:00 - 18:00, Sat: 10:00 - 16:00 andSun: 10:00 - 16:00.
Admiral has partnered with Veygo for short term car insurance for car sharing.
Yes—Admiral car insurance comes with up to 90 days of European cover as standard. Those wishing to extend this can call customer service and they may be able to accommodate you for an extra premium.
Windscreen cover is included as standard on Admiral comprehensive policies. Windscreen cover can be added as an optional extra onto other types of policies.
To cancel an Admiral car insurance renewal you'll need to call the renewals line at 0333 222 6715; lines are open Mon to Fri: 08:00 - 19:00, Sat: 09:00 - 17:00 and Sun: 10:00 - 16:00.
Admiral car and home insurance has won numerous personal finance awards, has many top-rated products and proves to be very popular amongst UK consumers. There's a reason they insure so many cars and homes!
Admiral buildings and contents insurance are underwritten by Admiral Insurance (Gibraltar) Limited. Admiral car insurance may be underwritten by Admiral Insurance (Gibraltar) Limited, or AmTrust Europe Limited, RAC Motoring Services or RAC Insurance Limited. See your policy documents to know for sure.

Documents

More information about Admiral car and home insurance policies can be found by reading their policy documents.

Erin Yurday

Erin Yurday is the Founder and Editor of NimbleFins. Prior to NimbleFins, she worked as an investment professional and as the finance expert in Stanford University's Graduate School of Business case writing team. Read more on LinkedIn.

Comments

The guidance on this site is based on our own analysis and is meant to help you identify options and narrow down your choices. We do not advise or tell you which product to buy; undertake your own due diligence before entering into any agreement. Read our full disclosure here.

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