Compare 10 Best-Rated Cheap Car Insurance Companies UK (April 2024)

Market update: According to a survey conducted by the NimbleFins car insurance experts in 2024, at least 5 top car insurance providers are now offering new cheaper tiers of comprehensive car insurance, enabling motorists to save up to 10% on accident damage cover for their cars. Companies offering new tiers of cheap car insurance include Admiral, the Direct Line Group and Aviva (the UK's three largest insurance companies, which together account for at least 37% of the car insurance market), as well as Tesco Bank.

Table of Contents

• Compare car insurance quotes
• Cheapest Car Insurance UK
• Top 10 best-rated cheap car insurance companies UK
  • Car insurance by age
  • Car insurance for drivers with accidents and convictions
• Reviews: editor insights on these car insurance companies
• How to compare car insurance quotes

Compare Car Insurance Quotes

In order to find cheap car insurance, it is important to compare car insurance quotes from many providers—and as early as possible. Whether you need car insurance right away or in a few weeks, you can compare car insurance quotes quickly and easily from over 110 trusted providers and save up to £504* here:

When is the best time to set up your cover? The sooner the better. According to NimbleFins expert research, the best time to buy car insurance is 3 weeks before cover starts, saving you up to 50% or more. Supporting our research, on 4 April 2024 money-saving expert Martin Lewis said on ITV1's Tonight program (for which NimbleFins provided research):

"The perfect time to get car insurance is 23 days before your renewal. That is (the time) for going onto comparison sites to get different quotes. You may pay nearly double if you wait to the last minute to get your car insurance."

There's no time like the present, especially when it comes to car insurance.

Cheapest Car Insurance UK

Wondering which car insurance is cheapest? In April 2024, the NimbleFins car insurance experts found that Direct Line, Allianz and Admiral are the three large, national insurance companies offering the cheapest car insurance quotes for our sample 'typical' driver, through their "cheapest" products e.g. Churchill Essentials (part of Direct Line), Allianz and Admiral Essential. Admiral is the most popular brand amongst our customers.

Here were the cheapest quotes we found for our sample driver this week for comprehensive insurance from the big providers we tested. But in truth, there may be even lower deals available and the easiest way to find them is to compare quotes just for you—get started here.

Importantly, the cheapest car insurance can be 50% cheaper, and the cheapest deal for you will vary, depending on where you live, the car you drive, your driving history and other factors. Consequently, it is critical to compare deals to find a cheap car insurance company. Prices and the best deals will vary from person to person and even from week to week.

Cheapest Car Insurance Companies

Compared to two weeks ago, the average price in our study has gotten cheaper by 0.7%, but prices are still a touch higher than they were at the beginning of 2024. In the past week, Churchill has dropped the most, down £11 for our sample driver. Brands like GoSkippy and Hastings also prove popular for certain niche driver profiles.

Compare car insurance quotes by age

Young drivers in particular are affected by difficult pricing and less choice of providers. In our tests, Admiral is the best at catering to drivers of all ages, from 20 to 80, and beyond. Other providers either wouldn't cover very young drivers (e.g. flow by Allianz and Aviva's Swiftcover) or very mature drivers (e.g. Churchill, Swiftcover and Quotemehappy). Rates are much higher for young drivers (e.g. 20 years old), then drop quickly as a driver ages through their 20s, then will rise again from age 70 or 80.

The cheapest car insurance for young drivers in our tests were Hastings youdrive for telematics plans and Admiral Essential for non-telematics (Admiral also offers a telematics policy called LittleBox, which cost our sample driver about the same as the Essential policy). Quotemehappy offered a telematics policy to our 20 year old, but not a regular policy. Interestingly, telematics is not always cheaper).

Compare car insurance for drivers with a speeding conviction

The big insurers typically raise premiums under 20% for a SP30 speeding conviction. Of the main insurers, we found that Allianz (previously 'Flow') was the cheapest for drivers with a speeding conviction, raising rates 16% for our sample driver. Drivers with speeding convictions are deemed to be more dangerous and a higher insurance risk, so rates typically rise after a conviction. But some insurers raise rates more than others.

Compare car insurance for drivers with a drink and drug driving conviction (DUI)

For those with a drink and drug driving conviction, our research showed that the majority of the big insurers will not even offer cover, even at a high premium. But Hastings offered the most competitive quotes via their youdrive telematics offering. And Admiral was the large insurance company likely to provide the best quotes for non-telematics cover post DUI conviction (the cheapest being Admiral Essential but higher tiers of cover were also available). Expect rates to go up 50% or more in most cases after DUI.

In general, fewer insurers are willing to insure motorists after these types of under-the-influence convictions. Those with a DUI will have a more limited selection of options and other than Admiral, may need to look at niche providers. For example, our sample driver could not get quotes from Allianz, Direct Line (including their Churchill and Privilege brands), Aviva (including QuoteMeHappy) or AXA (including Swiftcover). Other large companies may underwrite cover to convicted motorists who use a specialist broker who can work on their behalf.

Compare car insurance for drivers after an at-fault accident

At-fault accidents can increase car insurance rates by 20% or more, but our research showed that Admiral tends to raise rates the least after a claim (on a percentage basis), but Allianz (previously 'Flow') had the cheapest for our sample driver (due to a lower rate pre-accident).

Reviews of Top 10 Best, Cheap Car Insurance Companies

When comparing car insurance companies, are you looking for the cheapest quotes, reliable customer service, the most features, or something else? To find which car insurance companies are best (and worst) for customer service and features, our car insurance experts dug into policy wordings and customer reviews to show you how some of the cheapest UK car insurance brands like Admiral, Churchill, Allianz, Aviva and QuoteMeHappy compare. While no single insurance provider is the cheapest or best for everyone, some companies stand out for their combination of good customer reviews, features and cheap quotes.

We'll also point out some great ways you can save money on car insurance.

Below we've included recaps of some of these reviews to give you a quick overview to help you decide which is best for you.

1. LV=

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Consider this if you would pay a bit more for a company with great customer reviews and a solid set of features.

While Liverpool Victoria is not the cheapest car insurance company compared to others on the list, LV='s customer service and ratings are arguably about the best of the group. LV= policies can be purchased direct from the company, through comparison sites or brokers. Existing customers have high renewal rates and LV= states their multi car cover is the cheapest way to get annual cover for all the cars in your household^. Customer satisfaction is a stated priority of the company, which helps explain their high Trustpilot rating by customers. Here are some more benefits of insuring with LV:

(^Cheapest, like-for-like price quoted when all cars added upfront.)

Our analysis found that LV= has the car insurance policy with the most features and coverage included automatically of the 24 brands we studied. Even considering optional extras, LV= still has the best coverage. For instance, getting the same coverage in Europe, a lifetime workmanship guarantee on repairs, higher levels of personal accident cover, windscreen cover, wrong fuel cover, higher key cover, and more.

Quick Takeaway: LV= is usually moderately priced, so those looking for the cheapest premium are likely to find a more suitable plan elsewhere. But LV is a solid choice for those looking for great customer reviews and good features who don't mind paying a bit more. If you are happy to pay for wider coverage then LV= offers some extras with their comprehensive cover such as personal injury, uninsured driver promise (you won't pay an excess or lose your NCD) and misfuelling cover.

2. Allianz

Allianz is a really big German multinational company with 88 million customers in more than 70 countries, who deliver a wide range of insurance and asset management products. According to NimbleFins car insurance experts, the Allianz product is pretty interesting. They've recently rebranded (from Flow) in the UK to just 'Allianz'. They offer one tier of car insurance, but it has loads of great features and some add-ons are available as well, and even including some legal cover and misfuelling cover. In fact, checking the text of their policy wording for the misfuelling cover gives a good indication of the thoroughness of their cover. Some companies that 'cover' misfuelling only cover damage, not draining, but (like LV=), Allianz says they will:

"... pay to drain and flush it and fix any engine damage."

They also include higher levels of key cover, windscreen cover, a courtesy car for covered repairs, a lifetime workmanship warranty for repairs, driving other cars, new car replacement, onward travel/hotel cover and more.

We want to mention that we emailed their customer service with a question about their cover and they responded within an hour—really responsive, in our opinion. This is important, because the company does not offer phone customer service and people can worry about responsiveness from online-only customer service. Add to that, super Trustpilot scores (the highest in the group!).

Note, Allianz now owns LV=.

3. Churchill

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Consider this if you live in a lower-risk area and want a lower-cost option from the Direct Line Group.

Churchill is often the cheapest quote on offer at one of the major comparison sites (Moneysupermarket)—so while their customer service and ratings might be slightly lower than the top-ranked brand on our list (LV=), Churchill can be a solid option for those who prioritise price. Churchill policies can be purchased direct from the company or through many comparison sites (but not yet via our partner, QuoteZone). Churchill is one of the "budget" brands of the Direct Line Group (along with Privilege). Direct Line is now the second largest car insurance company in the UK, and close to half of their policies are sold under their discount brands like Churchill and Privilege via the price comparison website (PCW) channel.

Churchill stands out for a wide product offering. In fact, they recently introduced a new (lower) tier of cover called 'Churchill Essentials', which is meant to provide a 'value-for-money' comprehensive offering in response to the cost-of-living crisis. For those looking for a stripped back policy, the 'Essentials' tier of car insurance is important to consider, as it provides comprehensive car insurance (covering your car for accidental damage, fire and theft) for a lower price, although it doesn't cover things like lost/stolen keys, personal belongings, the same cover in Europe, etc.

Quick Takeaway: Churchill is usually very competitively priced for the typical driver who doesn't have any significant marks on their record, and customers report pretty good service. However, in our tests Churchill wouldn't quote for around 30% of UK postcodes, so many people across the UK will have to look elsewhere.

4. Tesco Bank

Tesco isn't just for groceries. With a host of financial products like credit cards and personal insurance, how does Tesco Bank stack up? We like Tesco Bank for car insurance because it offers a basic plan (Bronze) without a lot of bells and whistles for those who prioritise spending only on the essentials and getting core comprehensive protection against accident damage, fire and theft; but with two higher tiers of cover motorists looking for lots features can also get one of the best car insurance policies from Tesco Bank.

As with LV=, Allianz and Aviva, you can even get a policy that offers essentially unlimited key cover—something that is attractive given it can now cost north of £500 to get a car key fob replacement.

5. Admiral

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Consider this if you want car insurance from the UK's largest car insurance company.

The Admiral Group is the largest auto insurance company in the UK with more than 10% of the car insurance market, according to estimates from NimbleFins experts, underwriting policies through their Admiral, Bell, Diamond, elephant.co.uk and Gladiator brands. Technically speaking, Admiral is the trading name of EUI Limited.

An important update is that we're now seeing Admiral 'Essential' on comparison engines, providing a lower-cost option for motorists seeking cheap comprehensive car insurance from the UK's largest car insurance company. Note, this policy does not include cover for windscreens, personal belongings, driving other cars, or audio equipment, among other things. But their higher tiers of cover include lots of these features, and more.

In 2023 they insured 4.94 million vehicles, earning profits of £593 million on motor insurance, making them the most popular car insurance company in the UK. One of Admiral's stated corporate goals is to increase customer retention, which is good to know if your policy is up for renewal. Admiral also writes the car insurance for Ford-branded car insurance.

Quick Takeaway: While customer ratings aren't the strongest, they remain the most popular car insurance company in the UK. Admiral car insurance is 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 and one of their brands may be amongst the cheapest available offers.

6. Direct Line

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Consider this if you want a brand not on comparison sites and you value good customer experience and features.

The Direct Line Group sells Direct Line car insurance directly to customers—you won't find the 'Direct Line' brand on comparison sites, but you will find The Direct Line Group's Churchill, Darwin and Privilege motor insurance brands on comparison sites. (That said, the company is apparently mulling whether or not they should put the Direct Line brand on PCWs and will announce their decision at their investor Capital Markets Day in July 2024!)

A bit over one third of the group's motor insurance sales are through the Direct Line brand (38%), another 39% is via their 'budget' brands in the PCW channel and 23% through partnerships. Broadly speaking, the main 'Direct Line' brand does offer slightly better features, such as a courtesy car in event of theft or total loss (not just repairs after an accident) as well as cheaper admin and cancellation fees, compared to the PCW brands.

Direct Line offers a few unique propositions such as protecting your no claim discount on no-fault claims.

Quick Takeaway: Direct Line has made a name as the insurance company that is not available on comparison sites (although this could change in 2024!), but if you're looking to save more money on your premium then their Churchill, Darwin or Privilege brands might offer even lower rates through price comparison websites.

7. Aviva

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Consider this if you have a clean driving record and want a streamlined, online-focused company.

Aviva is a leading UK car insurance company (now the 3rd largest in the UK), and you may recognise some of their 'budget' brands from the comparison sites. Depending on where you live, you may see their Quotemehappy.com (including the new 'Essentials' line) or General Accident brands with some of the cheapest rates on offer on PCWs. Aviva also support customers struggling with the high cost of living, e.g. by offering payment deferrals and lower cost, no-frills general insurance products.

Aviva won the Customer Care Award at the 2023 British Insurance Awards. Customer service satisfaction is high, with more than 50% of personal lines direct customers holding more than one general insurance product with Aviva. Aviva has one of the highest Trustpilot customer ratings out of the companies in the top ten.

Aviva-branded car insurance ranked #7 in our list, with solid overall cover including for personal belongings, phone customer service and good onward travel cover standing out to us. But if you want a stripped-back policy, you may need one of the company's 'budget' brands, mentioned above.

Aviva has invested heavily in digital and claims management, enabling UK motor customers to start and complete their claims online with no underwriter touch points. Customers seem happy with online claims processing, as 80% book their car repairs online. The Aviva Zero motor proposition offers customers the opportunity to offset car emissions and has sold over 500,000 policies since launch in 2022.

Quick Takeaway: Depending on where you live, an Aviva-branded policy might be quite competitive. However if you’ve had an accident in the past 5 years, you may receive a less favorable price from Aviva than you'd find elsewhere.

8. 1st Central

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Consider this if you want a highly-rated smaller company and a choice of coverage options.

Around since 2008, 1st Central boasts solid customer and product reviews making 1st Central one to consider. They're a broker who works with a number of different underwriters to cater to a range of motorists. They are smaller than other big-name brands listed here, but with over 750,000 customers they're big enough to be a serious player.

They include a lot of features as standard, such as a free courtesy car when using their approved network for insured repairs and offer higher limits for lost keys and in-car entertainment than you might find elsewhere. They also include some hard-to-value features like not losing your No Claims Discount if you're hit by an uninsured driver and it's not your fault.

Quick Takeaway: Given the strong product and customer experience ratings, it's worth checking prices with 1st Central, which you can do with a comparison site like our partner QuoteZone to be sure (1st Central is in their panel).

9. AXA

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Consider this if you want car insurance from a large insurance company with a relatively high customer rating at Trustpilot.

AXA is one of the largest car insurance companies in the UK. They sells policies under their own brand and for brands owned by them, like Swiftcover, and they also underwrite policies for a number of other brands such as mypolicy.co.uk. So if you have bought car insurance from a brand that doesn't underwrite their own policies, the odds are high that your cover ultimately lies with AXA.

A lot of features are optional/available for upgrade with AXA—so be sure to notice what you're signing up for. But the company has some of the best personal belongings cover (up to £1,500 is available!).

Quick Takeaway: The company offers customers the standard coverage and discounts that you’d expect from a large international insurance company, and their prices can be very competitive for some drivers. They can be found on most price comparison sites, including our partner QuoteZone.

10. Hastings

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Consider this if you want good-quality, straightforward insurance. If price is your main priority then consider their Essential product, otherwise the Direct and Premier policies offer more features.

Hastings Direct offer three different policy types, so you can choose the car insurance that’s right for you. Their Direct and Premier policies are highly rated for features and include:

If you’re looking for something more basic (and less expensive), their Essential policy is designed so you pay for exactly what you need—and nothing more. Hastings Essential policies include:

They also offer a range of optional extras, such as enhanced personal accident cover, breakdown, motor legal expenses and key protection (costs for these vary but can be around £20 for legal and £35 for breakdown, for example). And those with more than one vehicle can save with their Multi Car insurance.

Those looking to save with a telematics plan can consider Hastings Direct YouDrive, which tracks your actual driving style. It's easy to set up (DIY, no technician visits required) and you'll be able to track how you're driving via their easy-to-use app.

Finally, we like that Hastings Direct pride themselves on simple and straightforward insurance. This shows in their policy documents, which we think are easier to understand than some other providers in the market.

Quick Takeaway: If you're after good quality, affordable car insurance, then Hastings Direct is definitely a good company to consider.

We are not recommending any one brand in particular and these brands are certainly not guaranteed to give you a cheap price and you may find cheaper cover elsewhere. Please just use the information in this study to support you in learning about the market. Remember to shop around for car insurance, since some companies may be much more affordable than others for your profile. Choosing the best car insurance for your needs will depend on factors like price points and car insurance features you desire, such as breakdown, motor legal or courtesy car cover.

What's the Best Car Insurance Comparison Site?

According to our analysis of customer review sites Trustpilot and Reviews.co.uk, the best car insurance comparison site is QuoteZone. QuoteZone boasts scores of 4.7 out of 5 stars from Trustpilot and 4.8 out of 5 stars from Reviews.co.uk, which are higher overall than GoCompare, MoneySupermarket, Confused and Compare the Market. This is part of the reason we chose to partner with QuoteZone for car insurance comparison!

The table below ranks the top car insurance comparison sites according to their customer ratings from Trustpilot and Reviews.co.uk—note that QuoteZone comes out on top. Get quotes via the QuoteZone comparison panel here.

To see which car insurance companies are in each of the panels, read more in our article What's the best car insurance comparison site?

Who Gets the Cheapest Car Insurance?

Drivers around 55 years old typically get the cheapest car insurance, according to NimbleFins analysis. While the average cost of UK car insurance is around £500 per year, prices vary widely depending on many factors, including the insurance company, type of cover (TPO, TPFT or Comprehensive), details of your car (age, make, model, trim level, value, etc.), driving record—and your age.

For example, in the table and chart below see how cheap car insurance quotes change according to the age of the driver of a used Ford Fiesta.

How Car Insurance Prices Change with Driver Age

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When choosing between potentially dozens of car insurance offers, we often wonder what other people are paying for cover. Please take a moment to tell our other readers what you pay for car insurance in the poll below. Thank you!

Windscreen Insurance

Many of our readers wonder if they should get a policy that includes (or pay extra for) windscreen cover. To help them make this decision, we've looked into the cost of windscreen repair and replacement. Because once you have those costs to hand, it can help you decide if you should get insurance for it—and how much it might be worth to you.

We contacted 4 major windscreen repair companies to ask about the cost to repair or replace a windscreen on the very popular Nissan Qashqai (still one of the most popular cars in 2024). Here are the prices we found:

As you can see, the cost to repair or replace a windscreen is not cheap. In fact, a replacement is likely to set you back £1,000 or so, even if you shop around for a low price. Keep that in mind when deciding on car insurance options.

Prices can vary from one company to the next, depending on how an insurer views your age, car make and model, driving history, post code, and other factors. This means a car insurance company that is cheap for your friend or neighbour might not be cheap for you. See our methodology section to learn about the driver and car for our test prices above. Your quotes will certainly vary from the sample quotes listed in this article based on your own details—and they may even vary from one comparison service to another. You can read more in our article about car insurance costs.

FAQs

How Much Do Car Insurance Companies Earn?

In the UK, car insurance companies earn an average profit margin of 16% a year. This means that for every £100 of revenues, the company makes £16 of profit and has costs of £84. These figures reflect an average across all policies—money-making policies (e.g., with no claims or small claims) and money-losing policies (e.g., policies with large claims). Interestingly, the core underwriting businesses tend to be money losers. Insurers turn a profit thanks to selling add-ons like breakdown cover, charging fees and selling premium finance (lending policyholders money to enable monthly payments).

Methodology

In order to come up with a list of top picks for best and cheap UK car insurance, we first scoured rates from a number of comparison sites to find car insurance providers that were consistently among the cheapest for our sample profiles. Then we ranked companies on a combination of customer ratings and our opinion of their features.

To get a sense of their customer ratings, we compared data from TrustPilot, Reviews.io and and Fairer Finance customer happiness scores, where available, to find which ones are best in terms of customer service.

To measure features, we calculated a score for best basic policy and best all-in premium policy based on the features that were included or optional. For both basic and premium policies, we gave the best policy a score of 100%, and then ranked the rest according to their features in comparison.

We also included a rank that reflected the 'customisability' of cover, buy looking at the difference between the most stripped back policy and the 'juiciest' policy. Our car insurance experts think that in the current economic climate, it can be valuable when a brand offers a range of options. eand best policy overall),

To come up with the data for our comparison charts, we gathered hundreds of quotes. We started with a 45-year-old driver of a 2017 Ford Fiesta Zetec 999cc worth £7,000. The car is driven 6,800 miles each year and is parked on a private driveway. The driver has 10 years of no claims. Then we varied the quotes by age and driving history. We received quotes if the driver had had at fault accident one year ago, if they were caught speeding and got 3 points and a £100 fine one year ago, and for a drink driving 36 mg conviction, with no fine and 3 points.

We took prices from two major comparison sites for plans with comprehensive car insurance, including windscreen and courtesy car cover where possible. Note that Admiral and Hastings both have an 'Essential' policy that is typically cheaper but doesn't include windscreen cover as standard or an add-on feature. Also, please note that to glean more information about the market in the specific sections on speeding, DUI, accident and by age, where an underwriter had a lot of policies in the marketplace, we reflected their cheapest offering only. For example, there were tests where U K Insurance Limited (aka Direct Line) offered policies by Churchill Essentials, Churchill, Churchill Plus, DriveSure, DriveXpert from Privilege, Privilege and Privilege Plus. In that case, we only reflected one policy from that underwriter.

Please remember that any prices shown in this article are for educational use only are you are likely to receive different quotes. Car insurance rates are highly variable between one person and the next; and even one person might get different quotes from a company from one day to the next. Always compare prices before buying to see how the market is rating your risks at the time of purchase. And the 'best' policy for you will depend on your specific needs, which will vary from one person to another.

Companies included in the research study:

Note regarding savings figures: *For information on the latest saving figures, pay-less-than figures, and pay-from figures used for promotional purposes, please click here.

Additional Sources: