Cheap car insurance for younger drivers - cheapest cars to insure for 18-year-olds

The average cost of car insurance for inexperienced young drivers is nearly £2,000 per year according to our analysis of the cheapest comprehensive cover available for an 18 year old driving a set of cheaper-to-insure cars.

That's an eyewatering amount compared to the average cost of car insurance in the UK across the board, which is about £559 right now.

With insurance such a big concern for young drivers, we have researched car insurance costs for five cars that are known to be cheaper to insure:

We chose these five cars for two reasons:

For our study, we used vehicles with a 2017 reg year, so the market values of the cars ranged from £5,500 - £7,000—keeping the market value of a car under £10,000 means lower insurance costs, because a less valuable car is cheaper for the insurance company to replace in case of a theft or write off claim. Less risk to the insurer means lower insurance costs, generally speaking.

The Skoda Citigo came out cheapest at £1,805, followed by the Kia Picanto, Hyundai i10, Toyota Aygo and Vauxhall Corsa.

We included the Vauxhall Corsa despite its higher premium because context matters: it's actually the cheapest car to insure among the five most popular new cars in the UK in 2026. For a young driver who wants — or already has — one of Britain's most common cars, the Corsa represents the best-value insurance option in that group.

See our guide to find out ways to save on car insurance if you're a young driver: Cheap Car Insurance for Young Drivers

Young drivers are more likely to be in a car accident, which is why their premiums are so much higher. As drivers gain experience, their premiums drop rapidly in the first few years. In fact, NimbleFins tests showed premiums for an 18 year old dropping by 42% at first renewal, aged 19. By age 21, rates dropped by 67% for our sample driver.

However, don't be tempted to get cheaper car insurance by being a named driver under your parents' insurance.

Read our article here about how you could be breaking the law by 'fronting'. Young drivers and parents risking fraud to save money on car insurance – are you ‘fronting’?

Methodology

Premiums were sourced from a major UK price comparison website in March 2026. For each vehicle, we recorded the three cheapest comprehensive quotes returned and averaged them to produce the sample premium shown.

All quotes were based on a single driver profile: an 18-year-old living in a typical English town with an average risk rating, who passed their test two months prior and has a clean licence. The driver covers 7,000 miles per year and parks on a private driveway overnight. No named drivers were added to the policy.

Vehicles were 2017-registered examples, with estimated market values ranging from £5,500 to £7,000 based on typical asking prices at the time of research.

For the Vauxhall Corsa comparison against popular 2026 models, the same methodology and driver profile were used, with the sole change being the driver's age (30 years old).

Note, these are sample premiums only and yours will certainly vary; use this information as a starting point/research only as there may be cheaper vehicles for you.

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