Wondering if LV= car insurance is a good choice? Read our review to find out if LV=, one of the largest car insurance companies in the UK, would suit your needs and which important features you'll need to add on, plus learn how existing policyholders review LV's customer service.

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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.

In This Review

• LV= Car Insurance: Overall Review
• Customer Reviews and Ratings
• Cost Comparison and Discounts
• Phone numbers and policy documents

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LV= Car Insurance Overall Review

LV= car insurance has some of the best customer ratings in the industry and a solid set of features, but premiums seem to be mid-market so if you're after the cheapest quote you might want to look elsewhere. Otherwise, LV= is certainly a solid option to consider and the company has topped our list of best, affordable car insurance companies.

Overall, policies bought direct from LV= are loaded with some great features. For example, on comprehensive plans you get windscreen repair and replacement, personal accident cover of £10,000, as well as misfuel & lost or stolen key cover (read more about car insurance for driving in Europe here).

Here's a quick overview of some of the perks of LV= that we'd like to highlight:

And here are some popular features of their comprehensive cover:

Those looking for motor legal protection, personal injury, breakdown or hire car cover (a courtesy car if yours is damaged, or stolen or written off after an incident) can add these features for an additional premium. Note, while it's relatively common that you'd need to pay an extra premium for a courtesy car in case of theft or write off, most top insurers will include a courtesy car if yours is being repaired by an approved repairer to fix damage due to an insured accident—with LV=, however, you'll need to pay extra for this.

Here is a high-level summary of LV= comprehensive cover features for policies bought direct from LV= and how they compare to "must have" features according to the Money Advice Service—remember, these are always subject to conditions and exclusions, which you can read about in the policy documents.

How Good is LV= Car Insurance?	A Good Policy Includes	Does LV= Deliver?	LV= Comprehensive Coverage
"Must Have" Features
Windscreen	Full repair or replacement		Up to market value of your car If shown on your schedule
Belongings	£200+		£300
Keys	£300+		Included (replacement with no limit)
Protected NCD	2 times in 3 years (standard or optional extra)		If you buy the add on
Car recovery after accident	Included		Included
Courtesy car (repairs)	Minimum 14 days		If you buy the add on
Repairs guaranteed	12-month guarantee		Lifetime repair guarantee when using their recommended repairer service
"Should Have" Features
New car replacement	Theft or damage at least 60% of list price; cars up to 12 months old		If cost of repairing the damage is more than 50% of the manufacturer’s list price, or if stolen and not recovered
Stereo and satellite nav	Market value for manufacture fitted		Unlimited cover if factory-fitted as part of the standard specification; otherwise up to £1,000 subject to conditions
Alternative transport & Hotel after accident	£250+		£500
24-hour emergency helpline	Standard		Claims number is 24 hours
Courtesy car (total loss or theft)	Standard or add-on extra		If you buy the add on
Motor legal expenses	Standard or add-on extra		If you buy the add on
Breakdown cover	Standard or add-on extra		If you buy the add on (5 levels from £26)
"Could Have" Features
Same cover in EU	Standard or add-on extra		Up to 180 days
Child car seat replacement after accident, theft, fire	Ideally replaced even if no visible damage		Included
Larger/premium courtesy car	Standard or add-on extra		If you buy the add on
Uninsured driver NCD protection	Standard		Included
Cancellation fee	No more than £50		£40

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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.

Regardless of the tier you choose, repairs are guaranteed for life, so long as you continue to own the car and use one of their recommended repairers. And what about replacement parts? They may repair your car with parts or accessories that haven’t been made by your car’s manufacturer (OEM parts), but that are of a similar type and quality—that is, they may use aftermarket parts. This can include refurbished/ undamaged Green parts (i.e. recycled parts). Not sure if this matters? You can read more about this in our article Which car insurance companies use OEM parts for repairs?

Does LV= do delivery driver insurance?

No, LV= policyholders cannot engage in paid delivery work. Read more about that in our article Does LV= do delivery insurance? If you courier insurance, click below to get quotes from companies that provide this and learn about some of your options.

LV= Car Insurance Customer Service Reviews and Ratings

Is LV= car insurance any good? LV= car insurance has a solid set of desirable features, and on top of that customer reviews are generally very positive. (Note: Flow car insurance, which is an LV= brand of pay-monthly car insurance, like most of LV='s broker car insurance and Volvo policies, are lighter on features than their main, direct product.)

We've read through hundreds of reviews to see what real customers have to say about LV= car insurance specifically. Here's what we found:

LV= Car Insurance Trustpilot

LV= has better-than-average customer reviews—69,000+ existing customers have rated LV= insurance with 4.5 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot, one of the highest Trustpilot ratings we've seen for an insurer. In fact, a remarkable 80% of customers gave LV= a 5-star review and only 4% gave them one star.

Complaints, when they occur, cover a wide range of issues. One thing we noticed was that renewals can be a higher rate—and that when people ring up they may be advised to cancel their policy and then take a new one out online. We'd just like to caution that cancelling a policy means you'll incur a £40 cancellation fee so beware of this when deciding which is the cheaper option! Here are some sample customer reviews to give you an idea of what customers have to say:

"Excellent service from LV it’s nice to know there’s quality companies out there when you need them!! Our car was hit by a third party whilst unoccupied, the driver left his details & LV took care of it all very promptly & Professionally, most definitely 10/10."

"I was involved in a knock for knock accident in a supermarket car park. Both cars were reversing at the same time, minor damage was caused to mine and the other vehicle. The insurance claims were resolved without any issues and dealt with efficiently by LV. Good company."

"As straightforward as insurance can be. Got renewal, checked LV because they had given my wife a good price on car insurance and dealt with a no-fault claim well. Excellent price so signed up."

"Excellent value for money as always from LV"

"LV's Car Insurance recognises a MAXIMUM of 9 Years. Therefore, if you've earned MORE than 9 years (or have even paid them to protect more than 9 years), LV flat out REFUSE to keep a record of this this accumulation which is essential and often mandatory to be recognised for future insurances."

"Renewal was over £100 more than with fresh LV quote online. So much for customer loyalty."

Of note: many car insurance Trustpilot reviews only seem to cover the buying process, not the claims process. It is comforting to see a number of mentions of a positive claims experience with LV.

LV= Car Insurance Reviews.co.uk

On Reviews.co.uk, LV= gets 3.1 out of 5 stars by over 200 customers—we'd say this data set is too small to be very reliable given the number of policies written each year.

Liverpool Victoria Insurance Company Ltd. is the underwriter for their policies, so it's important to consider the financial strength of the company. Allianz now owns all of the LV= General Insurance Group, and has been rated AA by S&P with a stable outlook. This is a solid rating indicating LV= should have no trouble paying a claim.

LV= Car Insurance Quote Comparison

Our research has found that LV= car insurance is typically a mid-range option. Our recent check for a sample 30-year-old driver of a 2017 Ford Fiesta showed LV= prices were roughly in line with brands like More Than and RAC.

However, quotes will vary drastically for different driver profiles and cars, and on different days, so you may need to pay more or less than these sample rates. Use this information as an indication of how an insurance provider might compare in terms of price, although this can also change.

LV= Car Insurance Discounts

LV= offers a typical set of car insurance discounts, such as savings for good driving records, no claims discounts and paying in full at the start of each policy year.

Cancellation and Admin Fees

LV= cancellation fees are slightly lower than average at £40 for cancellations that happen after the 14-day 'cooling off' period. And they don't charge a cancellation fee if you cancel during the cooling off period, which is good.

But remember that, as with all car insurance, you won't receive a full refund of the premium paid if you cancel, even during the cooling off period. When you cancle, LV= charges a pro-rata amount to reflect the time on cover to ensure no gap in cover and will refund the rest, so long as you haven't claimed. (LV= charging a "pro rata" amount means they only charge for the days on cover, and not more, as some competitors do.)

If you have made a claim then no refund will be paid if you cancel. (And if you pay monthly, you must still pay the full balance of your annual premium.) This is standard for car insurance, but is a surprise to many people.

All the charges can be found on your personal details.

Losing Your NCD if You Claim

If your NCD is not protected, this is how claiming will affect your no claims discount with LV:

Important LV= Car Insurance Phone Numbers

Customers can reach LV= customer service 7 days a week, although with limited hours at the weekend. There's no online live chat feature, but phone customer service lines are open Mon - Fri 8am - 8pm, Sat and bank holidays 9am - 5pm, Sun 10am - 4pm).

Policy Documents & Claims

To find out more about the conditions and exclusions, read the policy documents. Existing customers can make a claim by calling the claims numbers listed above.

Other Car Insurance Reviews

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