One Call Insurance Review: The Right Price for Car Insurance?

One Call Insurance Review: The Right Price for Car Insurance?

One Call is a UK car insurance broker that has great customer reviews.

Good for

  • Basic breakdown & motor legal cover
  • Windscreen cover
  • Great customer reviews
  • Interesting discounts available
  • Online customer portal

Bad for

  • Those needing very inexpensive cover
  • No customer service phone lines (web only)

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.

One Call is an insurance broker that can provide quotes from over a dozen insurance companies, and offers a great customer experience and a solid reputation. But if you're looking for a very cheap car insurance, you might find a lower-cost policy elsewhere.

If you're ready to see your cheapest quotes, compare One Call to over 100 brands including RAC, Admiral and Hastings in under 2 minutes, click the blue "Get Quotes" button below.

Cheap Car Insurance in Your Area

Quickly compare over 100 UK insurance providers, including One Call.

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In This Review

One Call Car Insurance Overall Review

When you buy a policy through One Call, they are your first call in the event of a claim—but they are a broker so your insurance is ultimately provided by any one of a number of insurers. The One Call panel includes some of the largest car insurers in the UK. Here is a list of brands that One Call works with:

  • Ageas
  • Aviva
  • Axa
  • Covea
  • Equity Red Star
  • Eridge
  • Geo (formerly Towergate)
  • Highway
  • KGM
  • LV
  • Marketstudy
  • Marmalade
  • Midas
  • Octane
  • One Insurance
  • Premier
  • Prestige
  • Sabre
  • XS Direct
  • Zenith
  • Zurich

Freebies

We like that One Call offers FREE basic breakdown cover and motor legal cover with all car insurance plans. While the basic breakdown plan (valued at £39) is somewhat limited, you do get roadside assistance and onward travel cover, for up to 2 call outs a year subject to a £20 call out excess. Policyholders have the option to upgrade to Gold or Platinum breakdown cover which includes unlimited call outs with no excess, plus other features like overnight accommodation.

The free motor legal includes the use of a hire car in the event that your car is off the road and undriveable due to a non-fault claim. You can also upgrade the hire car option to get a guaranteed hire car for 14 days or for as long as is needed (depending on the level of cover you choose).

Policies also include an uninsured driver promise, 24-hour claims service and a 2nd car discount. And exiting customers can get £40 off an existing policy at renewal with discount code MULTI40.

Contracts

When you take out a policy with One Call you actually enter into two contracts. The first contract is with One Call Insurance Services Limited for arranging and administrating your insurance policy—you may be charged an admin fee for this. The second contract is with the insurance company providing your cover—you pay the premium and Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) to this insurer.

Customer Portal

One Call offers an online customer portal, which you can access 24/7, through which you can:

  • View and download policy documents
  • Upload supporting documents (e.g., proof of your NCD or a copy of your driving licence)
  • Amend your policy (changes made at a reduced cost of £24 online vs. £39 over the phone)
  • Access discounts
  • Make payments
  • View renewal information
  • Register a claim
  • Report a breakdown

Note about AXA-underwritten motorcycle insurance

For anyone buying AXA-underwritten motorcycle insurance from One Call, please note that from March 2024 you will no longer be able to renew this policy, because AXA has exited the motorcycle insurance market. Those needing to renew can contact their One Call broker in search of a policy underwritten by another insurance company, or get quotes below:

Save money with cheap insurance quotes for your bike

Quotes from Devitt, Lexham, Hastings Direct, Bikesure, MCE. You could pay less than £195*.

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One Call Car Insurance Customer Service Reviews and Ratings

Drivers have historically been able to expect a better-than-average customer experience with One Call. But their customer rating at Trustpilot slipped in 2023 from 4.5 in the spring to 4.1 heading into winter. While most customers seem very happy indeed, there are some complaints, mostly related to some difficulties accessing the customer portal or getting through to a customer service rep.

They're rated 4.6 out of 5 on reviews.io by over 308,000 customers. Seems they generally have very good reviews for help being offered via webchat. These results are quite exceptional for an insurance company.

Sample of Positive Customer Reviews for One Call

"I used One Call live chat (Charlie HH2) to dscuss my car insurance renewal, and they were brilliant. I used a comparison site to to get other cheaper quotes. I used live chat and all my questions were answered precisely and quickly which gave me confidence. I have used One Call for the past few years and I got nearly £100 off my renewal fee because I inquired about cost/discount for being a loyal customer. Thank you One Call."

"... the change to my address was an easy straight forward process."

"... very helpful when cancelling policy due to car sale. Thanks."

"Live chat excellent - connection dropped but got copy of no claims instantly. First Class."

"Great Customer Service and product knowledge. Great renewal price."

"Really patient with me as my hearing on the phone isn't great. Thank you!"

Sample of Negative Customer Reviews for One Call

"Make sure you cancel auto renewal as for the past two years I have not been informed and the policy cost has increased drastically, even cancelling down the policy cost me almost £100..."

"When you purchase your policy doesn’t go through straight away. You wait 3 to 4 days."

"Tried to cancel my insurance but nowhere online to do so. Had to phone which took 29mins."

"We booked an insurance for a car we were buying - didn’t get the car! Tried to cancel but now getting charged to cancel as well as getting charged £49.99 admin plus £26 to cancel!"

One Call Car Insurance Quote Comparison

When compared to competing offers in the market, you may find that One Call is not the cheapest, but their prices are generally on par with the likes of LV=, Sainsbury's and RAC car insurance. We tested over 50 postcodes and found that One Call was cheaper overall than Tesco and Ageas, but more expensive than budget comparison site offerings from Quotemehappy.com, Admiral, Churchill and Hastings.

Average premium over 50 sample post codes for a 30-year-old driver of a Ford Fiesta
Churchill£427
Quotemehappy.com£600
Admiral£670
Elephant£677
Diamond£682
Hastings (Essential)£685
People's Choice£735
Bell£749
Sheilas' Wheels£776
esure£780
More Than£781
LV=£988
RAC£1,124
One Call£1,177
Sainsbury's£1,194
Tesco£1,584
Ageas£2,805

Quotes will vary drastically for different profiles, so you may need to pay more or less than these rates, but this information can give an idea of how an insurance provider tends to compare in terms of price.

chart showing a cost comparison of One Call car insurance to Bell, Hastings, Quotemehappy, Hastings Smart Miles, Admiral Little Box, Churchill, LV= and others

One Call Car Insurance Discounts

You can save money on car insurance with One Call in many of the typical ways, such as building up your No Claims Discount and paying in full at the beginning of your policy. In addition, One Call offers a few unusual discounts such as the Refer a Friend scheme and price matching on renewal.

DiscountWho qualifies?
TelematicsDiscount for new drivers with a black box to track their driving style. Note: you will need to download an app and manually record a few journeys at the start of your policy for the app to then start recording automatically.
Home Insurance DiscountThose with One Call Motor insurance can get up to 20% off any home insurance quote. Call the household team directly to receive this discount on 01302 554 013.
No Claims Discount (NCD)Each year you don't make a claim should increase the discount you receive, up to 37%
Renewal DiscountIf you have at least 3 years of NCD, One Call will price-match any cheaper, comparable quotes and offer you a further 10% discount (you need to provide a copy of the other quotation).
Refer a Friend SchemeGet £25 for all friend recommendations, subject to conditions (e.g., your friend takes out a policy for at least 90 days, the policy is bought through One Call's call centre, the friend referral is requested at the time of purchase, etc.)
Pay all at oncePaying your full premium at the start of the policy will save you up to 28.82% APR versus paying monthly.
Buy your policy earlyWe've found that buying car insurance around 3 weeks ahead of the start date can save you up to 50%
2nd Car DiscountDiscounts available for insuring an additional car

One Call Charges and Fees

The cancellation fee on a One Call car insurance policy is £55.99 after the cooling off period. If you cancel within the cooling off period, you may be charged £35.99 to £49.99 to reimburse them for setting up your policy. Alterations to your policy will cost £39, but you can make them online through the customer portal for a discounted fee of £24. Here are common reasons for making changes to your policy that will incur this charge:

  • Change vehicle
  • Add driver
  • Motoring conviction, including fixed penalty offences
  • Health conditions that DVLA needs to be notified of
  • Any change to your employment
  • Change of address
  • Taking your car to another country
  • If your car is involved in an accident or fire, stolen, damaged or broken into
  • Any change to your estimated annual mileage

One Call Auto Insurance Policies

One Call comprehensive car insurance directly through their website and phone lines, and also via comparison sites. When you buy a policy via One Call Direct, you'll get free basic breakdown, motor legal cover and hire car cover for free.

Higher levels of breakdown cover and hire car cover can be added for an additional premium.

One Call Insurance Tips

If you go with a One Call policy, keep the following considerations in mind to get the most out of your policy:

  • Report any claims ASAP: Claims must be reported within 48 hours, or they might not be covered.
  • Never admit fault: As with all insurance companies, you may not be covered if you admit fault for an accident.
  • If you have a black box policy, it must be fitted within 28 days. You get a free appointment to install the black box, but if you miss this then you'll be charged £45 for a second appointment. If
  • the box is not fitted within the next 28 days or an insufficient number of journeys are recorded initially, your policy could be cancelled.
  • If you don't wish to renew an existing One Call policy, you need to tell them before the renewal date to avoid a charge of £35.99, plus any time-on-risk charge made by the insurers.

Important One Call Car Insurance Phone Numbers

One Call offer online web chat, which is available Monday to Friday from 8am to 8pm, and 8am to 4pm at the weekend, and at the time of writing this is the only way to reach customer service. The emergency helplines are open 24 hours a day. Also, for ease of viewing your documents there's online access once you register.

One Call Insurance Contact Numbers
24 Hour Helplines
Claims0203 738 7300
Breakdown0203 738 7300

Policy Documents

To view your documents online, log into your customer portal or access the policy documents here.

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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