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Young driver insurance

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¹Correct as of October 2024

What level of car insurance do I need?

Just like anyone else, young drivers need at least third party insurance to legally drive on the road. But this isn't always the best, or cheapest, option.

Exactly what type of cover you need depends on your personal circumstances, and what you want from your cover.

To give you an idea of what each level covers, here’s a rundown of the 3 main ones we compare at Confused.com:

Third-party car insurance is the lowest level of cover available. It covers you for any damage you do to someone else’s property, person or vehicle, but doesn’t cover any damage you do to your own car.
Third-party fire & theft covers everything third party cover does, but adds in theft and fire cover for your own car. This means that if your vehicle is stolen or set alight, you’ll usually be able to claim for the cost of repair or replacement.
Comprehensive car insurance is the highest level of cover available. It covers everything third party policies do, but adds in full cover for your own car and person too. It used to be more expensive than third party policies, but these days it’s usually the cheapest option.

How much do young drivers pay for car insurance?

Average insurance costs for young drivers aged 17-25^*:

Third party:

£3,787

Third party, fire & theft

£2,712

Fully comprehensive

£2,279

^*Confused.com data April - June 2024.

Young drivers pay far more than the national average of £861** for fully comprehensive car insurance.

There are a number of reasons for this, but it mainly comes down to risk. Insurers see younger drivers as riskier to insure due to their lack of experience on the road. They then assume this lack of experience puts new drivers at higher risk of being involved in an accident.

There are stats to support this perception too: government figures show that 20% of all serious or fatal car accidents involve a driver aged 17-25***.

There are other factors other than age that go into calculating your car insurance costs, but it's still a significant one.

**Confused.com price index data Q3 2024.
^***According to government statistics 2022

When will my insurance get cheaper?

Average insurance costs by age^**

17 year olds

£2,727

21 year olds

£1,963

25 year olds

£1,446

30 year olds

£1,194

^**Confused.com data Q3 price index data.

Although it can be expensive at the start, the good news for younger drivers is that as they age, their insurance should get cheaper.

There are a few benchmark ages where the cost of your cover should come down significantly.

Assuming everything else stays the same, such as the car you drive and where you live, you should see a noticeable drop in costs at age 21, and again at 25*.

After that your costs should continue to decrease until you hit around 75*, where they begin to rise again.

Our expert explains

Louise Thomas, our motor insurance expert, explains how younger drivers can save money on car insurance. The information in this video is also available as a text transcript.

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How to claim

What types of insurance could save me money?

There are a few types of insurance that could save younger drivers money, though this isn’t guaranteed. But if you’re looking for a way to bring down your costs, they could be worth considering.

Fully comprehensive

This is the highest level of car insurance available, and it’s often the cheapest too. In fact, our data shows that younger drivers pay £2,279 on average for fully comprehensive cover, compared to the £3,788⁺ they pay for third party insurance. With fully comprehensive policies you’re covered for any damage you do to a third party, their vehicle or their property. But unlike third party policies, you’re also covered for any damage you do to your own car, person or property too.

Explore fully comprehensive

Black box

Otherwise known as telematics insurance, these policies monitor your driving, either through an app or a device fitted to your car. Some are cheaper than standard policies from the start. Others award you a score based on how well you drive.The better your score, the better the price you may be offered when you renew your policy at the end of your 12-month cover period. Even if you do have to wait to see a saving, black box policies can still be a handy way for young drivers to cut their costs.

Explore black box insurance

Temporary

If you’re only an occasional driver, or you’re home from uni for the summer and only need a few weeks of insurance, a temporary policy could help you save.These short term policies can last for anything from 1 hour all the way up to 28 days, and give you the same level of cover as standard fully comprehensive insurance, without the need to commit to a 12-month policy. Young drivers pay around £41⁺⁺ for 1 day of cover, but the longer you take out cover for, the cheaper your policy should be.

Explore temporary insurance

⁺Confused.com data April - June 2024, based on cost of a policy for drivers aged 17-25.
⁺⁺Based on average customer prices paid from Tempcover data for learner drivers June 2024.

Can I just get insured as a named driver?

If you only drive now and again, or don’t actually own your own car and are using someone else’s, you could be added to their policy as a named driver. This often works out cheaper than taking out your own policy - but it does come with some drawbacks:

You won’t be the main driver, so you won’t be able to use the car as much as the head policyholder. This can be quite common with students who drive. If you do yourself as a named driver, you could be accused of fronting. This is a type of insurance fraud and comes with serious consequences like fines, driving bans and worse.

You may not be able to build up a no claims bonus. Some providers like AA will allow named drivers to build up a no claims bonus (NCB), but others may not. NCB can have a significant impact on what you pay for your cover too, with our data showing that a single year of NCB could bring your costs down by as much as 46%². So this is something to think about before opting to become a named driver.

You might raise the main driver's premiums. Having an inexperienced driver on their policy could raise the car owner's own insurance premiums, so make sure they're fully aware of this before adding a named driver.

²Confused.com data Q2 2024.

How else can young drivers get cheaper insurance?

While your insurance should naturally get cheaper as you age, there are a few things young drivers can do to get a better deal in the meantime.

Add a named driver
Pay annually
Estimate your mileage accurately
Consider changing your excess
Compare quotes

Add a named driver: Adding another, more experienced driver to your policy is an easy way to save. This could be a partner, parent or other family member, but whoever you add should at least occasionally drive the car.

Pay annually: Paying upfront, rather than monthly, is one of the quickest ways to save. Our data shows that paying annually could save you up to 50%* on their insurance, if you can afford to do so.

Estimate your mileage accurately: When you get a quote, we’ll ask for your estimated annual mileage. It can be tricky to get right, but being accurate is an easy way to save. Insure yourself for far too many miles, and you could be paying for cover you don’t need. The average mileage selected by our customers is around 6,623*.

Change your excess: Your excess is the amount you agree to pay towards the cost of any claims you make. The most common excess chosen by our customers is £250*, but opting to pay a bit more, or sometimes even a bit less, could help bring the costs of your cover down. Experiment with your excess amount when comparing quotes to see if you could save.

Compare quotes: it’s quick, easy and could save you money. We’ll show you our best quotes in just a few easy steps, helping you find the cover you need for the right price.

*Confused.com data Q2 2024.

What our car insurance expert says

"You might think taking out a lower level of insurance is a good way to save, but third party policies are rarely cheaper than fully comprehensive ones. You’ll get a higher level of cover with a fully comp policy too, so it’s often the most sensible choice for a young driver."

Louise Thomas Motor Insurance Expert

How do I compare young driver insurance quotes?

Car insurance can seem confusing, especially when you’re buying it for the first time. However, it doesn’t have to be, and with our help you can compare prices from up to 169 insurers in as little as 5 minutes.

Fill out our quote form. We’ll need to know your name, age, gender, model and make of car, mileage, years of no claims bonus and where you’ll normally keep your car (this will be your address at university if you’re there most of the time).
We’ll compare up to 169 car insurance companies to help find the right policy at the best price
We’ll show you a list of quotes to choose from. Here you can view prices monthly or annually and add features such as breakdown or windscreen cover
Once you’ve bought car insurance don’t forget to come back and choose a freebie with Confused.com Rewards.

Why choose us?

As the first ever price comparison website for car insurance, we know a thing or two about saving you money. Since 2002, we’ve helped tens of millions of customers find a better deal on their car insurance.

Still not convinced? Here are some other reasons to choose Confused.com:

We're 100% independent. The quotes we show you are always the best available. We don't give preference to certain insurers, and we're only interested in one thing: saving you money.
We're FCA regulated just like the 169 insurance companies we work with. This means we work to strict rules and regulations, that are based on fairness and doing our best for the customer.
We'll give you a reward if you take out car, home, van or life insurance through us. In fact, we've given out £20m in rewards so far, with no gimmicks and no catches.