How to choose the best car insurance provider
With car insurance premiums hitting a record high, it's never been more important to get the best car insurance deal available.
To identify the top providers, we surveyed more than 2,700 customers who have recently made insurance claims to gauge how they've been treated by their providers. Our experts also analysed individual policies.
We found huge differences between the best and worst cover.
Please note that the information in this article is for information purposes only and does not constitute advice. Please refer to the particular terms and conditions of an insurer before committing to any financial products.
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Best UK car insurance companies: the Which? Recommended Providers
We compared 28 car insurance providers – examining the cover in their policies and analysing feedback from their customers. See our results in the tables below.
Just two offered sufficient levels of cover and the high standards of service needed to earn our Which? Recommended Provider (WRP) award.
NFU Mutual car insurance
- 76% policy score on its standard car insurance policy, 4th out of 61 policies we rated
- 81% customer score, 1st of 27 insurers we had customer scores for
- 84% claims score,1st out of 25 insurers we had claims scores for
We like: It doesn't charge admin fees or interest if you want to pay monthly. It's been a Which? Recommended Providersince we launched our scheme more than a decade ago.
We don't like:You have to call to get a quote, and it favours customers in rural areas so it may not offer cover if you live in a major city.
- Read our expert review of NFU Mutual car insurance
LV car insurance
- 78% policy score on its standard car insurance policy, 3rd out of the 61 policies we rated
- 70% customer score, 2nd out of the 25 insurers we had customer scores for
- 74% customer score, 2nd out of 25 insurers we had claims scores for
We like: LV is one of a minority guaranteeing repairs for a vehicle's life, and its policy is one of about a third offering a temporary replacement car if yours is stolen. It also offers protection for no-claims discounts against an unlimited number of claims.
We don't like:A replacement car after an accident doesn't come as standard – it must be bought for an additional premium. However, you might not need a replacement car.
- Read our expert review of LV car insurance
Get a quote for LV car insurance using the service provided by Confused.com.
Best UK car insurance companies and policies compared
The first list compares insurers we rated for both policy and customer experience. It's ordered by customer score, and we've labelled the 2 Which? Recommended Providers.
The second list compares policies – we've labelled the policies that are Best Buys and the ones from Which? Recommended Providers.
Car insurers with policy and customer scores
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER NFU Mutual | 81% | 76% | 84% | 17 / 80 years old | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | - | ★★★★☆ |
RECOMMENDED PROVIDER LV | 70% | 78% | 74% | 17 / 80 years old | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
AXA | 70% | 57% | 69% | 21 / 85 years old | ★★★★☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
Aviva | 68% | 74% | 66% | 17 / 84 years old | ★★★★☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
AA | 66% | 66% | 62% | 17 / 99 years old | ★★★★☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★☆☆☆ |
Churchill | 66% | 64% | 61% | 16 / 80 years old | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★☆☆☆ |
Co-Op Insurance | 65% | 72% | 66% | 17/ 99 years old | ★★★★☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
Table note: last updated in February 2024. Next update in January 2025. Customer Score: survey of 2,793 policyholders who have recently made a car insurance claim. For information on Which? Best Buys and policy score see our full methodology below.
Check you're getting a great deal and search for a new car insurance policy using the service provided by Confused.com. Get a quote now
Why is car insurance so expensive?
The average private motor insurance premium has hit a record high at £627 (1 October - 23 December 2023). That's a 12% jump from the previous quarter's £561 (Q3 2023), according to the latest figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI). The current average premium is 34% higher compared to the last three months of 2022, when it was £470.
The ABI attributes this rise to inflationary pressures and higher vehicle repair costs. It says that in Q3 of 2023, payouts for vehicle thefts were 35% higher than the same time the previous year, while the cost of providing replacement vehicles had risen by 47%.
Meanwhile, the costs of repairing vehicles had increased by 32% – driven by rising costs of labour, energy and the increasing sophistication of vehicles.
The ABI highlights that £67, or 12% of the average premium, is the Insurance Premium Tax (IPT). It advocates for a reduction in IPT to ease the financial burden on drivers dealing with rising insurance costs.
Read our full piece on car insurance premiums hit another record high to see how you can save on your coverage.
Are the best car insurance providers always the most expensive?
Our research reveals substantial differences between companies and policies in their standards of service and levels of cover. However, this doesn't necessarily mean you'll have to pay through the nose for worthwhile cover – or that a steep price means you're getting the best.
Insurers set you an individual price to reflect how they see your risk. If one insurer views you as risky or just doesn't want to compete for your custom, then even its lowest offers are likely to be pricier than policies from other providers, which could also provide much better cover.
Find out more about how to get cheap car insurance.
Why you need to compare with care
Dean Sobers, Which? car insurance expert says:
'Steep rises in premiums have forced many of us to reconsider the level of car insurance we have – or if our current provider is giving us real value for what we're paying. Meanwhile, insurers have been similarly scrutinising their own lineups of products, in some cases making deep cuts to their more basic policies to keep them as affordable as possible.
'We think good-quality cover (the policies and insurers you'll see scoring highly in our tables, above) are still worth paying a bit more for – but at the end of the day, what's crucial is finding cover that matches your specific needs. When reading our reviews, have in mind a list of cover elements that you want or expect to be in your policy, then check these against the policy wording before you buy.
'And don't ignore our customer and claims scores, which are based on feedback from policyholders who have actually put their insurers to the test in a recent claim. Ultimately, the policy wording is a list of promises and some insurers have a better track record of delivering on them than others.'
Car insurance FAQs
The main three types of standard are third party, third party fire and theft, and comprehensive.
Third party is the most basic level and is the legal minimum. It covers damage you cause to other drivers on the road, but not damage to your own vehicle.
Third party, fire and theft is the next band up. It also pays out if your car is stolen, vandalised or severely damaged.
Comprehensive car insurance offers the widest coverage for you and your car. It will cover you, your car, the other driver and their car in an accident.
Within these categories there are specialist types of policy including classic car, multi-car and learner driver car insurance.
The simplest way to find out if your car is insured is to use the Motor Insurance Database (MID), which is a national register of all cars insured in the UK.
Enter your vehicle's registration number, confirm ownership, and receive a quick response indicating your insurance status. Keep in mind that updates could take some time if you have recently purchased insurance coverage.
Beware of potential scam callers claiming to be from the Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB) and avoid sharing personal information over the phone.
From April to June 2023, the average annual premium paid by drivers was £511, according to the Association of British Insurers - equating to £43 a month.
This was 7% higher than in the previous quarter, with insurers blaming rising repair costs.
The average paid for new annual policies was £566 and the average for renewing a policy was £471.
Your excess, car model type and your age can increase your premiums.
Yes. It's standard for your agreement to auto-renew after 12 months.
Your provider will let you know between 21 and 30 days prior that your policy is up for renewal, and if you take no action it will auto-renew with the same details including excess, no-claims bonus, add-ons, fees and charges.
Some policies have a 10-month option, so check your agreement to see how many months until your auto-renew kicks in. Sticking with your current policy may not be best. Find out why you shouldn't allow your policy to auto-renew.
From haggling with your provider to using comparison sites, there are ways to find cheap car insurance. Shop around and do your research to understand what a competitive price looks like before making a decision.
Insurance companies are no longer allowed to offer better deals to new customers, so it is in your best interest to find out what your current provider is willing to offer as well as checking out the best deals on price comparison sites.
Direct Line car insurance is only available directly and NFU Mutual are not online at all, you need to call them to discuss their policies.
- Find out more:7 surprising details that could lower your car insurance premiums
Don't just renew - your existing insurer may not be the cheapest option, especially if you haven't switched for a while.
Start with price comparison sites but bear in mind not all insurers are on them - Direct Line and NFU Mutual are prominent exceptions. Also make sure the price comparison site is listing your details (such as profession) correctly.
If you've got a complicated claims history you could use a broker to find cover, through the British Insurance Brokers Association. Watch out for fraudulent 'ghost brokers', particularly on social media; these claim to offer cut price cover but leave you with little or no insurance.
Younger drivers could benefit from black box insurance, multi-car insurance and by adjusting their policy - find our tips here.
Whilst specialist over-50s policies exist for older drivers, they may still find that standard insurers are cheaper. Make the most of your no-claims discount, which can be eroded by rising premiums, and if switching, check your new insurer will recognise it.
Increasing your car insurance excess can reduce your premium - but is effectively a reduction in your cover. Check the excess you've chosen is an amount you'd be able to afford in a claim.
It's also worth checking which admin fees your policy comes with. These can apply if you change any details on your policy or cancel it.
Add-ons, such as personal accident cover, European cover and key cover, are highly profitable for insurers - but may be of less value to you. Cancellation fees may also be added if you end your policy early.
- Find out more: See our guide on insurance add-ons and fees.
Yes. Your policy can be transferred to your new car even if you are midway through your 12-month policy. Once the transfer is complete, your new car will be covered in the same way as your previous model.
Some providers will charge an admin fee to change your details. These changes should include your car make, model and mileage. Your new car could have an impact on your insurance premiums.
Your provider will need to know the date to switch over the policies. The best time to contact it is once you know when you are collecting your new car from the dealership or seller. This way, you can collect your car and drive it home that day with your new insurance applied.
How we analyse car insurance
Our editorial independence means we are able to work on behalf of consumers, not insurers. That means our reviews are fair and there's no hidden agenda.
Customer score
This is based on a survey of 2,793 policyholders who have recently made a car insurance claim. The score reflects how satisfied customers say they are with their provider and how likely they would be to recommend it.
Insurers must receive a minimum of 30 customer responses to be included.
Why only talk to customers who've claimed?
You'll only know how good an insurer's customer service is when you make a claim.
That's when good insurers will show their ability to deal with problems, quickly process your claim and get you back on the road as soon as possible.
As it can be difficult to find the requisite number of customers who've claimed for some insurers, in some cases we're only able to provide our expert policy scores.
Policy score
This is our assessment of the quality of standard cover comparing 78 elements of a policy. We weight certain features of cover or costs (fees and excesses) based on the impact we think they generally make, from courtesy cars to breakdown cover.
Among the highest-weighted elements are the insurer's guarantee on repairs, cover for glass damage, conditions of its no-claims discount, whether it will provide a replacement vehicle, fire, theft and accidental damage excesses, and interest rates charged for paying premiums in instalments.
We carry this analysis out every year. The next update will be in January 2025.
Check you're getting a great deal and search for a new car insurance policy using the service provided by Confused.com. Get a quote now
How we pick Which? Recommended Providers
We rank providers based on our customer surveys and policy analysis. The top scorers can be Which? Recommended Providers (WRPs) if they:
- Are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
- Are available to the public
- Have received responses from 30 or more customers in our survey
- Achieve high scores in our customer satisfaction survey
- Achieve an average or above policy score.
We won't award a provider our WRP endorsem*nt if it has a poorer-than-average claims score.
Find out more about Which? Recommended Provider status.
How we pick Which? Best Buys
We review a lot of policies – and our 'Best Buy' badge recognises the individual products that stood out as being the most comprehensive in our analysis. It doesn't reflect customer service. However, we won't give a provider a Best Buy badge where there's evidence – either from our surveys or from Financial Conduct Authority data – of poor service or a poorer-than-average record of paying claims.
Policies named as Best Buys must have a minimum policy score of 65%
Additionally, we look at how consistently good the cover is in policies. To make the cut, a policy needs to have scored at least three out of five points in two thirds of the areas we've rated (see 'Policy Scores' for more).
Lastly, all Best Buy policies must provide – either as standard or as an option – the following levels of cover as a minimum:
'Comprehensive' cover (meaning it covers third-party claims, fire, theft and accidental damage to your car), a temporary courtesy car if yours is under repair or if it has been stolen or written off, a repairs guarantee period of at least three years, cover for damage to your windows or windscreen, legal expenses cover, liability cover of £20m or more and personal accident cover.
More questions on car insurance? Take a look at our guides:
- How do I make a car insurance claim?
- Car insurance no-claims bonus explained
- Car insurance: add-ons, fees and charges explained
- Modified car insurance explained
- Electric car insurance explained
- How black box car insurance works
- Learner driver car insurance explained
- Temporary car insurance explained
- Multi-car insurance guide
- Gap insurance explained
- How to insure a classic car
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