Young driver insurance

Compare cheap young driver insurance quotes

Compare cheap young driver insurance quotes

Save up to £504 on your car insurance*

Save up to £504 on your car insurance*

Recommended by 94% of users**

Recommended by 94% of users**

Affordable car insurance for young drivers

Fast and free, Money Expert compares motor insurance quotes for young drivers from over 100 insurance providers.


How to compare young driver insurance with Money Expert

You could save yourself up to
£504* by comparing car insurance

1

Click the "get a quote" button below

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2

Input your details

Input some details about yourself and your car; it only takes a couple of minutes to do.

3

Pick an insurance deal

We will then search car insurance from across market for you and show you a range of quotes available for you.

Young drivers often expect to pay much more for their car insurance than older, more experienced drivers. But you shouldn't feel that you have to settle for sky high premiums!

If you compare car insurance with Money Expert you will be provided with an extensive market comparison of over 100 insurance providers - there are affordable options out there, and it is possible to get cheap car insurance for young drivers.

As experts in the car insurance industry, we also have some tips below on how you can go about saving more on your motor insurance, as well as why insurance often costs so much for younger drivers. 

Read on to find out how to save money on your young drivers car insurance!

In This Guide:

Annual young driver car insurance options

Named Driver Insurance

  • Sign up on your parent's or someone else's insurance, without risking their no claims discount.

  • Can be used if you are a full licence holder or a learner.

  • Get cheaper car insurance than if you sign up for your own individual policy.

One great way to get cheap car insurance premiums is to either become a named driver on someone else’s (like a parent) policy, or to add an older, more experienced driver (again, like a parent) to yours. This has the added benefit of splitting the cost and reducing the cost of the premiums for each driver.

You can legally become a named driver on an insurance policy if you are sharing a car and use it less than the ‘main driver’.

Black Box Insurance

  • Insurance premiums will be tailored to you and your driving style.

  • Can be used if you are a full licence holder or a learner.

  • Get cheaper cover on your own car, instead of getting insured on someone else's.

Another money saving option that is popular among drivers under 25 is what is known as ‘black box’ or telematics insurance.

These policies are based around the installation of a small tracking device in your vehicle. This device measures and records various aspects of your driving, including adherence to the speed limit, mileage and braking and cornering data.

This allows the insurer to put together an accurate and tailored profile of the policy holder and to then work out the cost of the insurance on this basis, rather on the basis of nationwide statistics that show young drivers to be, on the whole, reckless and dangerous.

So, if you back yourself to drive carefully and responsibly, then by having a black box installed and proving this, you can expect to cut the costs of your premiums.

Short term young driver insurance options

Learner Driver Insurance

  • Get specialist cover whilst you are learning to drive.

  • Lower premiums whilst you get in that crucial practice before taking your test.

Learner driver insurance, also often called provisional insurance, offers cover to a learner driver in an already insured car. 

The price varies depending on the duration of cover, as well as variables like the engine size and age of the car. 

Provisional insurance cover can last for a day, a month or even a year. For this reason, it's best to shop around and find the best deals depending on how often the learner will be using the car. 

Provisional insurance needs to be taken out in addition to a pre-existing policy, as it will only cover the learner driver in the event of a claim. 

Student Car Insurance

  • Specialist car cover for young drivers who are still students or at University.

  • For drivers who have passed their driving test.

Student driver insurance can sometimes be quite expensive, and when you are heading to university this is the last thing you will be wanting to get worried about.

With a specialist student insurance policy, you can cut your car insurance premiums whilst you start looking to build up your no claims discount.

Some student insurance policies may come with certain requirements, such as limits on what cars you can insure, installing a telematics device, or restrictions on how many miles you can drive. Before you take out the cheapest car insurance policy available, make sure you look at all the options and weigh up any restrictions imposed by the policies you can access!

How to save money on vehicle insurance as a young driver

There are a few things you can do to save money on car insurance as a young driver:

Pick the right car

Saving on your insurance starts right away with your choice of car.

Insurers place cars into one of 50 categories based on things like power and engine size. Cars in group one will be the cheapest to insure.

Indeed some insurers will actually refuse to cover young drivers who own a car in the highest categories as they view it as simply too risky.

Keep your car secure

Keeping your car demonstrably safe and secure is another way you can cut down on your premiums.

Keeping your car in an off-road garage, for example, is a great way to do this, as is investing in anti-theft devices like steering wheel locks.

Advanced learning courses

You can improve your driving skills after you pass your test by paying for specialised driving courses, such as the government’s Pass Plus scheme.

Insurers may see you as lower risk if you can provide evidence of completing an advanced driving course, reducing the cost of your insurance policy.

Increase your voluntary excess

When you claim on insurance, the first part of the claim is paid by you.

By increasing this excess, you can decrease your premium. However, make sure that you can afford the amount of excess you choose!

Compare quotes with a price comparison website

If you follow all of the above steps and, above all, drive carefully and keep mileage down, you can dramatically reduce the costs of your insurance as a young driver.

But by far the best way to guarantee that you get the best cover at the best price available is to use a young driver’s car insurance comparison service like ours.

We’ll make sure that you find the exact kind of policy you’re looking for at a price that you can handle, so that you can maintain the excitement you had as soon as you passed your test.

Frequently asked questions

Why is car insurance more expensive for young drivers?

Insurance providers calculate the premiums they offer based on the risk of the policy holder making a claim. Unfortunately for younger drivers, the statistics are not in their favour here.

According to government statistics, in the UK in 2020, 50% of accidents involving drivers between the ages of 17 and 19 years resulted in casualties. 

In accidents involving drivers between the ages of 20 and 24, 51% of them resulted in casualties.

Accidents involving both of these age groups report more than any other age group in the UK. This is one of the reasons why vehicle insurance is more expensive for young drivers.

Add to this the fact that 20% of all drivers have some kind of accident within a year of passing their test and you have an unfortunate recipe for expensive insurance.

What are the cheapest cars to insure for young drivers?

Cars are ranked into insurance groups, from 1-50, based on a number of factors that determine how desirable they are to insure for an insurer. 

Cars that are cheap to repair and with less powerful engines are generally very desirable for insurers as they will likely be in less accidents, and any claims that are made on them will cost less to settle. 

Group 1 is the most desirable, and therefore the cheapest group to insure. The lower the insurance group a car fits into, the cheaper it will be for a younger driver to insure. We recommend new and first time drivers opt for a vehicle in this group.

See our page on the 9 cheapest cars for young drivers to insure for a list of different options.

Does a young driver need to have fully comprehensive insurance policy?

No, the only legal requirement is that drivers have a minimum of third-party insurance on their car. 

However fully comprehensive insurance can be very useful for young drivers, who are at a greater risk of being in an accident. Drivers aged 17-19 make up only 1.5% of motorists on UK roads, but are involved in 9% of accidents.

In some cases, fully comprehensive insurance isn't even much more expensive, and if you're very lucky, it can be cheaper! This is because more high-risk drivers buy third party insurance, pushing the price of those policies up. 

Do your research and be sure to use our car insurance comparison tool to check if comprehensive insurance is a good option for you.

What insurance is cheapest for young drivers?

 Depending on how comprehensive a policy a young driver needs, different insurers will offer various deals. 

Once you've decided whether you need fully comprehensive insurance, or you'd just like third party cover, and considered whether you'll require any add-ons like breakdown cover or windscreen repair, the easiest way to calculate the best deal is to use our car insurance comparison tool. 

You can easily tweak your search to explore different levels of cover and additional features. 

What age is classed as a young driver?

A young driver someone aged between 17 and 24 years old. Anyone within this age range will be generally be classified as an inexperienced driver by insurance providers, and therefore be subject to a higher premium.

Does the cost of motor insurance go down when you turn 21 years old?

Yes, generally it does. It also goes down when you turn 25 years old.

Although we group anyone under 25 as a young driver, many insurance providers actually have two age ranges; 17-20 and 21-24 years old.

Once you move out of either of these age ranges, you should see a noticeable drop in your insurance premium. 

Is insurance cheaper for young female drivers?

Until recently, women could have expected a better deal when it comes to insurance. This is because, statistically, they are far less likely to be involved in an accident than male drivers. Indeed 97% of all of those facing motoring convictions in the UK are male.

However, legislation recently introduced by the European Court of Justice as part of their gender equality drive had outlawed the calculation of premiums based on the gender of the policy holder.

Unfortunately, rather than insurance for males now being cheaper, this means that young female drivers insurance now costs more than it ever did in the past. But these costs needn’t be prohibitively high, by taking the above steps, and by shopping around online, you can make sure you get cheap car insurance as a young driver, male or female.

Is car insurance cheaper with a provisional licence?

Provisional insurance can sometimes be cheaper than your first insurance policy as a qualified driver. 

While this seems confusing, it makes sense for the insurance companies, as a new driver with a provisional licence must always have a more experienced driver in the car with them. 

Once a person has their full licence, they are able to drive alone and therefore the chance they have of making a claim rises sharply. 

Last reviewed: 1 March 2024

Next review: 1 April 2024