Best car insurance for young drivers in the UK right now

The best car insurance for young drivers offers precise coverage at a competitive rate, ensuring support when it counts. By assessing numerous customer experiences and evaluating comprehensive policies, we assign a policy score based on their coverage extent. Our selection includes policies tailored to excel in various areas, such as multi-car or those designed specifically for young drivers. After compiling your options, comparing quotes can potentially save you hundreds, guaranteeing the best value for your coverage needs.

Best for

Cheaper rates

Best for

Multi-car

Best for

Temporary insurance

Best for

Convicted drivers

Summary: Best car insurance for young drivers in the UK 2024, by category

1. LV: Best for cheaper rates
2. Hastings Direct: Best for young drivers
3. Churchill: Best for black box
4. Endsleigh: Best for younger driver benefits

Best provider for cheaper rates

LV= Comprehensive

4

★★★★★

Finder score

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We ran quotes for a range of different age groups and found that LV= tended to offer competitive insurance quotes across the board. This insurer also offers multi-car discounts (up to 20% on an additional vehicle), plus you can typically lower your premium by adding a voluntary excess. LV= also covers European use, damage by uninsured drivers, vandalism and accidental damage as standard with its over-50s policies. Insurance prices have generally been falling during the pandemic as people have driven less, so it's always worth shopping around.
Need to know: Terminating a policy within or after the 14-day cooling-off period will cost you a £40 cancellation fee.

Personal possessions cover	£300
Accident cover	Up to £10,000.
Driving in Europe	EU Cover at same level as in UK (180 days)

• Why we like it

  We ran quotes for a range of different age groups and found that LV= tended to offer competitive insurance quotes across the board. This insurer also offers multi-car discounts (up to 20% on an additional vehicle), plus you can typically lower your premium by adding a voluntary excess. LV= also covers European use, damage by uninsured drivers, vandalism and accidental damage as standard with its over-50s policies. Insurance prices have generally been falling during the pandemic as people have driven less, so it's always worth shopping around.
  Need to know: Terminating a policy within or after the 14-day cooling-off period will cost you a £40 cancellation fee.

• Pros and cons

  Pros

  • 99% of claims paid*
  • Multi-vehicle insurance
  • Claims line is open 24/7

  Cons

  • A change in vehicle or named drivers may result in an administration fee

• More details

  Policy term	12 months
  EU cover
  Courtesy car
  Windscreen repair
  Multi-car discount
  Child seat cover
  Accident cover
  Key replacement
  Breakdown cover
  New car replacement
  Onward travel
  Liabilities to third parties
  Personal belongings	Up to £300.

Personal possessions cover	£300
Accident cover	Up to £10,000.
Driving in Europe	EU Cover at same level as in UK (180 days)

Compare with Confused

Best overall provider for younger drivers

Hastings Direct Standard

4.1

★★★★★

Finder score

Get a quote Read review

We chose Hastings Direct car insurance as our top pick because it offers a range of reasonably priced policies for drivers aged 17-25, incorporating telematics (black box) and multi-car options. Its 5-star Defaqto-rated black box telematics policy, YouDrive, includes a courtesy car, an uninsured driver promise and personal belongings cover as standard. There's a 24/7 claims line if you're involved in an accident or another type of incident.
Need to know: The Hastings Direct website isn't easy to navigate.

Personal possessions cover	£300
Accident cover	Up to £5000.
Driving in Europe	EU Cover third party only (90 days)

• Why we like it

  We chose Hastings Direct car insurance as our top pick because it offers a range of reasonably priced policies for drivers aged 17-25, incorporating telematics (black box) and multi-car options. Its 5-star Defaqto-rated black box telematics policy, YouDrive, includes a courtesy car, an uninsured driver promise and personal belongings cover as standard. There's a 24/7 claims line if you're involved in an accident or another type of incident.
  Need to know: The Hastings Direct website isn't easy to navigate.

• Pros and cons

  Pros

  • Windscreen and personal belongings cover included as standard in the Direct and Premier comprehensive policies
  • Hastings Direct has multi-car and "black box" cover options and cover is available to new and young drivers
  • Online claims process

  Cons

  • It doesn't offer third party only cover to new customers
  • There isn’t a lot of information about its third party, fire and theft policy available prior to quote stage
  • The Hastings Direct website could be easier to navigate

• More details

  Policy term	12 months
  EU cover
  Courtesy car
  Windscreen repair
  Multi-car discount
  Child seat cover
  Accident cover
  Key replacement
  Breakdown cover
  New car replacement
  Onward travel
  Liabilities to third parties
  Personal belongings	Up to £300.

Personal possessions cover	£300
Accident cover	Up to £5000.
Driving in Europe	EU Cover third party only (90 days)

Get a quote Read review

Best provider for young driver benefits

Endsleigh Comprehensive

4

★★★★★

Finder score

Compare with Confused

This insurer only offers car insurance to customers aged between 17 and 30, so its policies are understandably designed to suit younger drivers. It has policies tailored for learner drivers, students and new drivers, among others. Its features include black box insurance and finance deals for brand new cars.
Need to know: You will be subject to admin fees for the setting up and cancelling of your policy, as well as any changes you make.

Personal possessions cover	£100
Accident cover	Up to £2000.
Driving in Europe	Up to 90 days.

• Why we like it

  This insurer only offers car insurance to customers aged between 17 and 30, so its policies are understandably designed to suit younger drivers. It has policies tailored for learner drivers, students and new drivers, among others. Its features include black box insurance and finance deals for brand new cars.
  Need to know: You will be subject to admin fees for the setting up and cancelling of your policy, as well as any changes you make.

• Pros and cons

  Pros

  • You can receive 20% off MOT costs and 10% off servicing with comprehensive and third party policies
  • Replacement car included as standard on comprehensive policies
  • Affordable insurance for new and young drive

  Cons

  • You will be subject to admin fees for the setting up and cancelling of your policy, as well as any changes you make
  • Policy information is not easily accessible

• More details

  Policy term	12 months
  EU cover
  Courtesy car
  Windscreen repair
  Multi-car discount
  Child seat cover
  Accident cover
  Key replacement
  Breakdown cover
  New car replacement
  Onward travel
  Liabilities to third parties
  Personal belongings	Up to £100.

Personal possessions cover	£100
Accident cover	Up to £2000.
Driving in Europe	Up to 90 days.

Compare with Confused

Best provider for Black Box insurance

Churchill Comprehensive

4.3

★★★★★

Finder score

Compare with Confused

Churchill's DriveSure telematics policy is available for 17- to 25-year-olds. You'll be guaranteed a discount on your premium with your first year of using this technology. It's one of the most affordable, intelligent and fair black box car insurance policies on the market. You'll be able to see your driving score on the DriveSure app – and will be able to claim another discount in the next year if your score is high.
Need to know: No 24/7 claim line (emergency line available).

Personal possessions cover	£250
Accident cover	Up to £5000.
Driving in Europe	EU Cover third party only (90 days)

• Why we like it

  Churchill's DriveSure telematics policy is available for 17- to 25-year-olds. You'll be guaranteed a discount on your premium with your first year of using this technology. It's one of the most affordable, intelligent and fair black box car insurance policies on the market. You'll be able to see your driving score on the DriveSure app – and will be able to claim another discount in the next year if your score is high.
  Need to know: No 24/7 claim line (emergency line available).

• Pros and cons

  Pros

  • Uninsured driver promise
  • No-claims protection*
  • 24/7 legal advice helpline
  • Telematics cover, called DriveSure, available

  Cons

  • No 24/7 claim line (emergency line available)
  • No third party only cover available

• More details

  Policy term	12 months
  EU cover
  Courtesy car
  Windscreen repair
  Multi-car discount
  Child seat cover
  Accident cover
  Key replacement
  Breakdown cover
  New car replacement
  Onward travel
  Liabilities to third parties
  Personal belongings	Up to £250.

Personal possessions cover	£250
Accident cover	Up to £5000.
Driving in Europe	EU Cover third party only (90 days)

Compare with Confused

Why these are the best car insurance providers for young drivers?

Finder insurance expert Danny Butler shares our research

Car insurance policies for younger drivers can vary hugely in costs with different factors to account for such as the insurance group the car falls under, the driver’s experience, the driver’s age and the location.

To score the top five, we’ve taken into account a number of different factors that are relevant to younger drivers such as the discounts available, the age bracket the policies cater for and any specific benefits that are catered to young drivers.

Also, with customer service being a vital aspect in any insurance policy, we’ve included our customer satisfaction score as part of the weighting and this helps make up the final score. For our customer satisfaction score, we asked hundreds of car insurance customers to rate their insurer and we used that data to help compile our top five.

How to find the best young driver car insurance company for you

Car insurance premiums are highly personalised – a tweak to your job role or the amount of excess you’re happy to pay can make a big difference to your premiums. We explain more in our guide on how premiums are calculated. The key is to get the right cover level, plus good service at the cheapest price. This is why we survey customers. All our best picks are at least 3-star rated for service.

1. Compare policies. Different insurers can offer the same level of cover for very different prices. Shop around and compare car insurance quotes with as many providers as you can to make sure you’re getting the best deal for you. Comprehensive cover can sometimes work out cheaper than third-party, so compare all options.
2. If your quotes are too high, consider a higher excess. An excess is the amount you would contribute to any claim before your insurer will pay out. If you voluntarily increase your excess, your insurance company sees you as less likely to make a claim, which will help to bring down the cost of your premium (but always make sure you can actually afford to pay it should you have an accident).
3. Consider different options, such as pay-as-you-go cover. Some providers, like By Miles, offer pay-as-you-go cover. This is good for people who don’t drive very often and don’t want to pay for annual cover.
4. Review your provider’s quote every year. When renewal time rolls around, it’s crucial to shop around a few weeks before your policy starts. Consider switching as you’re likely to save – some people save hundreds of pounds. If you want to stick with your insurer, try haggling, as that’s common and usually effective.

Companies that offer black box insurance for new drivers

Black box technology has been available for many years now. Yet, there are still a limited number of insurers offering this technology to new drivers. See our guide on black box insurance for a full list of companies offering it.

We took a deeper look at all of the major insurers’ policies for young drivers in order to create this list of the best car insurance companies for young drivers.

Best cars for cheap insurance for young drivers

All vehicles are categorised based on their “risk” to insurers. This risk factor mostly considers the likelihood of a car being damaged and the cost of replacing it. There are 50 categories in total, with category 1 cars being the cheapest to insure and category 50 vehicles costing the most.

For your convenience, we have compiled a complete list of vehicles in insurance category 1.

Car insurance customer satisfaction league table 2024

Bottom line

Everybody’s circumstances will vary so car cover that might work for you might not work for someone else. Do your research, shop around and compare deals in order to find the best car insurance for you.

Frequently asked questions

• Why is young driver insurance so expensive?

  Car insurance premiums are calculated using a complicated algorithm, which calculates the risk of a motorist making a claim and how much this claim could cost the insurer. The riskier the customer, the more they’ll be charged.

  Data suggests that younger drivers are far more likely to be involved in car accidents than their older counterparts. Their accidents also tend to be more severe and this is why their car insurance costs more.

• What car insurance is best for young drivers?

  You might think that “third party, fire and theft” insurance will be the cheapest car insurance for younger drivers, but this isn’t always the case. It’s worth comparing the cost of this policy with your insurer’s comprehensive policy before choosing one or the other.

  In many cases, comprehensive cover is priced similarly and sometimes it’s even cheaper. Comprehensive car insurance policies cover you in a far greater range of scenarios and should always be chosen over “third party, fire and theft” insurance if you can afford it.

• Is it cheaper to pay monthly or annually for a new driver?

  A lot of car insurance companies charge interest if you choose to pay monthly. Some don’t. Either way, it’ll never cost you more to pay annually.

Customer satisfaction scores

In December 2023, we ran a customer satisfaction survey on insurance providers. We had 750 responses about car insurance providers.

The survey asked respondents how satisfied they were with their current insurance company (on a scale from 1 to 5 and also whether they would recommend the brand to a friend or not). We turned the results into star ratings and shortlisted the top-performing brands for our awards. If there was a draw, we used the recommendation score (that is, the percentage of customers who said they would recommend the brand to a friend) as a tie-breaker.

Full details of our star ratings for this sector are on the insurance ratings methodology page.

Written by

Danny Butler

Publisher

Danny is a publisher at Finder specialising in insurance and investing. He previously worked at the global insurer Aon and has appeared in national media giving advice on insurance. Danny holds a BA in International Business from the University of Plymouth and has undying loyalty to his average-poor football team, Portsmouth FC. See full bio

Danny's expertise

Danny has written 335 Finder guides across topics including:

• Car, home and business insurance
• Helping people save money on their insurance
• Project management
• Giving valuable insights to website visitors