Multi-car insurance is similar to standard car insurance, but it allows you to insure 2 or more cars on the same policy. Multi-car insurance can sometimes work out cheaper as you’ll be given a discount for each additional vehicle on your policy.
How does multi-car insurance work?
Multi-car insurance lets you insure multiple cars on the same policy, provided they are registered to the same address. Usually, the more cars added to the policy, the greater the discount.
Multi-car insurance is predominantly for households that want to use their vehicles for personal use, but some insurers may allow you to cover a work vehicle alongside your personal car. To do this, you will need to be the registered keeper of both vehicles and they must both be kept at your home address.
Note that policyholders won’t automatically be allowed to drive every car insured under a multi-car insurance policy. Instead, they’ll need to be added as a named driver for each additional vehicle they intend to drive.
What types of multi-car insurance are on offer?
There are 2 main types of multi-car insurance.
The most common is straightforward multiple car insurance that covers 2 or more cars on the same policy with the same insurer. Each driver has the same level of cover and each car has the same insurance renewal date, making the paperwork easier to manage. Renewal dates are typically based on the date the first car was added to the policy.
Alternatively, you may be able to take out a linked multi-car insurance policy that is made up of several, individual policies. Each policy will have its own level of cover and add-ons as well as its own excess and renewal date.
Linked policies can be a good option if, for example, you want fully comprehensive cover for your own vehicle, but only third-party, fire and theft cover for your son’s or daughter’s car.
What is included in multi-car insurance?
Multi-car insurance works in much the same way as a standard car insurance policy, so any features and benefits will vary depending on the specific provider. You will need to research what is offered on a particular policy to find the insurance that is right for you.
Multi-car insurance exclusions
Common multi-car insurance exclusions include the following:
Driving without a valid licence or driving an unregistered car.
Hiring out your car.
How to compare multi-car insurance
It’s easy to compare multi-car insurance by following the steps below:
Run a multi-car insurance quote by entering details such as the cars you want to insure, the name, date of birth and address of each driver and any driving convictions or previous claims of each driver.
Consider whether you want each driver to have the same level of cover or whether a linked policy would work better so each driver can have a different level of cover.
Consider whether you want to bolt on additional cover such as breakdown cover or windscreen repair cover.
Decide how much you’re happy to pay for your voluntary excess. The higher it is, the lower your premium will be, but it’s important to ensure it’s affordable.
Look for the provider that offers the right level of cover for you at the best price.
Is multi-car insurance cheaper?
Multi-car insurance can work out cheaper than standard cover, but there’s no guarantee this will always be the case.
When you apply for multi-car insurance, the age and experience of each policyholder, as well as the type of car they drive, will be factored in. If all drivers on the policy have similar driving experience, are of a similar age and drive similar cars, multi-car insurance could be the more cost-effective choice.
However, in many cases, the cost of your premium could actually go up with a multi-car insurance policy. For example, if you’re an experienced driver in your 50s with a great driving history, your premium should be fairly low. However, if you decide to add your teenage son to a multi-car policy, your overall premium is likely to rise based on your son’s lack of driving experience and his much higher risk. In this situation, it might be better to insure each car separately as having them under one policy could mean you end up paying more, even after the multi-car discount.
When considering multi-car insurance, you should always ask for a quote, and then compare it to the cost of getting individual car insurance policies for each of your vehicles.
How much does multi-car insurance cost?
How much you pay for multi-car insurance will depend on 2 key factors:
The single-vehicle premium quoted to you by the insurer for each of your vehicles.
The discount offered for insuring multiple vehicles on the same policy.
Example: Tim and Sara
Tim and Sara share a house together. Tim owns a Vauxhall Corsa that he can insure for £600 a year, and Sara has a Ford Focus that she can insure for £500 a year, bringing their total costs to £1,100. Rather than taking out separate cover, they decide to combine cover under a multi-car insurance policy that offers a 15% discount. This would bring down the total cost of cover for both cars to £935.
* This is a fictional, but realistic, example.
How does a multi-car discount work?
With multi-car insurance, a discount of around 10-20% is applied to your policy for each car that’s added. This means the more cars you add to your policy, the cheaper it becomes. If, for example, you had 2 cars on your policy and you were adding a third, the discount applied would be even greater than for the second.
Thanks to the discounts on offer, multi-car insurance can work out to be good value if you have 2 or more cars in your household to insure. However, it’s important to compare the cost of individual car insurance policies against the cost of a multi-car insurance policy to be sure you will save money.”
Who can be insured on a multi-car insurance policy?
Generally, a multi-car insurance policy will only cover cars within the same household. This means they could benefit the following:
Someone that owns more than one car.
Couples that each own a car registered at the same address.
Families with more than one car and more than one driver.
In some circumstances, insurance providers may offer multi-car insurance even if one driver lives at a different address, such as a son or daughter studying away from home.
Pros and cons of multi-car insurance
Pros
You’ll receive a discount for each car added to the policy.
You’ll usually only have one renewal date to remember.
Your no-claims bonus shouldn’t be affected if another driver on your policy makes a claim.
Some insurers offer cover for cars that are not kept at the registered address.
Cons
Multi-car insurance won’t always be cheaper – high-risk drivers can significantly increase the overall cost.
If your renewal dates align for all cars, you will have a large annual insurance premium to pay upfront at renewal.
If one person on the policy makes a claim, the cost of the premium can rise for everyone on the policy the following year.
Bottom line
Multi-car insurance can be a convenient option if you have several cars to insure in your household. Renewal dates can be much easier to manage and you’ll only have to deal with one insurer. However, while the discounts on offer can be tempting, it’s important to realise that it won’t always work out to be the cheapest option. It’s worth doing your research and running some comparisons before you apply for multi-car insurance.
Frequently asked questions
Renting or buying a garage space doesn’t usually come cheap. Unless you’re paying a lot more for your car insurance because you keep your car parked on the street in a high-crime area, paying for a garage space is unlikely to save you money overall. You would most likely be better off installing an anti-theft device if your car doesn’t already have one.
If your car insurance is up for renewal, it’s always worth shopping around to see whether you can switch providers to get a better rate. Insurers don’t tend to reward loyalty and you’ll often get a better deal as a new customer.
However, if your existing policy still has several months left to run, you may have to pay a cancellation fee for leaving your existing insurance deal early. Depending on how much this is, you may prefer to wait until renewal time.
The latest ABI figures show that the average cost of comprehensive car insurance is £460 per year, which works out to be around £38 a month. However, keep in mind that if you pay for your car insurance in monthly instalments (rather than in one go each year), you will generally pay more as insurers usually add interest for paying this way.
Car insurance premiums tend to fall when you turn 25. By this point, most motorists will have more driving experience and are regarded as lower risk as a result.
No, you won’t need to insure all the cars at the same time. Cars can be added to a policy whenever you decide and your insurer will align the renewal dates.
Some insurers will allow customers to keep different renewal dates for each car on the policy but it’s worth checking your options carefully.
This will vary depending on the insurance provider. Usually, insurance providers will insure up to 6 cars on a multi-car insurance policy but some may insure more than this.
There are several benefits to getting multi-car insurance. Here are just a few:
You’ll only have to complete one application for all the cars you want to insure rather than individual applications for each car.
You’ll get a discount for each additional car added to a policy.
You may only have one renewal date to remember.
You can buy multi-car insurance in the same way as standard car insurance. Shopping around and comparing your options will help you to find the right policy at the best price.
You can usually choose to add the following extras to your multi-car policy:
Breakdown cover. This provides roadside assistance if your vehicle breaks down.
Courtesy car. This provides you with another vehicle while yours is being repaired.
Windscreen repair. Cover should your windscreen get chipped or cracked.
Personal injury cover. Cover in the event you are injured in an accident.
Legal cover. Cover for fees if you take legal action after an accident that was not your fault.
Driving abroad. Cover for driving your car in Europe.
This will depend on the policy, but some insurers will cover vehicles that are kept at a different address for part of the year. Always check the policy wording carefully.
If you have a multi-car insurance policy where all renewal dates are aligned, you’ll simply renew your insurance for all cars on the same date. This is usually based on the date the first car was added to the policy and your insurer will manage the process of aligning the dates for each car.
If you have a linked multi-car insurance policy, each car will have its own renewal date.
Yes, you can – multi-car insurance provides cover for 2 or more cars.
No, you won’t usually be able to add motorbikes or vans to your multi-car insurance policy. Instead, you’ll need to take out separate motorbike or van insurance.
Yes, multi-car insurance allows you to add named drivers to your policy in just the same way as standard car insurance. You’ll need to do this if anyone else on the policy wishes to drive your car or you want to drive theirs.
It shouldn’t. Most multi-car insurance policies allow each policyholder to build up their own no-claims bonus. So, if one person on the policy makes a claim, only their no-claims bonus should be affected.
However, if a named driver on your vehicle makes a claim, this could affect your no-claims bonus.
This will depend on the policy and your insurer. Some insurers will provide cover for cars at different addresses, although this may be on the condition that the car owners are family members. Other policies will require each car to be registered at the same address.
*Based on data provided by Consumer Intelligence Ltd, www.consumerintelligence.com (July ’24). 51% of car insurance customers could save £523.17
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To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by David Gregory as part of our fact-checking process.
Rachel Wait is a freelance journalist and has been writing about personal finance for more than a decade, covering everything from insurance to mortgages. She has written for a range of personal finance websites and national newspapers, including The Observer, The Mail on Sunday, The Sun and the Evening Standard. Rachel is a keen baker in her spare time. See full bio
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