Car insurance explained

Source: moneysupermarket.com

Comprehensive Insurance:

As the name suggests, fully comprehensive car insurance is the most complete type of policy on the market, offering a far better level of protection than both third party and third party fire and theft policies.  You can use our comparison tool to quickly see which option would be best for you. Unlike the other types of policy, fully comprehensive insurance not only covers damage to third parties but also compensates policy holders for loss or damage to their own vehicle, be it through accident, fire, theft or vandalism. This means that if you take out fully comp insurance and are involved in an accident then your insurance company will cover the cost of repair to your vehicle or write it off and pay you the market value minus excess deductions. In some cases insurers will offer a like-for-like replacement to save any disputes concerning the market value of your vehicle. This is the case even if you are at fault for the accident in question, but be aware that making a claim on a fully comprehensive policy will still affect your no claims bonus unless it is protected.

Is comprehensive insurance the right choice for you?

Although we say 'comprehensive', fully comp insurance does not cover every eventuality and so insurers offer optional extras that can be added on to your policy. These extras often include services such as breakdown cover, which some insurers will extend to Europe-wide breakdown cover; courtesy car hire, which provides you with a vehicle whilst yours is getting repaired; and legal expenses, which will cover solicitor's fees should you need to recover any losses. Many insurers also offer third party insurance for other vehicles which means that you are automatically covered to drive a vehicle that is not your own provided you have the registered owner's permission to drive it. But shop around and you may find that certain insurance companies will offer these extras as standard on their fully comprehensive polices. So, when comparing insurers, it's worth weighing up the extras against the cost of the policy to determine which one best suits your needs. And it is also worth bearing in mind that fully comprehensive insurance policies are often cheaper than third party fire and theft policies, so utilise our comparison tool to see if you can cut the cost of your premium and take advantage of the extra level of protection on offer.

Third Party Car Insurance

Car insurance is a legal requirement and third party cover is the minimum level of cover required under UK law. And, due to its basic level of cover, third party car insurance has long been considered to be the cheapest way to insure your vehicle. But this is not always the case as more and more customers that compare quotes with moneysupermarket.com are finding that fully comprehensive policies not only provide the highest level of cover but are actually the cheaper option.

Third party car insurance ensures that compensation is available in the event of damage caused to someone else's property, including the cost of repairs to another vehicle, and injury caused to any third parties, including your own passengers. You will also be covered for any accidents that arise from the use of a caravan or trailer attached to your vehicle as well as any accidents caused by your passengers. The major downside to this type of policy is that there is no cover for yourself if you were to suffer an injury nor is your vehicle covered for any damage sustained in an accident, theft or through an act of vandalism.

Is third party insurance right for you?

It is accepted wisdom that this type of policy is the best option for new drivers with no insurance or those with cars of a very low value. But this is no longer the case and, now that fully comprehensive car insurance is often lower in price than many third party only policies, it's difficult to know who would actually benefit from this level of cover. If you own a car that has a high value then it's probably a better idea to take out a policy with greater coverage than third party only car insurance as any saving you might make through the lower level of cover my be negated by the cost of repairs to, or replacement of, your own vehicle after an accident. In addition, this level of cover does not provide any pay out to cover damages in the event of an accident or a replacement if your vehicle is stolen. So when choosing your level of cover it's always worth using our price comparison tool to compare third party car insurance quotes against the different types of policy to ensure that you get the greatest level of protection at a competitive price.