What’s the right car insurance for a new or young driver?

The right insurances will always depend on individual circumstances, but here we cover a couple of different options.

Flexible short-term learner car insurance

Acing a test usually comes down to how much study, revision or practice we’ve put in, and passing a driving test is really no different. Plenty of lessons AND plenty of private practice is the best combo. If a learner has a willing and eager driver to help them, then this is a great option.

Flexible short-term learner car insurance is an add-on to the car owner’s own car insurance that covers the learner driver to practice in that car with a supervising driver. It’s cheaper than adding a learner as a named driver and it protects the car owner’s No Claims Discount.

Whether you’re looking for cover for yourself, or another learner, you can usually find flexible cover from one to six months at a time with the option to cancel or extend cover as needed. And if you or the other learner passes early, you may well get a refund for any months that aren’t used. So it’s worthwhile checking.

Some even offer a relatively low excess from £250 so in the event of an unfortunate incident, there’s no huge up front excess to pay.

Learner driver black box insurance

For learners with their own car, this option means that learner drivers can start earning their own No Claims Discount and they can earn money back when they drive safely. A black box is either fitted by an engineer that will come to you, or you’ll get sent a black box to plug in (it’s usually super easy so no expertise is needed!).

Having a black box usually means regular driving feedback, which is a big plus for a new driver to be able to keep an eye on how they’re doing.

Some black box car insurance providers set a curfew, so it’s always worth checking the detail of the policy to ensure that it meets your needs. This is particularly relevant for those that might have an evening job or expect to travel to a friend’s house or back home again in the evening.

Black box car insurance

Although black box car insurance was built with young drivers in mind to help reduce the cost of that first year on the road, it’s possible to get black box car insurance if you’re in your 40s, as not everyone passes when they’re 18!

The concept is pretty similar to learner black box car insurance, except it’s for drivers who’ve already passed:

The policy holder will most likely get a black box to plug in or an engineer will come and fit the black box, what black box you get depends on what’s compatible with the car.

Regular driving feedback keeps drivers up to date on how they’re doing and if they’re on track for some good driving rewards.

Our insurer, ‘ingenie’, offer price reviews, where good drivers can earn up to 21% of what they paid for their insurance back. So if you drive well, you can end up paying less! But other black box car insurance companies tend to do things a little differently. So it’s always best to compare and find what incentive works for the driver.

We totally get that car insurance isn’t always the most fun topic to learn about, but hopefully this has helped explain a few of the options that are out there, including ours, through Ingenie. You can find a number of guides on their website that may help you, including their ‘Young Drivers Guide‘ and the all-important ‘Parent’s Guide to Driving‘.

There is always someone at your local A-plan branch to talk face-to-face or over the telephone who will be able to explain all the policy details and options in a clear, concise way, and set you on the right track.

Find out more about our learner driver and young driver insurance products and get in touch with your local branch to find out more.