Car Insurance Explained

It is illegal to drive a motor vehicle without insurance, and the penalties for flouting this legal requirement can be severe. Not only that, but you would also end up paying for all costs incurred in the event of an accident, and this could include both the repair costs as well as potential damages payable as a result of the civil action brought against you by the injured party.

There are several different levels of cover available, depending on your individual requirements and budget. The most basic type of vehicle insurance is third party, which is also the minimum required by law in the UK. It literally is basic, as it will not help with any costs if the accident is your own fault but will simply meet your legal obligations towards the other parties involved in the accident.

The next level up is third party, fire and theft, which while costing a little more will give you protection against certain repair and replacement costs, while for those who require complete peace of mind, the best thing to do is to purchase fully comprehensive insurance. This will set you back a little more, but will allow you to claim in a whole range of circumstances such as if somebody keyed the paintwork, or if you knocked the car into a lamppost by mistake.

If you want to keep the cost of your insurance payments down, you should aim to keep your no claims bonus. What this means is that if you do have an accident or damage occurs to your car, you may want to pay the costs to remedy it out of your own pocket, so that you do not lose your entitlement to lower payments in the longer term. Similarly, if you pay for your annual insurance in a lump sum as opposed to in monthly instalments, you will often enjoy a significant discount.

One option which is becoming increasingly popular is to take out fleet insurance. If you and your family own three or more motor vehicles, it can often work out far cheaper to have all family members named as drivers on every vehicle in the fleet, which is then insured as such, rather than taking out an individual policy for each vehicle.

Co-Operative Insurance will provide you with a car insurance quote.

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