First car insurance
The biggest decision in your first car insurance is made before you buy the insurance: it is which car you buy. Insurance groups run 1 to 50 and the difference between a low group and a high one outweighs almost everything else you can control.
Check the insurance group before you buy the car
This is the whole page in one line, and it is the thing people do in the wrong order.
Every car model sits in an insurance group from 1 to 50, set on repair cost, performance, security and parts prices. A group 3 hatchback and a group 20 version of a superficially similar car are not a small difference in premium for a 17-year-old; they can be the difference between affordable and not.
Get quotes on two or three candidate cars before you buy one. It takes an evening and it is the highest-value hour in the whole process.
Modifications count against you, including ones you inherit
Alloy wheels, a different exhaust, tinted windows, a body kit: all of it is declarable, and all of it can increase the premium or void the cover if undeclared. If you are buying second hand, the modification was somebody else's decision and it is still yours to declare.
The mistakes that cost the most
- Fronting. Putting the car in a parent's name when you are the main driver is fraud. The
- Guessing your mileage. Under-declaring to lower the premium gives the insurer grounds
- Auto-renewing. The renewal quote is rarely the best price, and for a young driver the
- Paying monthly without checking the APR. Monthly payment is credit, and on some policies
What the numbers actually look like
Be careful with the figures you see quoted elsewhere. The ABI reports premiums **actually paid** and put the all-ages average at £566 in Q2 2026. Comparison-site price indices report premiums quoted, and Confused.com's index had the 17 to 20 band at £1,813 in spring 2026. Those measure different things.
Your first-year premium as a newly qualified driver will be near the top of whatever range you find, and it falls with each claim-free year. That curve is steep, which is why the first year is the one to get right rather than the one to despair about.
If you have not passed yet
Two things are worth doing now rather than later. Build a no-claims bonus while you are still learning, which an annual learner policy in your own name allows and which Collingwood and the RAC both state on their pages. And arrange your post-test cover before test day, because most learner policies stop the moment you pass.
What happens the day you pass · Why young driver premiums are what they are · Compare learner providers
Every learner provider, on the same columns
From each provider's own published material, read on 18 September 2026. Nobody paid to be here.
| Provider | Ages | Cover lengths | Own car | Their car | Owner's NCB | Your NCB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AdmiralInsurer, routes to Veygosame product as Veygo | not published | not published | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| Adrian FluxSpecialist broker | 16 and over | Daily, monthly or annual, including 1 week policies | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| AvivaInsurer, resoldsame product as Dayinsure | not published | 1 day to 5 months | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| CollingwoodLearner specialist | 17 and over | 2 days to 12 months | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CuvvaApp-based hourly cover | 17 to 50 | 1 to 3 hours at a time | No | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| DayinsureTemporary cover specialist | 17 to 50 | 1 hour to 30 days, and learner policies up to 5 months | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| GoShortyTemporary cover specialist | 17 to 75 | 1 hour to 24 weeks | Not published | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| Hastings DirectInsurer | not published | not published | Yes | Yes | Not published | Not published |
| Insure Learner DriverLearner specialist | not published | not published | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| MarmaladeYoung driver specialist | 17 to 34 | 30, 60, 90, 120, 180 or 240 days | No | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| RACMotoring brand, resoldsame product as Dayinsure | 17 and over | 1 day to 5 months | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sterling InsuranceBroker | not published | 30 days, 90 days or longer, to suit how long the test takes | Not published | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| TempcoverTemporary cover specialist | 17 to 75 | 1 hour to 28 days | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| VeygoLearner specialistsame product as Admiral | not published | By the hour, week or month, or a rolling monthly subscription | Not published | Yes | Yes | Not published |
coverednot coveredthe provider does not publish it
Risk figures are from the Department for Transport's younger driver factsheet. Premium figures are from the ABI (paid) and published price indices (quoted), and we say which is which every time. Provider facts come from each provider's own pages. How we check.