Best and worst car insurance companies

How do I find the best car insurance?

Our research reveals you can get great cover without paying a high price. 

We rate 78 elements of policies and ask thousands of customers who've made a claim how they rate their insurer, including LV, Direct Line and Churchill, on everything from customer service and price to excess and ease making a claim.

You can also save money on your policy with a few simple tricks:

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Best and worst UK car insurance companies

We rank providers based on our customer surveys and policy analysis. The top scorers can be Which? Recommended Providers (WRPs) if they:

• Are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
• Are available to the public
• Have received responses from 30 or more customers in our survey
• Achieve high scores in our customer satisfaction survey
• Achieve an average or above policy score.

We won't award a provider our WRP endorsement if it has a poorer-than-average claims score.

The first list compares only insurers we were able to rate for both policies and customer experience. It's ordered by total score.

The second list compares policies - an insurer may offer more than one.

Table last updated in February 2023. Next update in February 2024.

Which car insurers are recommended providers?

LV

LV was best rated by claimants in our survey, scoring 79%, and its policy was the highest-scoring (77%) compared with other providers' standard policies. It's one of a minority guaranteeing repairs for a vehicle's life, and one of just 11 offering a temporary replacement car if yours is stolen.

It also stands out by offering protection for no-claims bonuses against an unlimited number of claims.

Customers praised LV for its ability to deal with queries and offer value for money. Some 35% of claimants in our survey felt they were getting a cheaper price with it than other insurers offered - as did 26% of claimants overall.

NFU Mutual

NFU Mutual has never having lost its WRP status since we launched the scheme more than a decade ago. It did consistently well in our analysis this year - just behind LV for its customer score (78%) and policy score (76%) - second overall.

It's one of just two providers we reviewed that doesn't charge a cancellation fee, or interest if you want to pay monthly. 

You won't find NFU Mutual on comparison sites. You can get a quote by calling one of its 300 branches.

It may not offer a policy to customers in all postcodes, particularly major cities.

• Find out more: what do we think of NFU Mutual's home insurance policy?

Direct Line

One of the largest insurers, Direct Line retains its place as a Which? Recommended Provider.

It achieved a customer score of 78% - joint second with NFU Mutual.

Unlike sister brands Churchill and Privilege, Direct Line doesn't appear on price comparison sites, but it is well worth contacting it or visiting its website to get a quote.

Churchill

Churchill  received the third-highest customer score (75%). Its standard policy had a slightly-above-average score (of 66%). 

Like sister brand, Direct Line, we liked its fairer approach to customers' no-claims discount. For example, it won't hack at the discounts of those who have claimed because their car was vandalised.  

Aviva

Aviva is our fifth WRP - with a strong customer score of 74% (placing it sixth of 15 brands). Its standard policy merited a decent 66% in our analysis. 

It sells slightly different variants of its cover through comparison sites - called 'Aviva Online' (65%) and 'Aviva Premium' (66%). Aviva has more than 18 million customers thanks to policies such as courtesy car inclusion and accidental damage cover.

• Find out more: Car insurance for the over 50s

How we find the best car insurers

Customer score

This is based on a survey of 2,454 policyholders who have recently made a car insurance claim. The score reflects how satisfied customers say they are with their provider and how likely they would be to recommend it.

Providers must receive a minimum sample size of 30 to be included.

Why only talk to customers who've claimed?

You'll only know how good an insurer's customer service is when you make a claim.

That's when good insurers will show their ability to deal with problems, quickly process your claim and get you back on the road as soon as possible.

As it can be difficult to find the requisite number of customers who've claimed for some insurers, in some cases we're only able to provide our expert policy scores.

Policy score

This is our assessment of the quality of standard cover comparing 78 elements of a policy. We weight certain features of cover or costs (fees and excesses) based on the impact we think they generally make, from courtesy cars to breakdown cover.

Among the highest-weighted elements are the insurer's guarantee on repairs, cover for glass damage, conditions of its no-claims discount, whether it'll provide a replacement vehicle, fire, theft and accidental damage excesses, and interest rates charged for paying premiums in instalments.

We carry this analysis out every 12 months. The next update will be in February 2024.

Total score

Where customer and policy scores are available, insurance providers are ranked by total score. This is made up of 50% of the customer score, and 50% of the car insurance policy score.

Does car insurance automatically renew?

Yes. It's standard for your agreement to auto-renew after 12 months. 

Your provider will let you know between 21 and 30 days prior that your policy is up for renewal, and if you take no action it will auto-renew with the same details including excess, no-claims bonus, add-ons, fees and charges. 

Some policies have a 10-month option, so check your agreement to see how many months until your auto-renew kicks in. Sticking with your current policy may not be best. Find out why you shouldn't allow your policy to auto-renew.

Can car insurance be transferred to a new car?

Yes. Your policy can be transferred to your new car even if you are midway through your 12-month policy. Once the transfer is complete, your new car will be covered in the same way as your previous model. 

Some providers will charge an admin fee to change your details. These changes should include your car make, model and mileage. Your new car could have an impact on your insurance premiums.

Your provider will need to know the date to switch over the policies. The best time to contact it is once you know when you are collecting your new car from the dealership or seller. This way, you can collect your car and drive it home that day with your new insurance applied. 

What types of car insurance are there?

The main three types of standard are third party, third party fire and theft, and comprehensive.

Third party is the most basic level and is the legal minimum. It covers damage you cause to other drivers on the road, but not damage to your own vehicle.

Third party, fire and theft is the next band up. It also pays out if your car is stolen, vandalised or severely damaged. 

Comprehensive car insurance offers the widest coverage for you and your car. It will cover you, your car, the other driver and their car in an accident.

Within these categories there are specialist types of policy including classic car, multi-car and learner driver car insurance. 

How much is the average monthly cost of car insurance?

As of February 2023, the average premium paid by drivers was £470, according to the Association of British Insurers.

This was 8% higher than in the previous quarter, with insurers blaming rising repair costs.

The average paid for new policies was £531 and the average for renewing a policy was £428. Your excess, car model type and your age can increase your premiums. 

How can I get cheap car insurance?

From haggling with your provider to using comparison sites, there are ways to find cheap car insurance. Shop around and do your research to understand what a competitive price looks like before making a decision. 

Insurance companies are no longer allowed to offer better deals to new customers, so it is in your best interest to find out what your current provider is willing to offer as well as checking out the best deals on price comparison sites. 

Direct Line car insurance is only available directly and NFU Mutual are not online at all, you need to call them to discuss their policies.

Got more questions on car insurance? Take a look at our guides:

• How do I make a car insurance claim?
• Car-insurance no claims bonus explained
• Car insurance: add-ons, fees and charges explained
• Modified car insurance explained
• Electric car insurance explained
• How black box car insurance works
• Learner driver car insurance explained
• Temporary car insurance explained
• Multi-car insurance guide
• Gap insurance explained
• How to insure a classic car