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If you own or drive a car you are legally required to have motor insurance. The minimum level is third party, which covers you if you injure other people or damage their vehicle or property when you’re driving it. Even if you have a car you don’t drive which is kept off the road, it needs to be insured, unless you formally register a ‘Statutory Off Road Notification’ (SORN) with the DVLA.

If you drive without car insurance, you could get a fine and points on your licence and potentially face court action, criminal prosecution and a ban from driving. The same applies if you’re the car’s registered keeper and someone else is driving it.

Car insurance does tend to be more expensive if you’ve only just passed your driving test or are a relatively new driver. This is because insurers take inexperience as a driver into account when calculating premiums.

Whether you need business car insurance depends on how you use your vehicle for work. For example, if you work as a courier, you will need courier insurance to drive your car, van, moped, or motorbike. Specialist car insurance is also needed if you run a taxi business, or drive to various places as part of your job. However, if you simply use your car to commute to work, then standard car insurance should cover this – but be sure to make this clear when you get a quote.

The simplest way to check if your car is insured is by using the Motor Insurance Database. The check is free and all you need is your registration number. 

You’ll need to check your car insurance policy to see if it covers you while driving abroad and at what level. Cover may differ depending on the country you’re visiting. For example, a fully comprehensive policy may only offer third party cover while you’re overseas. If the cover isn’t sufficient for your needs, you may be able to upgrade your policy. 

Yes, you can insure a car you don’t own. You can insure a car for someone else, such as a child or partner, and you can also insure yourself before you buy it. However, you will be required to tell the insurer that you are not the owner or registered keeper, and some may refuse to insure you in this instance. The most common scenario is insuring a car you own.

It’s best to assume you’re not insured to drive someone else’s car unless you’re a named driver on their car insurance policy. If your own policy allows you to drive another person’s car, it could be that you’re only covered third party and in certain circumstances. Always check first.

You might be covered to drive any car if you have comprehensive car insurance. However, this certainly won’t be the case with every fully comp policy, and if you are covered, it may be third-party cover only. Check your policy documents for Driving Other Cars (DOC) cover before you drive a different car than the one listed on your policy. Contact your insurer to clarify with them, and take out additional, temporary cover if necessary.

According to the Association of British Insurers, a no-claims discount of one year could save you up to 30% on a typical car insurance premium, and as much as 60% if you’ve made no claims after five years. However, the savings will vary between insurers.

Paying car insurance annually, upfront in one go, is usually cheaper than paying in monthly instalments. This is because you’re likely to be charged interest if you pay monthly. 

Your line of work and your job title can affect the cost of your car insurance, as insurers take what you do for a living into account when working out your premium. If you have a job that an insurer thinks increases the likelihood you’ll need to make a claim, the cost of your car insurance will be higher. 

An insurer may carry out a soft search of your credit score to check certain details if you’re getting a car insurance quote, but this won’t affect, or remain, on your credit report. A hard credit search, which could have an effect on your score and will be visible, could be carried out if you decide to take a policy out, and wish to pay monthly.

» MORE: What is a credit check? 

To estimate your annual mileage you could work out roughly how many miles you drive each week and multiply this to get an estimate for the year. Alternatively, you could check your MOT certificate which will show how many miles your car did the previous year. Underestimating by a big margin could invalidate your policy, while overestimating can add unnecessary cost to your premium, so be as accurate as you can.

To estimate the value of your car, you could look at similar cars for sale online or use a free valuation tool, which are also available online. You’ll need to know your mileage and may be asked to give a truthful appraisal of its condition to get an accurate valuation.

Voluntary excess is an amount you decide to pay towards a claim you make on your policy. It is paid on top of the compulsory excess that is set by an insurer, but you get to choose the level of voluntary excess you’re willing to pay when setting up your policy. Committing to paying a higher excess can reduce the cost of car insurance.

Some insurers may guarantee your car insurance quote for a set period of time, such as 30 days, while others may use real-time pricing, which means the premium you’ve been quoted could change if you don’t buy it at that time. If your quote changes between times, it could be due to the insurer becoming aware of new information affecting your risk as a driver.

To make a claim on your car insurance you’ll need to contact your insurer. Many insurers have dedicated claims helplines ready to take calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Be prepared to share details of what has happened and the damage caused. You should always make your insurer aware of an accident, even if you don’t wish to make a claim.

If you think you won’t make, or have already missed, a monthly payment on your car insurance, contact your insurer. Missing a payment could cancel your cover or mean your insurer won’t pay out if you make a claim. You could also be charged a penalty fee, and your credit score could be affected. 

You can cancel a car insurance policy at any time. If you want to cancel a policy you’ve just bought, you’ll automatically have a 14-day cooling off period in which to do so. As long as you haven’t made a claim, you’ll get a refund, usually minus an amount covering the period you’ve been covered. There may also be an admin fee to pay. 

If your cover has been in place longer, you can still cancel, but there may be a bigger cancellation fee. Again, you won’t get the money back for the premiums covering the time you’ve been insured. However, if you paid an annual premium upfront, and haven’t made a claim, you may get a refund covering the period of time the cover won’t now be in place.

You could get a refund if you’ve paid your premium upfront and decide to cancel your car insurance part way through the cover, without having made a claim. So if you cancel after nine months, you could be refunded for the three months of premiums that are left to run. Note that there may be cancellation fees to pay.  

You should also get a refund of any premiums paid, perhaps minus an amount for the days of cover you’ve had, if you cancel within the first 14 days of your policy.