Learner driver insurance

Learner driver insurance (also known as ‘provisional insurance’) is flexible, short term cover that allows provisional drivers to get insured on someone else’s car for the short period of time before they pass their test. This cover should be taken out in addition to the car insurance already held by the car owner, as learner driver insurance will only provide protection when the provisional driver is behind the wheel. 

All drivers learn at different speeds, and professional lessons can sometimes get expensive and time-consuming. That’s why a lot provisional drivers choose to get covered on their parents’ or guardians’ car – to fit in that extra bit of driving time before their test.

However, it can also be expensive to get added as a named driver to your parents’ policy, and they may even be concerned about losing their No Claims Bonus should you have an accident in their car.

If you’re unsure how long you’ll need cover for, Marmalade’s learner driver insurance provides five flexible cover lengths from 30 days to one year, so you only pay for the cover you need. There’s also no risk to the car owners’ No Claims Bonus should you have an accident, so it might even make it easier to convince your parents to let you borrow their car!

From paying for driving lessons to keeping your car topped up with fuel , it may not come as a surprise that learning to drive can be expensive.

But aside from these costs, young drivers also tend to pay more for their car insurance, with drivers in their 20s paying approximately £850 per year for their cover, in comparison to approximately £639 in their 30s.*

Learner driver insurance is more expensive for a number of reasons - but it’s largely due to the fact that new drivers are less experienced, and therefore deemed to be at higher risk of an accident by insurers.

New drivers also won’t have had the opportunity to build up No Claims Bonus (also known as “No Claims Discount”) in their own name, which is a discount insurers provide at renewal if you haven’t made any claims on your car insurance policy.

*Average Insurance Cost in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2019, by age (in GBP), statista.com 

While provisional insurance does tend to be more expensive for learner, young and new drivers, there are lots of easy ways to keep your car insurance costs down:

1. Take out the right policy for you

First things first, make sure you’ve chosen the right policy for you. As a learner, you have a number of choices for your learner insurance – for example, do you want to get covered on your own car, or someone else’s?

It may be worth finding out how much it would cost to get added as a named driver on someone else’s policy.

2. Consider the type of car you’re insuring

The type of car you want to use will impact the cost of your learner driver insurance – consider the following when choosing the car you learn in:

• The value of the vehicle
• The vehicle’s safety rating , such as its NCAP score
• Engine size
• The age of the vehicle
• Are there any security features?
• Does it have any modifications?

3. How long do you need cover for?

The best thing about being a learner is that you could be ready to pass your driving test any day now – so you don’t want to be paying for learner insurance you don’t need once you’ve got your full licence. That’s why our learner driver insurance provides five policy options , so you can choose the length of cover you need from 30 days up to one year.

There are also some great ways to save on your car insurance once you’ve passed your test:

4. Build up No Claims Bonus

No Claims Bonus (also known as a No Claims Discount) is the number of years you have had a policy in your own name without making a claim, so you can start to build this up in your own name once you’ve passed your test.

5. Third Party Only, Third Party, Fire and Theft or Comprehensive ?

The legal requirement for car insurance is Third Party Only, so you can reduce the cost of your car insurance by choosing a lower level of cover once you’ve passed your test. However, you may want to consider the financial impact should your car be written off in an accident should you choose Third Party Only or Third Party, Fire and Theft.

6. Consider black box insurance

Black box insurance monitors your driving behaviours (such as your speed) to provide discounts and rewards to safer drivers. This allows young or inexperienced drivers to make savings while they’re building up their own No Claims Bonus.

You will only be covered to drive the car specified in your policy documents. If you wish to practice in any other cars, you will need to take out a separate learner driver policy for each individual car you wish to drive.

Can I get learner driver insurance for my own car?

If you own a car, you will be unable to take out learner driver insurance to cover this vehicle as this policy can only be taken out in conjunction with an existing motor insurance policy that is held by the car owner.

Your parents’ may be concerned about ‘dual insurance’ with their existing car insurance policy. ‘Dual insurance’ is where the same item or risk has been insured twice under two (or more) separate policies.

This doesn’t apply to Marmalade’s learner driver insurance, and the car owners’ insurance will be unaffected. This is because the policy only provides cover for the learner driver as a temporary risk while they’re driving - the car owner will not be insured to drive under this policy, therefore they will still need their own car insurance policy in place.

You must be supervised by a driver over the age of 25 who has held a full UK driving licence for over three years, although this does not need to be the car owner.

Learner drivers have been able to drive on the motorway in lessons since June 2018 - however they must be with a qualified driving instructor with dual controls in order to do so. Therefore this policy does not provide cover for motorway driving for provisional drivers. 

Yes, you will be covered to take your driving test in the car covered by this policy. However, you will need to ensure you meet the following government requirements before taking the test in the insured car:

• The car must be taxed
• The car must be insured for a driving test (take your learner driver insurance policy documents with you)
• The car must be roadworthy and have a current MOT (over 3 years old)
• There can’t be any warning lights showing
• You must fix L plates to the car for the test and have an extras interior rear-view mirror for the examiner.

For an exhaustive and up-to-date list, please visit the government website.

• Legal liability for damage to other people’s property up to £20,000,000
• Legal liability for death or injury to any other person, including passengers
• Damage to the vehicle
• Up to £250 medical expenses
• Up to £2,500 personal accident benefits
• Up to £100 personal belongings

Once you’ve passed your driving test you will no longer be covered by your learner driver insurance – so you’ll need to arrange for someone else to drive you home from the test centre.

Once you move from a provisional licence to a full licence, you will then need to make a decision about which is the best car insurance for you. For example:

Student car insurance 

Black box car insurance – earn regular discounts of your insurance price, just for driving well

Temporary student driver insurance – short term cover for students during uni holidays, from 7 to 28 days

Young driver car insurance 

Find out more about car insurance through Endsleigh Compare.