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Insuring all your vehicles under a multi-car insurance policy can be a simple way to save money when compared to taking out individual car insurance policies. It can also make managing the paperwork, claims and your renewals a lot easier.
In this article, our experts explain how multi-car insurance works, who it best suits and what to watch out for.
Multi-car insurance enables you to cover two or more vehicles under the same car insurance policy with a single provider. Depending on the insurer, multi-car insurance policies typically cover between two and six cars, although some will cover up to 10. You might also be able to add up to 12 drivers to your policy, but again, this will depend on the insurance provider.
Multi-car insurance policies come with the same features as single-car policies. The key difference is that you usually receive a discount for each car you add to the policy. This is typically around 10 per cent.
Depending on which insurance provider you choose, you might be able to add multi-car breakdown cover to your policy, as well as other optional extras such as motor legal protection. These add-ons will apply to all the vehicles and drivers on the policy.
Choosing a multi-car insurance policy means you’ll usually only have one set of paperwork to deal with, and you might also only have one renewal date, making the whole process much easier to manage.
There are two main types of multi-car insurance to be aware of. These are:
In many cases, multi-car insurance only covers cars at a single address, but some providers will also cover family members who live elsewhere, for example, if your child is at university.
Most multi-vehicle insurance policies let each policyholder build up their own no-claims bonus claims discount (or bonus). This reduces the price of your premium for each year you don’t make a car insurance claim. Keeping your discount separate is important, as it means that if one person on the multi-car policy is involved in an accident and makes a car insurance claim, only their no claims bonus is likely to be affected – the discounts for everyone else will usually remain unchanged.
If you insure two or more cars on the same car insurance policy, you’ll typically be given a discount for each car you add, so the more you add, the more you’ll save. This discount will apply automatically when you add a new car to your policy. Discounts are typically around 10 per cent for each car, and you can usually add up to five or six cars.
However, to be sure you’re getting the best deal, it’s wise to compare the cost of multi-car insurance against separate car insurance quotes for each car to see what works out cheaper overall. This is because multi-car insurance won’t necessarily be cheaper for everyone.
For example, if you were looking for a multi-car insurance policy for a 50-year-old experienced driver with no previous convictions and an 18-year-old new driver in a modified car, your premium would be based on the risk each driver poses to the insurer. Including the less experienced driver on the policy would considerably push up the premium, so it could be much cheaper for the 50-year-old to take out their own policy instead. However, the cost of a separate policy for the 18-year-old might be prohibitively expensive, so you’d need to consider what works best for you.
Similarly, if you drive a car from a lower insurance group, and your housemate has a more powerful vehicle, multi-car insurance could end up costing you more than an individual policy.
If you’re considering whether a multi-car insurance policy is right for you and your household, take a look at the following pros and cons to help you make your decision:
According to the Department of Transports latest National Travel Survey, 34 per cent of households have two or more cars. However, that can mean many different things. So if any of the following scenarios apply to your household, you might want to consider multi-car insurance:
| Scenario | Why it’s worth considering multi-car insurance |
|---|---|
| Families with more than one car at the same address | Instead of keeping on top of overlapping renewals dates, you can renew your entire household’s car insurance in one fell swoop |
| Families who have a child with their own car living at a different address | This can potentially give your child the benefits of cheaper car insurance, despite them not living permanently at the family home |
| Couples who have one car each | You don’t need a fleet of family vehicles to benefit from multi-car insurance – just two cars is enough to start potentially saving money |
| Shared households with multiple cars | Multi-car insurance isn’t just limited to the ‘traditional’ family unit – if you live with friends, you can take out a multi-car policy together |
| If you own more than one car | Multi-car insurance can save you a lot of time and hassle when compared to individually insuring all of your cars |
Many insurers offer a discount for each car you add to your multi-car insurance policy. This means the more cars you add, the more money you save.
However, there are other steps you can take to try and reduce your multi-car insurance quote:
The following table shows the best multi-car insurance add-ons you can include to get the most out of your policy. Some of these might be covered as standard by your policy, while others will require you to pay an extra fee.
| Optional extras | Description |
|---|---|
| Breakdown cover | Offers roadside assistance if one of your cars breaks down |
| Driving abroad cover | Provides cover for driving your cars in countries outside the UK |
| Motor legal protection | Covers legal fees if you’re involved in an accident that’s not your fault |
| Personal accident cover | Pays out if you’re injured or killed in a road accident |
| Personal belongings cover | Provides cover for lost, stolen or damaged belongings left in the car |
| Courtesy car cover | Offers a replacement courtesy car while yours is being repaired after an accident |
| Replacement key cover | Covers the cost of replacing a set of keys if they’re lost or stolen |
| Protected no-claims discount cover | Protects your no claims discount from a certain number of claims each year |
| Windscreen cover | Pays out if your windscreen cracks and needs to be repaired |
| Misfuelling cover | Covers the cost of draining and flushing your fuel tank if you accidentally fill up one of your cars with the wrong type of fuel |
Unfortunately, price comparison sites don’t offer multi-car discounts, so you’ll need to get quotes from individual insurers to find the cheapest multi-car insurance deal. These insurers include Admiral, Aviva, LV, Diamond and Elephant.
It’s best to compare these results with separate car insurance quotes for each car to make sure you’re getting the best deal. The easiest way to compare separate car insurance quotes is through a price comparison website, as this will compare a range of insurers.
Before you can find the cheapest multi-car insurance quote, you’ll need to fill in a quick online form and provide a few details, such as:
When comparing multi-car insurance quotes, you should check the small print carefully and look for the following:
Once you’ve found a cheap multi-car insurance quote, it’s sensible to read provider reviews online, looking at factors such as how easy other customers found it to submit a claim, how quickly the insurer paid out and whether there were any factors that prevented a claim from being paid out.
As with insurance for one car, multi-car insurance offers three different levels of cover. These are:
You’ll need to decide how much cover you feel comfortable with. But don’t assume that comprehensive insurance is more expensive than third party-only. Most of the time, it’s the other way around.
You can only drive the cars listed on your multi-car policy if you’re added as a named driver. This effectively means you’ve let the insurer know you might drive this car from time to time. If you’re not added as a named driver for a particular car, you won’t be able to drive it.
Multi-car insurance policies usually last for the standard 12 months, which is the same as a single-car insurance policy. However, if you’re adding other cars to the policy when their renewal dates come up, your multi-car insurance policy might last for a shorter period.
For example, if you started a multi-car insurance policy with two cars in January, it would renew a year later – the following January. However, if you were to add a third car in September, it would then have the same renewal date as the other two cars in January, which is only four months later.
The average cost of multi-car insurance will depend on a range of factors, including the age of the drivers, their driving history (including whether they have any previous convictions), the number and type of cars being insured and the amount of the voluntary excess.
