If your household or immediate family have more than one vehicle, it might be worth considering multi-car insurance policies.
Who is Multi-car Insurance For?
Multi-car insurance covers multiple vehicles under a single policy with the same insurance provider. These policies usually require all vehicles you wish to insure to be registered at the same address or for the policy to only include immediate family members.
Some insurers may offer policies that cover vehicles registered at different addresses. However, they may ask that the cars belong to immediate family members, and they may need the addresses to be in the same country or region. Some insurers may have a maximum distance that can be between the addresses.
Types of Multi-car Insurance
Multi-car insurance can be set up so:
- You have a policy for each car you want to insure. Each policy will be linked, but will offer different levels of cover and come with different benefits OR
- You have a single policy for each car you want to insure. This usually offers the same level of cover for each driver / vehicle.
Comparing Providers
When considering multi-car policies, don’t assume that they will automatically be cheaper than taking out regular policies.
Find out what it would cost to insure each car in your household individually by comparing providers and using multiple price comparison sites. Once you have a figure for what it would cost for insuring each car separately, you can then get quotes for multi-car policies and compare them.
When looking at car insurance policies, you should compare:
- Premium costs
- Levels of cover
- Any discounts or extra add-ons that come with it
What About My No Claims Discount?
Multi-car insurance providers tend to work out your No Claims Discount (NCD) based on each individual vehicle.
Most providers only allow you to apply your NCD to one of the vehicles; an NCD can be applied to each car on the policy but each car must have its own NCD. If you claim on your insurance for one car, it shouldn’t mean you lose your NCD on the other cars insured under that policy.
However, one person making a claim on the policy can affect the price for everyone at renewal.
Pros and Cons of Multi-Car Insurance
Pros
- All your cars are under a single provider, meaning you only have to manage one policy
- Can be cheaper than taking out separate policies for each vehicle
- All drivers can maintain and build their NCD
Cons
- You may face a higher excess
- Limited flexibility, as you may find that you have to have the same level of cover, excess and add-ons for each car. However, linked multi-car policies usually let you have different options for each vehicle
- Joint renewals – paying for multiple car insurance policies on the same date can be a big sum