Multi-car insurance: could you save by switching?

It’s not uncommon for a household to have more than one car on its driveway. Older children are staying at home for longer due to the high cost of moving out, and mum and dad might have a car each.

If this sounds like your family, then you might want to consider multi-car insurance. It can work out cheaper if you have multiple cars insured at the same address. To help you understand more about this, we’re going to take you through what a multi-car insurance policy is and whether it could save you to switch.

What is a multi-car policy?

A multi-car insurance policy carries the same benefits as regular policies, the only difference being that it covers more than one car (usually up to five). It works in the same way as multi-car breakdown cover.

You will usually be able to choose different levels of multi-car insurance and change the excesses for each of the individual vehicles. Typically, only vehicles registered at the same address will be eligible for multi-car insurance. In some cases, an insurer will allow you to cover cars driven by immediate family members that live elsewhere. A good example of this is older children living away from their parents at university.

Claims on multi-car insurance policies tend to be dealt with in the same way as single car policies. You should not be penalised based on another driver’s claim and it shouldn’t affect your no claims bonus either.

The renewal works out slightly differently on a multi-car insurance policy. The 12-month policy term will start on the date the last car insurance is up for renewal. So, if you have one car that needs to be insured in April and another in September, the first car to be insured will be the April one.

Your multi-car policy will end when the last car has been insured for its full term – in this example, it would be September.

Will a multi-car policy be cheaper?

Whenever you buy in bulk, you tend to receive a discount. It’s no different for multi-car insurance and there are some attractive deals available.

With that said, it is not always cheaper than insuring the cars separately with different providers. That’s why it’s always worth comparing the overall cost of quotes you receive for each vehicle as they might offer better value for money.

The reason for this is that the cost of car insurance can vary depending on factors such as age and the experience of the driver. The cost and performance of the car plays a factor too. That means one car (for example, if it’s driven by a new driver) could drag up the overall cost of the quote. In this case, it could be cheaper to take out separate insurance policies.

Just as you would do with any other insurance policy, you will need to inform them if you have a change in circumstances. This includes being told you need glasses to drive, or changing your job.

Interested in getting a quote for multi-car insurance? Make sure you shop around for the best deal and get quotes from a few different providers.