Second Car Insurance

Second Car Insurance – Compare Cheap Quotes

If you own more than one car you’ll sometimes be offered a discount on the car insurance for the second car when you insure them both with the same provider via a ‘multi-car insurance’ policy.

However, depending on the provider your first car is insured with, insuring your second car with the same company isn’t guaranteed to be the cheapest possible option, particularly since most insurance companies don’t allow motorists to use their No Claims Discount (NCD) against both vehicles (which is known as ‘NCD mirroring’).

With most car insurance companies you will only be able to use your No Claims Discount on against the insurance for one of your cars, which means second car insurance can sometimes prove more costly even when you have a strong driving record.

If you are looking to insure a second car it might be worth comparing standalone insurance policies for that vehicle, and then running a multi-car insurance comparison to see if adding your second car to a multi-car policy is cheaper than taking out second car insurance.

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What is second car insurance?

When you own more than one car you have two options when it comes to insuring your vehicles:

• adding the second car to a multi-car insurance policy
• taking out standalone insurance for your second car.

Multi-car insurance may or may not be the cheapest option, depending on your insurer, your history of no claims, and a range of other risk factors. But it’s still working comparing quotes for a standalone policy to insure your second car, because as counterintuitive as it might sound it is sometimes more cost effective to insure the second car on its own, particularly since this means each vehicle can be insured with a different provider.

If I decided to insure each car separately why would it matter how many I owned?

Many car insurance providers in the UK will only allow policyholders to use their No Claims Discount on one policy, which means if you’re insuring each car separately the first one would benefit from your NCD while the second one usually wouldn’t.

However, a growing number of insurers do allow policyholders to ‘mirror’ their NCD across both car insurance policies, so it’s worth double checking this with each provider.

Are there other benefits to insuring each car separately?

If you take out second car insurance as a standalone policy you’ll build up a separate No Claims Discount for that second car, which won’t be jeopardised if you crash the first vehicle.

Of course, some multi-car insurance policies do allow motorists to maintain separate NCDs for each vehicle, so it’s worth checking whether this is the case with your own insurance company.

Can I opt for black box insurance when I’m insuring a second car?

Yes, if you’re insuring a second car under a standalone policy then you have complete flexibility when it comes to the type of policy you opt for, including opting for black box insurance or car insurance without a black box, and choosing third party only cover or fully comprehensive.

How can I find cheaper insurance for my second car?

Firstly, you should compare quotes for both a single multi-car insurance policy and separate standalone policies for each vehicle, because it’s not guaranteed that one option will always be cheaper than the other.

Beyond that, there are a few other more general steps you can take that might help increase your odds of finding cheaper car insurance for your second car, such as:

• Parking your car off the road when you aren’t driving it – cars that are parked on a private driveway or in a garage have a lower risk of being stolen, vandalised or hit by a passing car, which usually results in cheaper premiums
• Taking an advanced driving test (such as the ‘Pass Plus’ or ‘RoSPA Advanced Drivers and Riders’ test) – By taking an advanced driving test you can actually get offered cheaper insurance by many insurers. This is due to drivers with advanced driving skills under their belt are statistically less likely to be involved in accidents those with more basic driving skills may fall for.
• Paying for the full year upfront – If you’re able to pay the full amount upfront you could save quite a bit of money compared to a monthly payment plan.