Third party car insurance more expensive than fully comprehensive

Could fully comp car insurance be better for your pocket?

New research has revealed that the perceived cheaper insurance option of third party, fire and theft is actually more expensive than fully comprehensive car insurance. The research was conducted by moneysupermarket.com and completely overturns the way we judge car insurance.

For years younger drivers have opted for third party insurance as a tactic to lower the cost of motoring. Despite offering a much lower form of cover, new drivers often felt it was worth the risk in order to get cheaper insurance; in many cases, it was the only form of insurance they could afford. The cost of car cover for learner drivers and those who’ve recently passed their test is notoriously high, there’s no wonder some were turning to reduced cover in a bid to save cash.

The research took the profile of a 21 year old driver as an example and showed that third party insurance for this individual would cost £1,434 however fully comprehensive cover would slash that price to only £955 – that’s a saving of almost 50%

A possible reason for this massive turnaround in insurance pricing is that the insurance providers have purposely driven up the price of third party cover in order to push the more risky drivers into getting a fuller policy. Drivers which fall into the high risk category and are more likely to make a claim are therefore better covered after having a shove in the right direction from the canny insurance companies.

Steve Sweeney, head of motor insurance at moneysupermarket.com, said “This research shatters several myths. Traditionally motorists might assume a third-party only policy will be cheaper because of the reduced levels of cover.” He also stressed the importance of shopping around in order to find the cheapest deals on car insurance, on average motorists saved 35% by comparing quotes from just 5 different companies.