Car insurance myths busted

There are tons of misconceptions out there about car insurance that could end up costing you - so make sure you know what’s true and what’s not.

Let’s bust some myths 🥊

Myth #1: You can drive ANY car with fully comprehensive insurance

Nope! Fully comprehensive car insurance policies don’t automatically cover you to drive other cars. Some policies do include ‘driving other cars’ (DOC) cover. But it definitely isn’t guaranteed, and is actually quite uncommon.

Also, even if your policy does have DOC cover, there might be some rules around that. Usually, you can only drive another car using this if:

• It already has insurance
• You’re over the age of 25
• You’re not employed in the motor trade
• The car is in a roadworthy condition

But always check your policy documents.

Myth #2: Car colour affects insurance prices

Not even close. Insurers do not take car colour into account when working out premiums.

Changing your car colour might result in a higher premium, but that’s because it counts as a modification, not due to anything colour-related itself.

Myth #3: Your renewal price is more expensive than the price offered to new customers

This used to be the case until very recently but is now happily a myth. Some nasty car insurers used to increase existing customers’ prices at renewal, while offering cheaper deals to new customers. This got nicknamed the loyalty tax – and, frankly, it was totally unfair. (We never did this here at Cuvva, by the way!)

Precisely because it was so unfair, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) introduced some new rules to say insurers could no longer do this. Thankfully dual pricing is now a thing of the past.

So now, you won’t get a hiked renewal price just because you’re an existing customer. But you might still find a better deal by shopping around – that still stands.

Myth #4: Parking tickets impact your premium

Most of us know the heart-sinking feeling of realising we’ve accidentally bagged ourselves a parking ticket. Good news is – parking tickets don’t affect your insurance at all.

It’s a different story if you get points on your licence because of a parking incident though – say, if you leave your car in a dangerous position. In this case, your insurance could be affected. But your run-of-the-mill parking tickets are nothing to worry about, insurance-wise.

Myth #5: Third-party insurance is the cheapest option

You get less cover with third-party cover than with fully comprehensive, so it would seem logical that it’d be cheaper. But in the weird world of car insurance, this isn’t actually the case.

Insurers work out the cost of premiums based on lots of different risk factors and statistics.

Statistically, people who get third-party cover are more likely to make a claim. So actually, it can end up cheaper to get comprehensive cover than third-party cover.

Moral of the story? Always get a quote for fully comp, too, because you might end up getting more cover for less money.

(By the way… here at Cuvva, we don’t feel it’s fair to charge more for less cover. So all our policies are fully comprehensive as a matter of course.)

Myth #6: Parking in a garage always makes insurance cheaper

This is almost true. Parking in a garage might make your insurance cheaper - but not always. It depends on a lot of factors, and it’s not a given.

Some insurers take into account the fact you might be more likely to bump your car when parking in a garage, for example.

So, if your street has a low crime rate, your insurance might work out cheaper if you park on the drive than in the garage. Who’d have thought? 🤷

Myth #7: You don’t need to tell insurers about small incidents

No way, and this is a big one. You have to tell your insurer about all incidents - even if you think nobody saw, or you can just repair the damage yourself.

This is a contractual thing. This means if you don’t tell your insurer about an incident and they find out another way, they could refuse to pay out if you need to make a claim. It's serious stuff.

We’ve written a full guide about why you need to report all incidents to your insurer.

Myth #8: Non-fault claims never affect your premium

Unfortunately, non-fault claims can affect your premium. This is because insurers don’t just look at how likely you personally are to crash or bump your car.

They look at how likely it is that your car will get damaged by any means.

Say, for example, someone scraped your car when it was parked outside your house. Your insurer might decide you park in a particularly risky spot, where your car is vulnerable to getting scraped. So even though the incident wasn’t your fault, your premium could go up.

Myth #9: You don’t have to tell your insurer about convictions that aren’t on your licence

The truth is, you do have to tell your insurer about all past driving convictions – even ones that have been removed from your licence.

Myth #10: Fully comprehensive covers any and all accidents you cause

Unfortunately not. Insurers might not pay out if you cause an accident because of drunk driving, or negligent driving. Even if you have fully comprehensive cover.

It's not an excuse to drive in a reckless or illegal manner.

Myth #11: Lower mileage automatically means cheaper insurance

It’s not a given that lower mileage means cheaper insurance. Some insurers see those who drive less as riskier because they’re less experienced.

Worth noting: if you don’t drive much at all through the year, you might end up spending less by using temporary insurance rather than an annual policy.

Myth #12: You don’t need insurance if your car is just parked up on the street

Your car needs to be insured to be parked on the street, even if it’s out of use. If your car is out of use, you can declare this to the DVLA with a statutory off road notice (SORN).

Doing this means you don’t have to tax or insure the car anymore, but you still can’t park it on the street. It’ll need to be parked on your private property: on your drive, in your garage, or any other private land of yours.

Outside of SORNing your car, you need car insurance for all other situations. Don’t forget – that includes drive away cover for driving home when you’ve just bought a car!

Get temporary car insurance

One thing that's definitely not a myth: you always need car insurance before you drive!

So whatever you need, Cuvva's policies from 1 hour to 28 days might be able to help - with cover starting from just £11.90.

• Temporary car insurance for borrowing or lending a car in minutes.
• Learner driver cover for driving lessons, getting practice in with a supervisor, or taking the driving test.
• Drive away insurance for getting your new car home from the dealership.
• Temporary van insurance for moving home, dropping things to the recycling centre, or carrying a heavy load.

And it only takes a few minutes to get a quote.