Multicar Insurance: The Ins, the Outs, and The Shake-It-All-Abouts

If you have watched any telly other than the BBC in the past few months you are bound to have seen adverts for the latest car insurance product, the multicar policy. If you paid attention during the advert you may even remember that it’s a policy designed for households with more than one car. So what, you might think, isn’t it just another new angle that the marketing people have come up with to encourage people to spend money with their company?

Here we give a brief outline on what a multi car insurance policy is, what’s good about it, and what’s bad.

What is it?

A multicar policy, as has already been said, is a policy that covers more than one car, should you be a household that has more than one vehicle. Instead of having one policy per car with all the same people on each (which is usually the case) you have all cars and all people on the same policy, and it is usually cheaper than having separate policies.

The good bits

A multicar policy is a bit like having your gas and electricity from the same provider, or getting your phone and internet access from the same telecoms company – as there is less administrative work for the company a discount is passed on to you.
It can also simplify the process for you by having only one contact number, one account, and possibly even one renewal date if you want – although one renewal date for all cars can make for a very expensive month!

A multicar insurance policy can be especially handy for households with a young driver with their first car as they can have the advantage of being on their parent’s policy and having their parents as named drivers on their car.

And the not so good

Multicar policies are offered by many insurance companies in the UK but they can all differ in how they work, so you need to be careful and maybe shop around for car insurance quotes. For example, Company A may have one policy holder on the documents with everyone else down as a named driver, but company B may have a main driver for each car and then named drivers, recognising that there is often ‘my car’ and ‘your car’ in a multicar household. Some companies will want to know full details on all drivers on the policy, others just the principal policy holder.

You should also check what happens with regards to no claims bonuses (NCB) in the event of a claim. Many multicar insurers will happily register a drivers NCB on the policy and each drivers history should be separate from any others so that if one driver has an accident and makes a claim it does not affect another’s NCB, but that is not always the case so be careful.

You should also be aware of any administrative costs once a policy is in force as well. If, for example, you have a son or daughter who is living at home and has his or her own car and is on your multicar policy, then decides to fly the nest, any associated administrative cost could negate any savings made by having the policy in the first place. Plus your little darling will need to get their own insurance policy, of course.

As with many things in life there are both good and bad sides and you have to weigh the odds and try to get a balance that is right for you. Multicar policies can make genuine savings for households with more than one car, but some polices can be problematic when it comes to claims and administration. All you can do is shop around and check the policy details very carefully.

This article was written by Rob Powell. Getting the best deal on your car insurance? For more information on multi car insurance policies go to Confused.com.