Written by Graham Cutbill-White
The spiraling cost of tutored driving lessons means that private lessons are a more affordable and increasingly popular way for newcomers to get some much needed on-road experience. But you’ll need the right cover to do it and learner driver insurance can cover you for a day, a week or a month – however long you need.
Some of the many reasons to do this are…
Finding the best car for learner drivers to practice in, or learning to drive at your own pace, used to mean having to be added to the owner’s existing cover or paying for an annual learner driver policy.
With the obvious lack of driving experience most learners have, these options often come with a hefty price tag.
One way to reduce the cost of insurance for learner drivers and get flexible cover that suits your own situation is with short term car insurance. If you only need learner driver insurance for a month or a week, then just paying for what you need will save you money.
Driving tests aren’t easy; and they certainly aren’t meant to be. Getting some extra hours on the road before the test can be invaluable, but lessons with an instructor can be expensive.
Practicing in a friend or family member’s car is a great idea, but unlike with paid classes, learners need car insurance to keep them covered.
Fortunately, this can be arranged in minutes and, while it does cost, it’ll work out much cheaper than the equivalent would have cost in hours of professional driving lessons.
Sometimes you have to take an opportunity when it presents itself! If you find a car you love before you’ve passed your test, there’s nothing stopping you from buying it. But you wouldn’t be able to drive it yourself yet – unless you got provisional insurance, that is.
This policy will give you a few days to get used to your new vehicle, and it’ll mean that when you pass, you can hit the ground running. You could even use it to get some test practice with.
Just remember that, as is the case for a provisional driver in any vehicle, you still can’t drive the car without an experienced driver present until you pass.
Whether that’s a car you’ve bought and have already been driving or you’re more comfortable in Mum or Dad’s car rather than your instructor’s, temporary learner driver insurance will let you do exactly this.
While no one can ever guarantee an incident-free drive, one thing we can protect with learner insurance is any existing No Claims Discount.
If the worst should happen, you don’t have to worry about affecting your existing insurance, because it’s a separate standalone policy. There’s no increase in your premiums for letting a learner use your car, and if they have an accident, your No Claims Discount won’t be affected.
All learner insurance policies from Tempcover come with comprehensive cover as standard, an upgrade from the third-party only cover most annual insurers will offer if you add a learner to your policy.
This means that should they be at fault for an accident, you’ll be able to claim for damage to your own car, as well as any damage to third parties, so everyone is covered:
Because you don’t plan on staying a provisional driver for long, you’ll only want insurance for the short term. You’ll need a different kind of policy in place once you pass to cover any car you drive, which is why we also offer temporary car insurance for new drivers.
Many parents and family members are worried about letting someone learn in their car. Naturally, there is a risk involved in letting a learner driver use your car, and when you consider the increase in your annual premiums, for a lot of people it’s not worth the risk or expense. That’s where one-week or one-month learner driver insurance cover comes in.
No – only their instructor’s insurance covers a learner to drive their instructor’s car.
When you’re in your driving instructor’s car, they have a special kind of insurance policy that automatically covers you so long as you’re paying for their services. If something were to happen, it would be on them to claim and sort out, so learners need not worry about insurance at all when paying for classes.
But if you’re arranging private sessions with a friend or family member, you will need provisional insurance. The car owner could try adding you to their policy, but since you haven’t even passed yet, there’s a good chance that their insurance provider will say no – and this could cost a lot of money regardless. Because their insurance won’t apply to you, you’ll need another arrangement. And that’s where a short term agreement means you can get a one week or one month learner driver insurance policy.
Yes. Any learner driver will have to have insurance cover, whether you do want to add them to your existing policy or not. But if you’d rather eliminate the risk, you could consider special car insurance for learners instead, through a temporary policy.
No, they’ll only be able to drive the car that’s named on the policy. But there’s nothing stopping you paying for another provisional insurance policy on a different car, if you wanted to get some practice in using a second vehicle.
If they’ll only be practising in the car for a matter of weeks or months, getting a one-week or monthly learner driver insurance policy would be much cheaper than their own annual policy. You could add them as a named driver on an existing policy, but that would increase premiums a lot.
Because of this, short term car insurance for learner drivers is usually the cheapest and best value option, because you can have it terminate as soon as you’re done training.
Yes, you can get one-week learner driver insurance. Like other temporary car insurance policies, short term provisional insurance will allow you to borrow and practice in a friend’s, parent’s or other family member’s car.
You can get cover on a weekly or monthly basis up to 3 months at a time. So whether you need that last bit of practice before your test or you’re getting behind the wheel for the first time, you can select a policy duration that fits your needs.
No, you probably don’t – unless you’re planning to drive a car other than your instructor’s.
As was the case during your lessons, if you take the test in your instructor’s car, their specialised insurance will automatically apply to you. But if you want to take the test in your car or a friend/family member’s car, you’ll have to arrange temporary learner insurance to do this.
You will need some form of learner insurance if you’re driving someone else’s car.
Potentially, yes. All the same laws apply to drivers learning on ‘private land’. If you are learning to drive in an area the public has access to, for example, a footpath then you must have the same insurance as you would need to drive on the road.
Without the right weekly or monthly learner driver insurance, not only do you risk having your car seized but you could face fines and see points added to your licence. This can have a big, negative impact on your premiums when buying annual insurance after you’ve passed.
Having the right insurance is not only the law, but it gives learners that little bit extra reassurance when practicing on the road.
Insurance for learner drivers is the ideal solution for many newcomers to the road. You can expect to get a policy if you are 17-25, and have been a UK resident for a minimum of 12 months. To get a quote for learner insurance, you’ll need:
At Tempcover, we do all we can to make getting learner insurance as straightforward as possible.
You’ll start the process by providing us with your details and information about the car you’d like to be insured one. We won’t be too intrusive; we’ll only ask for what we need to create a quote that’s tailored to you.
We’ll then present you with a range of options for our panel of insurers. If you find something you’re happy with, simply proceed to payment and we’ll take care of the rest.
You’ll receive all your policy documents by email minutes later. You’ll have picked the exact time and date you want your cover to start – be that in five minutes or up to as much as 28 days from now. You simply wait until the insurance kicks in, and you’re good to go.
With help from our learner insurance, you can start building up the confidence you need to pass your test.
There are some rules in place about who can provide private driving lessons. As a learner, you’re not allowed to drive a car without supervision. Any driver can supervise you as long as they are over 21 and have held a full UK driving licence for at least three years (and as long as they do not have a DR coded conviction within the last 5 years).
They do not need to be the person who owns the car; you just need to have the vehicle owner’s permission. If even as a learner, you’re lucky enough to have your own car, the person teaching you may need to get temporarily insured on your vehicle if at any point they are going to be driving your vehicle. Don’t worry though, they can get daily car insurance or up to 28 days cover if you’re planning more lessons.
The average cost of a driving lesson is £24, and the DSA (Driving Standards Agency) recommends around 47 hours of practice.
If everything goes smoothly and you pass the first time, the total cost of lessons for a learner will be £1,128. A large sum as it is, but if you need extra lessons and take longer to learn, the cost soon mounts up to thousands and thousands of pounds.
With that cost in mind, many learners find private practice an affordable and flexible option, to give themselves a boost alongside their professional training.
Private lessons should never completely replace lessons with a professional. Not only are learners gaining unbiased and certified training, but they also drive in dual control cars, the safest way to be on the road with a new driver.
They are however a free and flexible option, which allow learner drivers to develop their skills at a time and pace that suits their schedule.
