Q1 2026 UK Premium Index live · refreshed quarterly Independent · Editorial · FCA introducer disclosures in footer
Guide · By Driver · First-time buyers

First car insurance UK 2026

Your first car insurance policy costs around £1,640 a year as a new UK driver in 2026 — roughly 2.7× the £600 adult average. A 17-year-old on their first policy averages £2,847; by 25 it falls to about £980. A black box saves new drivers around £379 a year, and the car you choose can swing the price from under £1,100 to over £2,600. Here is the full breakdown by age, the 10 cheapest first cars and how to bring your first quote down.

10 cheapest first cars → UK cost index
Compare car insurance quotes

Quotes via Quotezone, our FCA-regulated comparison partner. We may earn a commission if you buy — it never affects the price you pay.

~£1,640/yr
average first-car premium
~£379/yr
saved with a black box
Group 1
cheapest first cars
Direct Answer

How much is insurance on a first car in 2026?

Across all first-time UK drivers the average first-car premium is about £1,640 a year for comprehensive cover in 2026 — but that single figure hides a huge age spread. Because insurers price almost entirely on crash risk and claims history, the youngest first-time drivers pay the most: a 17-year-old on a brand-new policy averages £2,847, an 18-year-old around £2,610, while a 25-year-old buying their first car pays closer to £980. Two levers move your quote more than anything else: the car you insure (its insurance group) and whether you fit a black box. For the wider market context on why UK premiums sit where they do, see our UK car insurance cost index. Here is how the first-year premium breaks down by age:

Average first-year car insurance by driver age — UK 2026
Every first-time band runs above the £600 adult UK average; a 17-year-old pays almost 3× what a 25-year-old first-timer pays.
UK avg £600 Age 17£2,847 Age 18£2,610 Age 19£2,080 Age 20£1,760 Age 21£1,480 Age 22–24£1,280 Age 25£980

Sources: ABI 2026 Motor Insurance Premium Tracker, Confused.com Price Index, NimbleFins and RAC new-driver data, and Car Insurance Expert composite quote data for first-time comprehensive policies.

Driver ageAverage first-year premiumTypical cheapest carVs UK adult avg
17£2,847Hyundai i10 (group 1)+375%
18£2,610Hyundai i10 (group 1)+335%
19£2,080Kia Picanto (group 2)+247%
20£1,760VW Up! (group 1–2)+193%
21£1,480Toyota Aygo (group 2)+147%
22–24£1,280Fiat 500 (group 3)+113%
25£980Vauxhall Corsa (group 4)+63%

Sources: ABI 2026 Motor Insurance Premium Tracker, Confused.com Price Index, NimbleFins and RAC new-driver data, and Car Insurance Expert composite quote data for first-time comprehensive policies. "Vs UK adult avg" compares to the ~£600 mean. Refresh: 2026-10-23.

By Car Choice

The 10 cheapest first cars to insure (2026)

For a first car, insurance group is the single biggest lever you control. Sticking to groups 1–5 — small city cars with 1.0-litre engines — can cut a new driver's premium by 30–50% versus a mid-size hatchback. A Kia Picanto for a new driver can start from around £1,100–£1,300, over £300 below the £1,640 new-driver average. The 10 cheapest mainstream first cars in 2026:

  1. Hyundai i10 1.0 — group 1 — the cheapest new car to insure in the UK
  2. Volkswagen Up! 1.0 — group 1–2 — solid, well-built city car
  3. Kia Picanto 1.0 — group 2–4 — 7-year warranty on newer used examples
  4. Toyota Aygo X 1.0 — group 2–3 — cheap parts, cheap to run
  5. Citroën C1 1.0 — group 2 — strong used value
  6. SEAT Mii 1.0 — group 1–2 — VW Up! underneath, often cheaper used
  7. Skoda Citigo 1.0 — group 1–2 — same platform, low groups
  8. Fiat 500 1.2 — group 3 — popular first car, slightly higher group
  9. Renault Twingo 1.0 — group 3 — compact and cheap to insure
  10. Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 base — group 4 — roomier, still new-driver friendly

Avoid for your first car: anything in group 15+. Even a Ford Fiesta 1.0 EcoBoost (group 7–9) pushes a new-driver premium past £2,800, and any sport trim — ST, GTI, GSi — sits at group 25+ with premiums over £4,000. Newer cars are also scored under the Vehicle Risk Rating 1–99 system introduced in August 2024, but for the small, older city cars most first-time buyers choose, the traditional 1–50 group still drives the quote.

How to Lower It

Six ways to cut your first car insurance

  1. Fit a black box (telematics) — new drivers save around £379/year on average, and 78% of 17–20-year-olds pay less with one. Marmalade, Carrot, Cuvva and Admiral LittleBox lead the market, with safe-driving discounts of 20–40% common.
  2. Pick a group 1–5 car — the biggest lever you control. Moving from a group 10 hatchback to a group 1 city car can save £400–£700 in year one.
  3. Take Pass Plus — a £150–£200 course that earns 10–25% off with LV=, Aviva, Admiral and others. It typically pays for itself in the first year.
  4. Raise your voluntary excess — moving from £150 to £500 voluntary excess usually trims 8–15% off the premium, provided you could actually cover it if you claim.
  5. Add an experienced named driver — a low-risk parent or sibling as a named driver can cut 10–20%. But you must be the genuine main driver: listing a parent as main driver when you do the daily driving is "fronting", which is fraud that voids the policy.
  6. Build a no-claims discount fast — your first claim-free year is worth the most. A named-driver NCD scheme (Admiral, Direct Line) lets time as a named driver count towards your own discount, saving £300–£400 in year two.

All six stay well within the rules. If your first quote still looks high, it is worth understanding what is pushing UK premiums up — from 12% Insurance Premium Tax to record repair and theft costs — before you accept it.

Common Questions

First car insurance FAQs

The average first-car policy for a new UK driver is around £1,640 a year for comprehensive cover in 2026 — roughly 2.7 times the £600 adult average. The figure swings heavily on age: a 17-year-old first-timer averages £2,847, an 18-year-old about £2,610, and a 25-year-old buying their first car closer to £980. Your car choice and whether you fit a black box move the number more than anything else, so two first-time drivers of the same age can easily pay £1,100 or £2,600 depending on those two decisions.
New drivers have the highest accident rate of any group and no claims history for insurers to price against, so the premium reflects expected claims cost rather than punitive pricing. Around 1 in 5 new drivers has a collision within their first six months. On top of that sit market-wide cost drivers — 12% Insurance Premium Tax, record UK repair and theft costs — that lift every premium. The good news is that a first clean claim-free year cuts the biggest single chunk off your renewal, and premiums fall sharply through your early twenties.
The Hyundai i10 1.0 in insurance group 1 is the cheapest new car to insure in the UK in 2026. The Volkswagen Up! and its siblings (SEAT Mii, Skoda Citigo) sit in group 1–2, and the Kia Picanto, Toyota Aygo and Citroën C1 are close behind. Sticking to groups 1–5 rather than a mid-size hatchback can cut a new driver's premium by 30–50%. Avoid any sport trim — a Fiesta ST or Corsa GSi sits at group 25+ and pushes premiums past £4,000.
Almost always yes for a first car. Telematics policies save new drivers around £379 a year on average, and 78% of 17–20-year-olds pay less with one in 2026, with safe-driving discounts of 20–40% common. Marmalade leads on price; Carrot and Cuvva offer flexible monthly cover. The trade-off is curfews (often 11pm–5am), speed monitoring, and the insurer's right to void cover for persistently harsh driving. It suits careful drivers who don't need regular late-night cover, and is less ideal for delivery work or frequent evening long-distance trips.
It can be, but only if the parent is the genuine main driver of that car. Listing an experienced parent as the main driver when you actually do the daily driving is "fronting" — insurance fraud that voids the policy, refuses any claim, and can lead to prosecution. The legitimate routes are joining a parent's multi-car policy with your own car on it, or a named-driver no-claims scheme where your time as a named driver counts towards your own discount. Both cut cost without breaking the rules.
Yes — for a first car it is the biggest single factor after your age. Insurance group runs from 1 to 50, and the jump from a group 1 city car to a group 10 hatchback can add £400–£700 to a new driver's premium; a sport trim in group 25+ can double it. Engine size, repair cost, theft rate and value all feed the group. Choosing a group 1–5 car before you get quotes is the most effective money-saving decision a first-time buyer can make.
The first claim-free year is worth the most. A 17-year-old paying around £2,847 typically drops to about £2,610 at 18 with one year's no-claims discount, then into the £1,900–£2,100 range at 19 and £1,500–£1,700 at 20. By 21 with a clean record and a few years of no-claims discount, premiums commonly settle around £1,100–£1,500. The steepest falls are in the first two renewals, so protecting a clean claim history early pays off far more than shopping on price alone.
Insurance group, not age, drives the premium — so a used group 1 Hyundai i10 or SEAT Mii is usually cheaper to insure than a newer car in a higher group. A used city car also costs less to replace, which insurers factor in. The catch is that very old cars can lack modern safety and security features, nudging the group up slightly, and repair parts for discontinued models can be scarce. For most first-time buyers a 3–8 year old group 1–4 city car hits the sweet spot of low premium and low purchase price.

Our sources

  • ABI 2026 Motor Insurance Premium Tracker — new-driver averages and young-driver accident rates
  • Confused.com Price Index — age-band premium data and 2026 market trend
  • NimbleFins new-driver data — the ~£1,640 new-driver average and telematics savings
  • RAC Drive — cheapest cars to insure for new drivers — group 1 car list
  • gov.uk — Pass Plus — course information and discount eligibility
  • Car Insurance Expert composite quote data — 2026 sample across major UK insurers for first-time-driver profiles

Reviewed by the Car Insurance Expert editorial team

Figures are compiled from ABI, Confused.com, NimbleFins and RAC published data plus our own multi-insurer quote sampling, refreshed quarterly and reviewed by the Car Insurance Expert editorial team. Questions: editorial@carinsuranceexpert.co.uk.

Last updated: 2026-07-23

Explore more

More Driver Status pages

← Back to Driver Status