Guide · New Drivers · Car choice

Cheapest cars to insure for new drivers (UK 2026)

Q: What is the single cheapest car to insure for a new driver in 2026?

On our 2026 composite the Hyundai i10 1.0 (insurance group 1) is the cheapest mainstream new car for a new driver, at around £1,290 a year comprehensive — roughly a third below the ~£1,900 new-driver average. The Kia Picanto (~£1,340) and the VW up! / Skoda Citigo / SEAT Mii trio (~£1,360–£1,370) are close behind, and RAC Insurance’s own 2026 real-world ranking also puts the i10 at number one. Used group 1–2 city cars such as the discontinued Suzuki Celerio can occasionally undercut them.

Q: Is a new or a used car cheaper to insure for a new driver?

Group for group, a cheaper-to-replace used city car is usually the cheaper insurance bet for a new driver, because a lower vehicle value means a smaller potential total-loss claim. A three-to-six-year-old group 1–3 supermini — i10, Picanto, up!, Polo — typically insures for less than the brand-new equivalent, which may also carry the newer 1–99 rating and pricier parts. The trade-off is reliability and safety kit, so balance a rock-bottom premium against a car you can trust.

Q: Which cars should a new driver avoid for insurance?

Anything in group 15 and above in your first year. That rules out hot hatches and sport trims — Fiesta ST, Corsa GSi, Polo GTI, Golf GTI, any RS or M-Sport badge — which sit at group 25+ and can quote a new driver over £2,700. Also be wary of turbocharged versions of otherwise-cheap cars (a Fiesta 1.0 EcoBoost groups higher than the plain 1.1), older German saloons with expensive parts, and modified cars, which many insurers will not quote for a new driver at all.

The cheapest cars to insure for new drivers all sit in insurance groups 1–5, where a new driver can pay around £1,290 a year — for a group 1 Hyundai i10 — against a typical new-driver average nearer £1,900. Picking the right car is the single biggest lever a new driver controls: it is baked in at manufacture and can move the premium by £600 or more before you have driven a mile. RAC Insurance’s 2026 ranking of the cheapest cars for new drivers is led by the Hyundai i10, VW Polo, Skoda Fabia, Kia Picanto and Toyota Aygo X. Below: the 2026 ranked list with insurance groups and indicative premiums, why these cars are cheap, the models to avoid, and how to push the number lower still.

See the ranked list → Cheapest groups

~£1,290/yr

Cheapest pick: group 1 Hyundai i10

Groups 1–5

Where new-driver bargains live

Save ~£600

vs the ~£1,900 new-driver average

Direct Answer

What are the cheapest cars to insure for a new driver?

For a new driver, the cheapest cars to insure are small petrol city cars in insurance groups 1–5 — and the single cheapest new model in 2026 is the Hyundai i10 (group 1), at roughly £1,290 a year on a new-driver comprehensive policy, against a typical new-driver average near £1,900. Insurance group is fixed at manufacture from the car’s engine power, repair cost, safety kit and theft risk, so it is the one big number you lock in before you buy. Cars registered before August 2024 use the Thatcham/ABI 1–50 group scale (group 1 cheapest); cars registered from August 2024 use the newer Vehicle Risk Rating on a 1–99 scale. Either way the rule for a new driver is the same: stay in the lowest groups, choose the smallest sensible engine, and avoid sport trims. RAC Insurance’s 2026 real-world list of the cheapest cars for new drivers is headed by the Hyundai i10, Volkswagen Polo, Skoda Fabia, Kia Picanto and Toyota Aygo X. Here is how the cheapest mainstream models compare on indicative 2026 premiums:

Cheapest cars to insure for new drivers — indicative premiums, UK 2026

Every model on the shortlist runs well below the ~£1,900 typical new-driver average; the group 1 Hyundai i10 comes in about a third cheaper.

Source: RAC Insurance 2026 cheapest-cars ranking; Confused.com Price Index and NimbleFins 2026 new-driver averages; Thatcham/ABI group ratings. Model figures are a Car Insurance Expert composite for a 17–24 new driver on comprehensive cover, rebased to the 2026 new-driver average.

Car (typical trim)	Insurance group	Indicative new-driver premium	vs new-driver average
Typical new-driver average (all cars)	—	£1,900	level
Hyundai i10 1.0	1	£1,290	−32%
Kia Picanto 1.0	2	£1,340	−29%
Volkswagen up! 1.0	1	£1,360	−28%
Skoda Citigo 1.0	2	£1,370	−28%
Citroën C1 1.0	2	£1,390	−27%
Toyota Aygo X 1.0	5	£1,470	−23%
Volkswagen Polo 1.0	3	£1,480	−22%
Vauxhall Corsa 1.2	4	£1,540	−19%
Fiat 500 1.2	10	£1,560	−18%
Ford Fiesta 1.1	3	£1,610	−15%

Sources: RAC Insurance 2026 cheapest-cars-for-new-drivers ranking; Confused.com Price Index 2026 and NimbleFins 2026 new-driver averages; Thatcham Research / ABI Group Rating Panel for the insurance groups. Premium figures are a Car Insurance Expert composite for a 17–24 new driver on comprehensive cover and vary with postcode, exact trim, mileage and telematics. Groups shown are for common base trims; sportier versions of the same model sit higher. Refresh: November 2026.

Why these cars

Why the cheapest new-driver cars are cheap — and how to read the list

Three structural things put a car in the cheapest insurance groups, and all three favour small city cars. First, engine size and power: a naturally-aspirated 1.0-litre is slow to get into trouble and cheap to price, which is why the group 1–2 cars above are almost all sub-1.2-litre. Second, repair cost and parts: mass-market superminis have cheap, widely-stocked panels and standardised parts, so a bumper knock is a low claim; a premium or performance badge is not. Third, theft profile and safety: cars with solid Euro NCAP scores and unremarkable theft rates score lower. The Hyundai i10, VW up!/Skoda Citigo/SEAT Mii trio, Kia Picanto and Citroën C1/Toyota Aygo family tick all three boxes, which is why they dominate every 2026 cheapest-to-insure list including RAC’s.

Read the list as a shortlist to test-quote, not a fixed league table. A group 1 car is the safest starting point, but your own quote still swings on postcode, mileage, voluntary excess and whether you fit a black box. Two more rules matter for a new driver. Avoid group 15+ entirely in year one — even a Ford Fiesta 1.0 EcoBoost ST-Line creeps up the groups, and any ST, GTI, RS or M-Sport trim sits at group 25+ with new-driver premiums well over £2,700. And check the registration date: cars from August 2024 are scored on the newer 1–99 Vehicle Risk Rating, so a brand-new supermini may quote differently from an identical-looking three-year-old one. For a group-by-group view of which models land where, see our guide to the cheapest insurance-group cars for new drivers.

Push it lower

Five ways to make a cheap car even cheaper to insure

Choosing the right car does most of the work, but a new driver can stack several legitimate savings on top of a group 1–5 model:

Add a black box — telematics saves new drivers an average of about £379 a year, and 78% of 17–20-year-olds pay less with one. On a group 1 car it can take the quote comfortably below £1,000. See our black box guide for young drivers.
Raise the voluntary excess — moving from £150 to £500 typically trims 8–15% off the premium, provided you could actually pay it after a claim.
Do Pass Plus — a £150–£200 course that earns a 10–25% discount with participating insurers (LV=, Aviva, Admiral). On a cheap car it often pays for itself in year one.
Build no-claims properly — the new driver must be the main policyholder. Listing an experienced parent as main driver on a car the new driver actually uses is “fronting”, which is fraud that voids the policy.
Pay annually and shop early — monthly instalments carry roughly 20–30% APR, and quoting about three weeks before renewal is consistently cheaper than quoting on the day.

Want the full playbook rather than just the car? See how to get cheap car insurance for new drivers for nine tactics, and car insurance for new drivers for the full cost picture.

Common Questions

Cheapest cars to insure for new drivers: FAQs

What is the single cheapest car to insure for a new driver in 2026?

On our 2026 composite the Hyundai i10 1.0 (insurance group 1) is the cheapest mainstream new car for a new driver, at around £1,290 a year comprehensive — roughly a third below the ~£1,900 new-driver average. The Kia Picanto (~£1,340) and the VW up! / Skoda Citigo / SEAT Mii trio (~£1,360–£1,370) are close behind, and RAC Insurance’s own 2026 real-world ranking also puts the i10 at number one. Used group 1–2 city cars such as the discontinued Suzuki Celerio can occasionally undercut them.

Why does the insurance group matter so much for a new driver?

Because it is the one big pricing factor you fix before you buy, and it is set at manufacture from the car’s power, repair cost, safety and theft risk. For a new driver with no claims history, insurers lean heavily on the car to price risk, so the group carries extra weight. Moving from group 1 to group 15 can add £600–£900 to a new driver’s quote for the same person and postcode. Cars registered before August 2024 use the 1–50 scale; newer cars use the 1–99 Vehicle Risk Rating.

Is a new or a used car cheaper to insure for a new driver?

Group for group, a cheaper-to-replace used city car is usually the cheaper insurance bet for a new driver, because a lower vehicle value means a smaller potential total-loss claim. A three-to-six-year-old group 1–3 supermini — i10, Picanto, up!, Polo — typically insures for less than the brand-new equivalent, which may also carry the newer 1–99 rating and pricier parts. The trade-off is reliability and safety kit, so balance a rock-bottom premium against a car you can trust.

Does adding a black box make a cheap car even cheaper?

Yes — and it stacks with a low group. Telematics saves new drivers an average of about £379 a year, and 78% of 17–20-year-olds pay less on a black-box policy. On a group 1 car such as the i10, a black box can take the quote below £1,000. The discount is not automatic: the insurer prices on your recorded score, so it is a saving you earn through smooth, on-time, non-late-night driving. Marmalade, Admiral LittleBox, Carrot and Cuvva lead the market.

Are electric cars cheap to insure for new drivers?

Not usually, for a first car. Small EVs and hybrids sit in higher insurance groups than an equivalent petrol city car because battery and repair costs are steeper and specialist repairs push up claims. A new driver chasing the lowest premium is still better served by a group 1–5 petrol supermini. EVs make more sense once you have a couple of years of no-claims discount behind you and the running-cost savings start to outweigh the higher premium.

Which cars should a new driver avoid for insurance?

Anything in group 15 and above in your first year. That rules out hot hatches and sport trims — Fiesta ST, Corsa GSi, Polo GTI, Golf GTI, any RS or M-Sport badge — which sit at group 25+ and can quote a new driver over £2,700. Also be wary of turbocharged versions of otherwise-cheap cars (a Fiesta 1.0 EcoBoost groups higher than the plain 1.1), older German saloons with expensive parts, and modified cars, which many insurers will not quote for a new driver at all.

Does the car’s value affect the premium as well as the group?

Yes. The insurance group captures most of the risk, but the market value still matters because a comprehensive claim can write the car off — a cheaper car is a smaller total-loss payout. That is why a £4,000 used i10 can insure for less than a £16,000 new one in the same group. For a new driver the sweet spot is a low-group car that is also cheap to replace: low group and low value pull the premium the same way.

How much can choosing the right car actually save a new driver?

A lot — often £600 or more before any other tactic. On our 2026 composite a group 1 Hyundai i10 comes in around £1,290 against a ~£1,900 typical new-driver average, and against a group 25+ hot hatch at £2,700 the gap is over £1,400 for the identical driver. Stack a black box (about £379 average saving) and Pass Plus on top of a group 1 car and a careful new driver can realistically get under £1,000 in 2026.

Our sources

RAC Insurance (2026) — the real-world ranking of the cheapest cars to insure for new drivers (Hyundai i10, VW Polo, Skoda Fabia, Kia Picanto, Toyota Aygo X and others) with their insurance groups. rac.co.uk
Confused.com Price Index (2026) — average premiums for 17–24 drivers around £1,561 and the ~£711 all-ages average used to frame the new-driver figures
NimbleFins (2026) — new-driver average premium range of roughly £1,800–£3,000 for 17–19s on comprehensive cover
Thatcham Research / ABI Group Rating Panel — the 1–50 insurance groups and the 1–99 Vehicle Risk Rating (from August 2024) that set each model’s group. thatcham.org
ABI Motor Insurance Premium Tracker (2026) — context on average premiums paid and the telematics saving for young drivers
Car Insurance Expert composite quote data — 2026 sample across major UK insurers for new-driver profiles, rebased to the published new-driver averages

Reviewed by the Car Insurance Expert editorial team

Figures are compiled from RAC Insurance, Confused.com, NimbleFins and Thatcham/ABI group ratings plus our own multi-insurer quote sampling, and reviewed by the Car Insurance Expert editorial team. Model premiums are indicative composites for a new driver on comprehensive cover, not live quotes. Contact: editorial@carinsuranceexpert.co.uk.

Last updated: 6 August 2026

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