Q1 2026 UK Premium Index live · refreshed quarterly Independent · Editorial · FCA introducer disclosures in footer
Guide · Cost · 2026

How much is car insurance in the UK?

The average UK car insurance premium is £560 in 2026 — the price drivers actually pay for comprehensive cover, per ABI Q1 2026 data. Quoted prices run higher: the Confused.com Price Index sits at about £711, and taken together the typical 2026 comprehensive premium is roughly £600. That is down from the £995 December 2023 peak, but the fall has stalled. What you pay swings enormously with age, postcode and car — a 17-year-old averages £1,695 while an over-65 pays about £407. Full breakdown below.

Cost by age → How to pay less
Compare car insurance quotes
Direct Answer

The average UK car insurance premium in 2026

There are two headline numbers and they measure different things. The ABI Motor Premium Tracker reports the average paid comprehensive premium at £560 in Q1 2026 — drawn from around 28 million live policies, so it reflects the discounted renewal prices most drivers settle on. The Confused.com Price Index reports the average quoted price at about £711, because new quotes always run ahead of what loyal renewing customers pay. Split the difference and the honest answer to “how much is car insurance?” in 2026 is around £600 a year for a typical comprehensive policy. Prices fell sharply through 2024 and 2025 from the £995 peak of December 2023, but the ABI and WTW both report the decline has now stalled, with the first small quarterly rise since 2023 recorded in early 2026 as repair costs bite. Your own number depends far more on age, location and vehicle than on the market average, which is why the tables below matter more than the headline.

Average UK car insurance premium by driver age — 2026
A 17-year-old pays about 4× the UK average; premiums fall below £1,000 by the early 30s and bottom out for the over-65s at £407.
UK avg £560 17–19 £1,695 20–24 £1,099 25–29 £780 30–39 £620 40–49 £520 50–64 £460 65+ £407

Sources: Confused.com Price Index, ABI 2026 Motor Premium Tracker and Car Insurance Expert composite quote sample. Age-band figures are indicative averages for standard comprehensive cover.

Driver age bandAverage premium (2026)vs UK average
17–19 (new driver)£1,695+203%
20–24£1,099+96%
25–29£780+39%
30–39£620+11%
40–49£520-7%
50–64£460-18%
65 and over£407-27%
UK average (all ages)£560—

Sources: ABI 2026 Motor Premium Tracker (£560 paid average), Confused.com Price Index (17yo £1,695; 65+ £407) and Car Insurance Expert composite quote sample. Figures are indicative averages for standard comprehensive cover. Refresh: 2026-10-12.

By Region

How much car insurance costs by UK region (2026)

Where you park overnight is one of the biggest single factors in your quote — insurers price for local claim, theft and fraud rates. England shows the widest spread: Inner London drivers average about £1,088 while the South West is the cheapest region at roughly £504, a difference of nearly £600 for otherwise identical drivers.

RegionAverage premium (2026)vs UK average
Inner London£1,088+94%
Outer London£820+46%
North West£680+21%
West Midlands£640+14%
Scotland£565+1%
Yorkshire & Humber£545-3%
Wales£520-7%
South West£504-10%

Sources: Confused.com Price Index and Quotezone regional index 2026, with Car Insurance Expert composite adjustments. Refresh: 2026-10-12.

Where Your Money Goes

What you are actually paying for in 2026

Premiums did not rise to £995 in 2023 by accident, and they have not fallen back to £600 because insurers turned generous. Five forces set the price of every UK policy:

  1. Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) — frozen at 12%, it adds roughly £67 to a £560 premium before an insurer covers a single claim. It is a government tax, not an insurer margin.
  2. Repair costs — repair labour is up around 40% since 2022, and parts and paint are rising about 16% a year. A modern bumper packed with sensors turns a £300 job into a £1,500 claim once ADAS cameras need recalibrating.
  3. Record claims payouts — UK motor insurers paid a record £3.2 billion in a single quarter in 2025, the highest since records began in 2013, with annual claims near £9.9bn.
  4. Theft — keyless-entry car theft remains elevated, and vehicles stolen to order rarely return, so insurers price high-risk models and postcodes accordingly.
  5. Your risk profile — age, claims history, no-claims discount, annual mileage, occupation and overnight parking together move the base price far more than the market average does.

The practical takeaway: you cannot change IPT or repair inflation, but you control roughly half of your quote through the levers in our guide on how to get cheap car insurance in 2026.

Common Questions

UK car insurance cost FAQs

The average paid comprehensive premium is £560 in 2026 according to the ABI, which tracks around 28 million live policies. The Confused.com Price Index, which measures quoted rather than paid prices, is higher at about £711. The honest all-in answer is roughly £600 a year for a typical comprehensive policy. Your own price depends heavily on age, postcode, car and claims history — a 17-year-old averages £1,695 while an over-65 pays about £407.
They measure different things. The ABI £560 is the average premium drivers actually pay, including the discounts loyal renewing customers receive. The Confused.com £711 is the average price quoted to new shoppers, and new quotes always run ahead of settled renewal prices. Neither is wrong — the paid figure tells you what the market really costs, the quoted figure tells you what a fresh search might return before you negotiate or switch.
Broadly flat, after two years of falls. Premiums peaked at £995 in December 2023, then dropped through 2024 and 2025 as claims inflation eased. In early 2026 the ABI and WTW both reported the decline had stalled, with the first small quarterly increase since 2023 as repair and parts costs climbed again. Expect 2026 to be a stable-to-slightly-rising year rather than another sharp fall — so it remains worth shopping around at renewal.
New and young drivers pay the most. A 17-year-old averages about £1,695, and the wider 17–19 band sits at £1,695–£2,850 depending on car and postcode. Drivers aged 20–24 average around £1,099. The single biggest lever for a new driver is a black-box telematics policy, which saves new drivers roughly £379 a year on average, followed by choosing a group 1–5 car. Premiums then fall steeply as claims-free years and a no-claims discount build.
The South West of England is consistently the cheapest region at about £504 on average in 2026, followed by Wales and rural Scotland. Inner London is the most expensive at around £1,088 — more than double the South West — driven by higher traffic density, theft and claims rates. Because overnight postcode is one of the strongest rating factors, two identical drivers can pay hundreds of pounds apart based purely on where the car sleeps at night.
Four things. Repair costs — labour up about 40% since 2022 and parts and paint rising roughly 16% a year, with sensor-packed modern cars pushing minor prangs into four-figure claims. Record claims payouts — £3.2 billion in a single quarter in 2025. Insurance Premium Tax at 12%, which adds around £67 to a £560 policy. And keyless car theft, which keeps high-risk models and postcodes expensive. These are structural costs no single driver can avoid, but they explain why premiums sit near £600 rather than the £400 of a decade ago.
Yes. Paying monthly is a credit agreement, and the APR typically adds 20–40% to the total — often £80–£200 extra on a £560 policy over the year. The FCA requires insurers to show the APR and the total payable, so check both figures. If you can pay the annual premium up front, or put it on a 0% purchase credit card and clear it within the interest-free window, you avoid the insurer’s finance charge entirely. This is one of the simplest ways to cut the real cost of cover.
Averages only take you so far — your real price depends on your exact age, address, car, mileage, job and claims history. Run quotes across at least two or three comparison sites plus one or two direct-only insurers (Direct Line and NFU Mutual do not appear on comparison sites), because coverage of the market differs. Quote three to four weeks before renewal, when prices are statistically lowest, and keep your details accurate — misstating your job or mileage to lower a quote can void the policy.

Our sources

  • ABI Motor Premium Tracker 2026 — £560 average paid comprehensive premium and record repair costs
  • Confused.com Price Index — £711 quoted average, 17yo £1,695, 65+ £407 and regional breakdown
  • WTW Car Insurance Price Index — confirmation the two-year fall has stalled in 2026
  • Quotezone Regional Index 2026 — Inner London £1,088 and South West £504 regional extremes
  • gov.uk — Insurance Premium Tax — the 12% standard IPT rate applied to motor insurance
  • Car Insurance Expert composite quote sample — 2026 sampling across major UK insurers to fill age and regional gaps

Reviewed by the Car Insurance Expert editorial team

Reviewed by the Car Insurance Expert editorial team (senior motor insurance analyst). Methodology: headline averages are taken directly from ABI, Confused.com and WTW published indices; age and regional figures combine those sources with our own multi-insurer composite quote sample, refreshed quarterly. We do not sell insurance and quote ranges rather than individual broker prices. Contact: editorial@carinsuranceexpert.co.uk.

Last updated: 2026-07-12 · Next scheduled review: 2026-10-12

Explore more

More Guides pages

← Back to Guides