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Automatic Car ?
Insurance Quote: How ToFind The Right Cover For Your Car
Getting an automatic car insurance quote is not quite the same as insuring a manual. Based on how your licence type is assessed, to what insurance group your vehicle falls into, and whether your vehicle is driven on a black box or not, automatic car ownership is a unique set of factors that influence what you pay. When you know them, you are far better off in comparison.
In the UK, automatic cars are becoming the norm, not an exception. The percentage of automatic vehicles on roads and automatic licensing tests has been steadily increasing year after year (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). The largest percentage change is happening due to the increase in the number of electric and hybrid cars, which are virtually always automatic. Drivers are now seeking an all-inclusive automatic car insurance quote that provides them with a financial cushion to stay safe on the roads.
This guide will answer all your questions about the process, pricing dynamics, driving profiles, and anything along these lines that is important to secure the best automatic car insurance quote.
Are Automatic Cars More Expensive To insure?
This is one of the most commonly asked questions by first-timers searching for an automatic car insurance quote, and the answer is usually yes. The difference, however, is not as large as most people think, and other considerations can easily overcome that.
The average difference between insuring an automatic and a manual car is 5-20%. The motives are simple.
- Automatic gearboxes are more complicated and costly to maintain or fix.
- They are frequently more highly specified models with a higher purchase price. A more expensive car implies a higher replacement cost and a higher premium.
- The type of your licence will make even more of an impact than the gearbox of the car. The insurers do differentiate between a full manual licence (authorising driving of both manual and automatic cars) and an automatic-only licence.
The research team of Admiral investigated and revealed that automatic-only license holders receive 56% higher premiums on their automatic car insurance quote. The reason was also statistically valid since their claim frequency is also 46% higher,If you already have a full manual licence, but decide to drive an automatic car, your premium will be far nearer to a manual one than when you just have an automatic licence. The claims ratio is generally higher in the fully automatic licence group. Either way, the best way to get a competitive quote is to compare several insurers.
Cheapest Automatic Cars To Insure In The UK
When you are selecting a car and comparing insurance, the car’s model itself contributes significantly to the automatic car insurance quote. Lower insurance group cars are significantly cheaper to insure, irrespective of the type of gearbox. The lowest-priced car insurance groups in the UK are 1-10, consisting of small city cars and popular hatchbacks.
| Cheapest Automatic Cars to Insure UK | Why It Is Cheap |
|---|---|
| Hyundai i10 Automatic | Insurance group 1–3. High parts availability, low repair costs, small engine. |
| Volkswagen Polo Automatic | Groups 3–8. Good safety scores, low maintenance costs, and strong resale value. |
| Ford Fiesta Automatic | Groups 5–12. Widely serviced, parts are inexpensive and easy to find. |
| Toyota Yaris Hybrid | Groups 5–10. Low-emission hybrid, some insurers offer EV discounts. |
| Vauxhall Corsa Automatic | Groups 4–10. Popular model with strong insurer data and affordable repairs. |
Does Car Insurance Automatically Renew?
Yes, the majority of UK car insurance policies will automatically renew unless you choose otherwise. This is meant to ensure that the drivers do not slip into the uninsured category. But it also imposes a new policy upon you without comparison, and you might end up paying more than you need.
In January 2022, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) introduced some rules. These required insurers to give renewing customers the same price or a better price than an equivalent new customer, representing a like-for-like policy. This put an end to the tradition of price walking, when the loyal customers are slowly charged more each year.
It does not, however, imply that your premium will remain flat. Your renewal quote will also be higher if your risk profile has changed, or the cost of repairing your vehicle has gone up.
The FCA also came up with regulations that allowed easier cancellation of automatic renewal. The insurers are obliged to provide you with straightforward, prior notice of renewal, the amount you will pay, and offer you a simple way of declining it. There is also a 14-day cooling-off period after any renewal during which you can cancel without penalty.
The moral of the story is to never allow your policy to renew automatically without making comparisons first. Requesting a new automatic car insurance quote 20-26 days before your renewal date is the most opportune time to do so. This is when the online pricing algorithms tend to give their most competitive output.
Cover Types For Automatic Car Insurance
The same three standard cover tiers apply to automatic car insurance as to any other UK motor policy. Your premium and the extent of your protection depend on the type of cover you take.
- The legal minimum to drive is the third-party cover. It includes injury or damage to other individuals and their property, but excludes your own automatic vehicle.
- Third-party, Fire, and theft cover is a third-party coverage that adds basic policy plus cover to your own vehicle in case of fire damage or theft.
- Fully includes the accidental damage to your own vehicle, including at-fault accidents, as well as the third-party liability, fire, and theft.
Automatic Car Insurance For Different Driver Profiles
Your driving profile would be the primary determinant of the best automatic car insurance quote suitable for you.
Best For Young Drivers
Young drivers who want to know whether automatic cars are costlier to insure already have a compounded challenge to face. Their youth is a major premium loading factor, and owning an automatic-only licence makes it worse.
A telematics or black box insurance policy is the best path for younger automatic drivers. This route is also used by safe automatic drivers who push down their premiums when they renew.
Our learner driver insurance guide can advise on how to develop a no-claims history on the first day.
Best For Convicted Drivers
Mainstream insurers will be less keen to provide insurance to drivers who have motoring convictions, be it speeding, drink driving, or other offences.
Drivers with a conviction who are seeking an automatic car insurance quote should specifically consider specialist non-standard insurers, who consider each application based on its own circumstances. This kicks the options of auto-declining based on conviction codes out of the box.
Best For Black Box Cover
The most useful tool that can be offered to automatic car drivers with high premiums (due to age, type of licence, or driving history) is telematics, or black box cover. A gadget attached to your car (or a smartphone application) keeps track of your speed, braking, turning, and the speed of your trip.
This information is used to rate your renewal. Safe drivers are rewarded with lower rates, no matter what their fixed risk profile indicates. This is 100% worth considering, especially for automatic-only licence holders.
Admiral Insurance For Automatic Drivers
Admiral Insurance is one of the few mainstream UK insurers to have publicly researched and published data on the manual versus automatic premium gap. Their results show an average premium difference of 5.63 %, which is largely due to higher claims. These results are much more nuanced than the broader industry narrative.
Admiral also has telematics products (LittleBox), which can be especially useful with younger automatic drivers. They are always worth considering when comparing them to any automatic car insurance.
1st Central Insurance for Automatic Drivers
The 1st Central Insurance is also competitive for drivers with various profiles, including automatic cars. They are especially known for offering competitive rates on comprehensive policies and a simple online quote system.
Just like any other insurer, their cost for automatic car insurance will be based on the entire picture of your risk profile, so direct comparison is a must before making a choice.
Specialist Automatic Car Insurance Policy Types
In addition to the usual annual cover, there are a few specialist types of policies, which you should know of when you need an automatic car insurance quote.
Short-Term Car Insurance
Short-term car insurance covers automatic cars between one day and 28 days. It is completely independent of any existing policy. It does not impact the no-claims bonus of the vehicle owner. And it can be activated instantly via the internet.
It comes in handy if you are borrowing an automatic and are going back to the UK temporarily, or you require cover until your full annual policy is being prepared.
Multi-Car Insurance
Multi-car insurance is a type of insurance that covers more than one vehicle in a household. This can be an effective method of simplifying cover, and in many cases of lowering the total per-vehicle premium, should one of the cars in your household be an automatic.
A multi-car quote can be compared to individual policies to determine which one better meets your combination of vehicles and drivers.
Classic Car Insurance
Classic car insurance is applicable to old automatic cars, like the classic American or Japanese cars equipped with an automatic transmission. Classic policies are usually provided based on an agreed value cover, restricted mileage cover, and a specialist claims cover.
These policies consider the special nature of vintage automatics and can be significantly cheaper than normal cover for low-mileage, well-maintained classic cars.
Modified Car Insurance
If your automatic car is modified, whether it is performance upgrades, custom wheels, non-standard bodywork, or tinted windows, all modifications should be reported to your insurer. Specialist brokers are well-equipped to offer modified car insurance to automatic cars as they have more niche experience.
Not announcing changes, no matter how small they may appear, can jeopardise your policy in case you have to make a claim.
Family Fleet Insurance
A fleet policy is a pooling of risk among all drivers and vehicles and usually results in a reduced per-vehicle premium than a single policy. It also makes renewals easier, a single date, single payment, single set of documents to cover all the cars in the house.
Business Car Insurance
Automatic car insurance for business is a must-have when you use your car to conduct business-related activities that go beyond commuting to work. It can include client visits, travel between different locations, or transporting colleagues.
Normal social, domestic, and pleasure cover is not applicable to business use. When using your automatic car insurance quote to cover your work, make sure that the appropriate type of business use is listed in your work.
How To Get the Best Automatic Car Insurance Quote?
A competitive automatic car insurance quote is about accuracy and timeliness more than anything. These are the best steps:
- Start by comparing 21-26 days before renewal. Pricing algorithms are most likely to give their best quotes during this window. The price is usually higher before or after this window.
- State your type of licence correctly. In case you have a full manual licence and drive an automatic, indicate this. It can cause a big difference in your quoted premium.
- Select a vehicle that works in your favour to get a lighter quote. You can do this by checking the insurance group of an automatic before buying it. The most affordable cars to insure in the UK are groups 1-10. A car two groups lower than this can save hundreds of pounds per year.
- A black box policy that rewards safe driving is also the most economical path to an affordable automatic car insurance quote for newer or younger drivers.
- This is the most preached advice: the greater the voluntary excess, the less risk the insurer has. This lowers your premium by a good chunk. Have it at a level you can truly afford in case of a claim.
- Pay yearly where feasible. The monthly payments are a credit agreement and are subject to interest. The upfront payment saves the extra amount that the hard credit check monthly plans entail.
- Most importantly, never opt for automatic renewal options. The open market can still offer much better quotes than your renewal quote, even with FCA pricing regulations.
How Can QuoteRadar Help Find Your Automatic Car Insurance Quote?
We believe that automatic drivers should be quoted based on their real driving performance, not on the cost of fixing their gearbox.
You have a full manual licence and just want an automatic, or you took your test in an automatic and are in a more complicated market, you are one good comparison from getting to the right panel of insurers who can share fair offers with you.
The panel of QuoteRadar consists of specialist and non-standard insurers, as well as mainstream providers. We cover people from all walks of life: young drivers, convicted drivers, black box policies, classic car insurance, modified car insurance, business car insurance, and multi-car or family fleet.
The comparison is soft-search, regardless of your circumstances. It will not impact your credit score and only takes minutes to complete.
Your instant car insurance quote awaits. Compare and contrast with QuoteRadar, and find out what the entire market really has to offer on your particular car, your licence and your driving record.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I passed my test in a manual, do I pay more to insure an automatic?
Usually, no, not much. Insurers make a difference between the type of vehicle and the licence. Your automatic car insurance quote would be significantly similar to the manual car quote if you have a full manual licence (enabling you to drive both manual and automatic vehicles).
The insurance group of the vehicle is still considered, but the licence restriction premium is not included.
If I passed my driving test in an automatic, can I insure a manual car?
No. Automatic-only licence limits you to driving an automatic car. Operating a manual car on an automatic-only car licence is an offence. To obtain an unrestricted licence, you would have to pass another driving test in a manual car.
Any policy you had would also probably be invalidated in case you tried to insure or drive a manual on an automatic-only licence.
Does a black box policy work the same way on an automatic as a manual?
Yes. Black box cover evaluates the way you drive, not the type of gearbox you have. It considers your speed, braking, acceleration, and journey times. A safe driver with a safe driving experience will enjoy the advantages of telematics-based pricing just like a manual driver would.
This can greatly compensate for the increased base premium that the insurers would otherwise charge to automatic-only licence holders.
Are electric cars treated as automatic cars for insurance purposes?
Yes. Virtually all electric cars are automatic, and they are insured like any other automatic car. They also implement EV-specific factors, like battery value, charging equipment, and expert repair needs, which may drive premiums a bit higher than a petrol automatic of similar value.
Does adding a named driver reduce the cost of automatic car insurance?
It can. By including an experienced, claim-free named driver in your automatic car insurance policy, you can save money by diversifying the risk profile of the policy. It is a valid strategy, provided that the individual you are referring to as the driver of the car does so occasionally.
Listing someone as the main driver when they are not (known as ‘fronting’) is insurance fraud, which can invalidate your policy and lead to prosecution.
Does automatic car insurance cost less if my car is a hybrid?
It is based on the type of hybrid and the insurer. Mild hybrids, which operate on regular fuel and have normal engines, are likely to sell at the same price as petrol hybrids. The cost of batteries makes plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) a bit more expensive. However, as the market is maturing, some insurers have become more competitive in this area.
What happens if I forget to renew my automatic car insurance and it lapses?
The Road Traffic Act 1988 makes it illegal to drive without a valid insurance even if the lapse was accidental. The repercussions are a fixed penalty of £300, six penalty points (code IN10), the vehicle may be seized, and an unlimited penalty should the case proceed to court.
The future automatic car insurance quotes are also impacted by a gap in cover. Insurers consider lapses to be a measure of risk, which can increase the premiums for the next policy.