Compare third-party car insurance quotes

When insuring your car, you first need to choose from three levels of cover available: 

You will also need to tell your insurer how you will use your car. The basic level of cover is social, domestic and pleasure (SDP)

You can then add:

It’s important to know the difference between different types of car insurance cover before buying your policy, and you should also consider all the different types of cover if you want to get the best deal.

Third party car insurance is the legal minimum cover you need to drive on the UK’s roads. This is also called third party only or abbreviated to TPO. Third party only insurance means that if you cause an accident your insurer will pay out to other people affected – if their property is damaged or if they are injured. Your passengers are also third parties so they would be compensated if injured too.

Third party only (TPO) insurance protects other people, vehicles and property in the event of a car accident that was your fault.

For example, if you drive into the rear of someone’s car, causing damage to the bumper and injuring the driver, your third-party insurance would then cover the cost of the other person’s car as well as their medical expenses.

Any damage to your own car or any injuries you suffer are not covered. For that, you need comprehensive car insurance cover. Although your passengers are considered to be third parties so they would be compensated if injured too.

Third party car insurance is the most basic form of car insurance cover and is a legal requirement to drive on UK roads. Third-party only cover is the best way to ensure that, if someone suffers a road accident that isn’t their fault, their costs can be recuperated.

Although third party only insurance it is the most basic type of cover, third party car insurance is not always the cheapest cover. It pays to shop around for different levels of cover.

Third-party only (TPO) is the minimum legal level of cover and only covers other vehicles and property in the case of an accident or claim. 

Third party only car insurance covers:  

Third party, fire and theft policies can offer additional peace of mind by including protection if your car is damaged or destroyed in a fire, stolen, or damaged as a result of theft from your vehicle.

If you have a third party, fire and theft policy and are involved in an accident, you still won’t always be able to claim for any damage to your car.

If you are involved in an accident and your car is damaged, you should be able to make a claim from the other driver’s insurance if it was their fault.

Third-party, fire and theft (TPFT) also lets you claim for things you cannot on a third-party only policy:

Comprehensive insurance, as the name suggests, offers the highest level of cover and in addition to everything covered by third party, fire and theft insurance, will pay out for repair or replacement of your vehicle even if you are involved in an accident that was your fault.

There are also a range of add-ons that can be included within a comprehensive policy or bought for a small additional premium. And comprehensive insurance is often the same price – and sometimes even cheaper – than lower levels of cover.

Yes, but it still only covers damage to another vehicle or person if you are at fault. If the other driver is at fault their insurance should cover any damage to your vehicle and injuries to you.

If you’ve got third party only or third party, fire and theft car insurance and you are hit by an uninsured driver, you can’t claim on your insurance for your damages but you might be able to a claim via the Motor Insurers’ Bureau, MIB 

Prices for third party, fire and theft cover will differ as insurers rate all drivers on a number of factors and calculate their premiums that way. 

These factors include:

There is a price difference between the different types of car insurance cover but it is not always in the way you would expect. Many people often opt for TPO or TPFT policies because they consider them to be cheaper than comprehensive cover. But this isn’t always true. In fact, you may find some cases where comprehensive insurance works out to be as cheap as TPFT.

Third party cover is not always cheaper. Although comprehensive insurance includes more cover, many insurers offer it for the same price or even cheaper than third party, fire and theft policies.

Third party cover used to be cheaper but many young and new drivers tend to purchase them. These are higher risk drivers, so they make a disproportionate number of claims compared to other drivers.

Many insurers deem third party and third party, fire and theft policies as higher risk and premiums for this type of cover increased. Now, third party, fire and theft policies can be often more expensive than comprehensive policies for some drivers, even though they include less cover.

The average cost of car insurance, among all types of cover for drivers under 21 is £1,525, per year, with 18-year-olds paying the most, an average of £2,134 per year for car insurance – even for some third-party policies.