In the event of an accident, most insurance policies cover damage to your car and/or other vehicles, injuries and property damage. Insurance policies also tend to cover fire damage and attempted or actual theft. The cover provided by car insurance policies can vary, so check the small print for exclusions or limitations

An insurance premium is the money you pay for your insurance policy. Some insurers allow you to pay your premium in instalments, with others will require you to pay it in full at the start. If you don’t pay your insurance premium, your policy may be cancelled.

If you don’t make any claims against your insurance policy, then you may receive a no-claims bonus, also called a no-claims discount. For every year you’re insured without making a claim, you earn another year’s no-claims bonus. Insurers normally calculate your discount based on a maximum of five years without a claim, but this can vary.

Cars are assigned into insurance groups from one to 50, with group one being the cheapest to insure and 50 being the most expensive to insure (typically because they’re high performance models).

There are several ways to reduce your insurance premium, from adding a more experienced driver to your policy to parking in a safe place. Regularly comparing insurance policies will give you a better view of the market and how much you could be saving